PAX Aus 2024 Indie Showcase winners announced

Every year at PAX Aus, there are various indie developers and tabletop creators who bring their creations to the public. While everything in the PAX Rising area is made with painstaking care, the winners of the Indie Showcase celebrate those creators who push the boundaries of indie development. There were several digital and tabletop games of high quality this year, leading to an unprecedented reveal of twelve winners. Six winners from each category were selected, giving each creator a better opportunity to share their projects with the community.

The six winners of the Digital PAX Aus 2024 Indie Showcase are:

• Max Mustard by Toast Interactive: Follow a fearless protagonist on a heroic quest to rescue adorable mudpups from the clutches of the devious Stubbins. Combining the best first-person power-ups with the timeless charm of classic third-person platforming, players will venture through immersive landscapes, facing tough challenges, unexpected twists and moral dilemmas, forcing you to make difficult decisions that will shape the course of your journey.
• Untethered by True Anomaly Entertainment: Players are stranded in deep space with a mission to survive against all odds. They should be prepared to be immersed with sound, sights and in-game mechanics while they scavenge from the wreckage, process resources and build their own space station – a refuge in the most hostile of environments.
• Anticitizen: Red by Queebly Software: Use bullet time, a variety of movement mechanics and an improvised arsenal to outwit and outgun biker gangs and corporate police in an American-occupied cyberpunk Australia. Players will meet a unique cast of Aussie battlers while diving into the lore of the new American empire
• Ascending Inferno by Oppolyon Studios: This game is not for the faint of heart (or rage quitters) as it will challenge players to master the art of precision platforming as they dribble, header, juggle and kick their way through various layers of Inferno to save their sibling Vincent, a recently deceased soccer player. Thank heavens he’s conveniently shaped like a soccer ball…
• Rita by SporkTank: Play a charming word-based puzzle adventure where crossword puzzles and cozy rpg worlds collide. Players will explore, collect, solve, converse and platform their way as loveable chicklet, Rita.
• The Rewinder 2 by Misty Mountain Studio: Play an action-adventure game inspired by Eastern mythology, allowing players to explore cursed villages and dungeons, solve crimes, unlock new skills and meet all sorts of ghosts and monsters along the way.

The six winners of the Tableop PAX Aus 2024 Indie Showcase are:

• Fight With Spirit by Storybrewers Roleplaying: Play a sports drama RPG about a team growing up together and fighting for their passion. In this game, players will hone their skills, face down rivals and strive to take their team to the national championships in a sport of their choice. With choices ranging from volleyball to Quidditch, there is a sport for everyone.
• Oracle by Oracle Games: Take part in a thrilling blend of deduction and betrayal. In this card game, each player is given a secret role card with the objective of eliminating specific players on it. No one knows who is who, so players must deduce who they are through observation alone or face the consequences!
• Glade by Teafrog Games: A cozy tabletop game that tasks players to create a mystic garden around their ‘homestead’ that outscores their opponents. You might find yourself growing Bogwanders and Dazzlebushes, Brambledarts or Swaddlevines.
• Frayed Ally by Button Fox: Head into the untamed streets of Sewer City, where the echo of clashing weapons and the stench of burning magic fill the alleyways. Plan your strategy as a fierce battle royale unfolds!
• Nimbus by Neural Forge: This is an abstract, high-strategy, dynamic board game where the goal is to eliminate your opponent’s Nimbus piece. Change the movement mode of one of your pieces every turn, resulting in an ever-changing, challenging tactical experience.
• MEAN! by Mean Games: Play a fast-paced card game filled with fun, strategy and sabotage. An epic showdown of sly moves, MEAN! introduces an all-new style of clear-your-hand gameplay driven by “Card Direction”, where cards are played either going up or going down in value. Special cards can be used to change the direction to block rivals, force strategic hand swaps or wield the mighty MEAN! card to punish frenemies and take them down.