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PAX Australia have announced the games they've chosen for the inaugural PAX Aus Indie Showcase. A select panel of gaming industry peers had the daunting task of sifting through and choosing just six from the sixty independently made Australian and New Zealand games that were submitted for the showcase which will be big part of the sold-out PAX Australia gaming festival in July. The developers of these games will also be taking part of a special panel at PAX AUS for a round-table discussion on their games.
So, congratulations are in order to the six developers below for having their games chosen to represent the best that locally made indie developers have on offer. The judges have done a great job on choosing a very diverse selection of games and for many kinds of gaming platforms. The games are:
Antichamber - by Alexander Bruce
Duet - by Kumobius
Fractured Soul - by Endgame Studios
InFlux - by Impromptu Games
MacGuffin’s Curse - by Brawsome
Black Annex - by Man Fight Dragon
While most of the titles here will be familiar to those who closely follow local games development (most of these titles have been well received, critically acclaimed, and well known to be just darn great games), there is one particular title in that list which many people would not have heard of until now, especially since its developer had worked hard on getting a stable build just for the PAX AUS judges. That title is Black Annex by Man Fight Dragon, a programmer from country Victoria.
Antichamber Developed by Alexander Bruce Antichamber is a mind-bending psychological exploration game where nothing can be taken for granted. Discover an Escher-like world where hallways wrap around upon each other, spaces reconfigure themselves, and accomplishing the impossible may just be the only way forward. http://www.antichamber-game.comDuet Developed by Kumobius DUET is a fast-paced, classical arcade flyer. Your survival is dependent on protecting two vessels - they are devices in sync, a dance and song between two entities tethered together in symbiosis. Return to an age of high scores and edge of your seat terror where the world around you becomes quiet and numb as all that matters is the game living between your palms. http://www.kumobius.comFractured Soul Developed by Endgame Studios Fractured Soul is a retro style platform game like Mega Man, except that it is played across both screens of the 3DS at once. It features: 5 worlds - each with unique properties on the upper screen (such as inverted gravity), shmup sections, and online leaderboards to compete for the best speedrun times in the world. http://www.fracturedsoul.comInFlux Developed by Impromptu Games InFlux is a puzzle game that mixes exploration and puzzle platforming in a series of beautiful natural and abstract environments. You are a mysterious metal sphere which falls from the sky, traversing an apparently deserted island dotted with cubic structures of glass and steel. Each glasshouse is a puzzle to be solved. http://www.impromptugames.comMacGuffin’s Curse Developed by Brawsome When fugitive magician Lucas MacGuffin bungles a museum robbery, he finds himself bound to an ancient amulet, trapped in a city in high-tech lockdown, and suddenly fighting the urge to scratch himself. As a human, Lucas is agile and cunning. As a gigantic wolf, he’d rather smash anything in his way. Only by transforming between the two forms, cleverly utilising both sets of skills, will he stand any chance of lifting his curse. Along the way he’ll need to befriend a hilarious cast of characters, convince the city its most beloved citizen is a terrifying criminal mastermind, and hardest of all, teach his daughter it isn’t funny to fill the fridge with dog food. http://www.brawsome.com.au
Black Annex is an action strategy game where the player operates the hands-on business of corporate sabotage and infiltration. Manage company resources, customise and outfit your agents before deploying them to steal, destroy, kidnap and kill as the mission and your own choices dictate. The player will need to divide their time between taking care of business at Black Annex where they’ll be represented by the PERSONA of their choice from their collection of agents, and then taking direct control of up-to five agents deployed to various missions spanning a number of unique, corporate locations.Since being selected for the PAX AUS showcase, the developer for Black Annex has posted a Reddit AMA which reveals some interesting facts about his game. The most startling of which is that it's being built entirely with... Q-Basic! From the Reddit AMA...
I really didn't expect this at all because no one has ever even been allowed to play the game without me standing over their shoulder making excuses and apologizing for all the broken stuff in the game and how little sense the whole thing makes. So when I sent a demo of the game off into the unknown to be "judged" I didn't expect a response saying "Yeah, it's one of the best.". This means that you'll find Black Annex is a big sexy 3x3 (meter) booth at PAXAus in July, and you'll find me doing a panel Friday evening at 8:30pm where you can talk to me and the other five developers in the showcase. Come talk to me! I probably would have given up a long time ago if it wasn't for the amazing response from everyone here in the past, so thank you all so much for helping me get this far! :DHis response to why he chose to use Q-Basic is quite humourous, so check out the AMA here. For those wanting to find out more about Black Annex, you can follow development updates at www.manfightdragon.com, and you can even support it by giving it a thumbs up on Steam's Greenlight here.
Antichamber Developed by Alexander Bruce Antichamber is a mind-bending psychological exploration game where nothing can be taken for granted. Discover an Escher-like world where hallways wrap around upon each other, spaces reconfigure themselves, and accomplishing the impossible may just be the only way forward. http://www.antichamber-game.comDuet Developed by Kumobius DUET is a fast-paced, classical arcade flyer. Your survival is dependent on protecting two vessels - they are devices in sync, a dance and song between two entities tethered together in symbiosis. Return to an age of high scores and edge of your seat terror where the world around you becomes quiet and numb as all that matters is the game living between your palms. http://www.kumobius.comFractured Soul Developed by Endgame Studios Fractured Soul is a retro style platform game like Mega Man, except that it is played across both screens of the 3DS at once. It features: 5 worlds - each with unique properties on the upper screen (such as inverted gravity), shmup sections, and online leaderboards to compete for the best speedrun times in the world. http://www.fracturedsoul.comInFlux Developed by Impromptu Games InFlux is a puzzle game that mixes exploration and puzzle platforming in a series of beautiful natural and abstract environments. You are a mysterious metal sphere which falls from the sky, traversing an apparently deserted island dotted with cubic structures of glass and steel. Each glasshouse is a puzzle to be solved. http://www.impromptugames.comMacGuffin’s Curse Developed by Brawsome When fugitive magician Lucas MacGuffin bungles a museum robbery, he finds himself bound to an ancient amulet, trapped in a city in high-tech lockdown, and suddenly fighting the urge to scratch himself. As a human, Lucas is agile and cunning. As a gigantic wolf, he’d rather smash anything in his way. Only by transforming between the two forms, cleverly utilising both sets of skills, will he stand any chance of lifting his curse. Along the way he’ll need to befriend a hilarious cast of characters, convince the city its most beloved citizen is a terrifying criminal mastermind, and hardest of all, teach his daughter it isn’t funny to fill the fridge with dog food. http://www.brawsome.com.au
Too many familiar faces
Black Annex sounds cool. Pity that there are additional requirements that block out games that have already been released. I mean really, does Alexander Bruce need another award for Antichamber, or would this kind of exposure be more deserving for another indie developer that could do with the exposure..?
I can definitely see your point
I can definitely see your point, but if the criteria is to choose the best games to represent the indie space down under rather than what deserves to get promoted, then I am very much ok with what was selected. I can see that they really tried to choose a variety of titles for this showcase.
You're right, Antichamber already has a tonne of awards and a whole lot of media and gamer attention (it's quite pleasing to read some random gaming forum not related to the local industry and see their readers gush at how much they are enjoying it), and as a title to represent the great stuff that is being made here, I can think of no better game.
But yes, there are definitely other titles that I wish had just as much exposure and accolades as Antichamber. Personally, I can't speak highly enough of Farmergnome's Under the Ocean survival game. If there was any justice in the world, Paul and Michael would be swimming in awards and sales from it.