PAX Australia, a gaming convention held from October 30 to November 1 in Melbourne was full of Dungeons and Dragons enthusiasts, cosplayers, and hundreds of great games.
All the big players were there, but the developers in the New Zealand and Australian indie exhibit definitely matched their major competitors for creativity.
Here are 5 of the best games from the convention.
- Goat Punks
In this game there are small fire-throwing goats. What more could you need?
It was created by Studio Canvas, Blue Mountains-based developers. Goat Punks is a multi-player game. Get your goat to the peak and shoot meteors and fireballs at your opponents to defend your position. If you can hold your position for 30 seconds, you win the game.
- Marble Mountain
The goal is to roll your cowboy-hat-wearing marble to the peak of the mountain and find the treasure. You also have an Occulus Rift headset that provides you with the third-person perspective to help you achieve your goal.
Shannon Pickles, a designer and business manager at Lightning Rock studio, says that the third-person perspective offers another level of immersion. You will be able to look around a corner and view what’s coming, and in areas where there are water effects, you can poke your head through a waterfall.
The game will be going live in January 2016 on Mac, PC and Linux.
- No Humanity
This game is created by Sweaty Chair, a studio in Sydney. You fly your small spaceship across the screen and try to avoid the scary blobs, children, nasty fish and bombs that continuously crash into you. Sounds simple, but you die within seconds.
The game is available on iOS and Android.
- Hollow Knight
This 2D adventure game has an emphasis on exploration. You walk your sword-carrying character through the kingdom of Hallownest – which is underground – learning new skills and fighting monsters.
The characters’ animation is by hand, which gives the game a classic feel.
Although the game is still in development, they hope to release it in the first half of 2016 on Mac, PC, Wii U and Linux.
- Element
The goal is to escape a decaying solar system by mining elements on a planet and conquering that planet’s enemy. You will require a balance of air, earth, fire and water resources, as well as attack and defense units in order to defeat your opponents.
The game is not yet released, but the goal is to have it released on mobile and Steam by the end of 2015 and Xbox One and Playstation 4 by early 2016.