The SXSW Sydney Games Festival plays host to games professionals, general audiences and the games-curious, bringing community and industry together around the common threads of creativity, inspiration and innovation in games. Featuring hands-on demos, seminars, panels, esports, mixers, tabletop games, parties, mentoring sessions and more, the SXSW Sydney Games Festival is an unmissable opportunity to find inspiration and connection.
Australia’s premier showcase of independent games, featuring more than 120 groundbreaking new titles from local and international developers.
Professional development is the name of the game at SXSW Sydney, with a full program of seminars, networking events, mentoring sessions, and investment opportunities tailor-made for the games industry.
Dive into the dark, eerie, and unconventional with a selection of screenings, hands-on gameplay, and commentary sessions.
A special student showcase featuring the amazing work of young and emerging game developers.
Experience the power of moving image. Featuring a full program of TV premieres, feature films, shorts, and the amazing local talent within the Asia-Pacific region, escape to a world that celebrates the screen stories shaping our future.
Lithuania
A paint-tastic roguelite shooter where you embark on a quest to become the greatest artist in the world and battle famous works of art. The battlefield is your canvas, the enemies are your paint. Literally. Each level you beat becomes a unique work of art that you get to keep.
United Kingdom
Botany Manor is a first-person puzzle game set in a Victorian English manor. You play as its inhabitant Arabella Greene, a retired botanist. Explore your house and gardens, filled with botanical research, to figure out the ideal habitat for a collection of forgotten flora. Grow each plant to discover the mysterious qualities they hold…
China
This is a Lovecraftian horror, Point and Click adventure game. Ed broke the curfew to visit his friends in order to find out the truth of his granddaughter's disappearance, but the truth was far more terrible than he thought...
Game Features:
- Black and white hand-painted art, set in the 70s of a parallel universe.
- You have a Keeper with you throughout the game.
- Using your "Awake" to explore the secrets hidden within.
- Illustrations of character or object closeups are used in the conversations. Observe carefully, and you may discover something useful.
Poland
Let your empathy guide you as you play an exciting action-adventure, creature-saver game. Understand and tame the creatures of Ava and let them lead you through a variety of ecosystems – all in the hopes of saving the planet from a life-consuming infection.
Republic of Korea
Dungeon Inn is a turn-based strategy game in which you run an inn called 'Dungeon Inn' between two guilds that hate each other.
The player takes on the role of 'Sara', the owner of the inn, and has to grow the inn by welcoming adventures from both guilds as guests, while being careful not to reveal the inn's dual business.
Let's try out different gimmicks to attract dungeon-bound adventurers to your inn, solve various problems in and around the inn, and make a fortune without getting caught.
“Who cares if they’re rivals? As long as we don’t get caught!”
India
Fishbowl is a heartfelt coming of age story told over a month where you unpack puzzles to rediscover childhood memories, video call loved ones, work from home while taking care of yourself and chores, to figure out life one day at a time.
Twenty-one year old Alo gets her first job in a new city and is living by herself while grieving her grandma’s death, the choices she makes each day will lead to a unique journey of self discovery.
‘Kusan : City of Wolves’ is a hardcore top-down shooter set in the bloody port city of Asia in the near future.
In Kusan, a light shining in darkness may be the gunfire of your enemies.
In this city, you can become an expert in unarmed combat, daggers, and various weaponry through countless fights and deaths.
Sharpen your skills, invest in them, and let the bodies hit the floor before yours hits first.
Protect the girl. Confront the will of your fallen comrades. You are faster and stronger than any beast in 'Kusan.'
New Zealand
Amidst the ruins of a post-apocalyptic Japan, genetically re-engineered dinosaurs have survived humans and become the dominant species. Ancient primal instincts ignite modern tribal wars, and the ultimate survivors must navigate a world where the balance of power has shifted in ways no one could have foreseen.
Currently, we're starting development on a protype to be a strong narrative driven game. Cineplay is a concept within Floating Rock's vision- where 2 different mediums have strong narratives to stand independently, meanwhile having plot points that overlap, offering different perspectives within the world.
Networking & Parties
The Midnighters program encompasses work that delves into dark, eerie, humorous, provocative and controversial territory. Midnighters caters to an audience that seeks out the strange and the unknown, often featuring a curated selection of outsider perspectives and narratives that challenge mainstream conventions. A selection of screenings, hands-on games and commentary sessions, our Thursday night Midnighters Screen Showcase is a special celebration of bold and unconventional media, tailored to those who revel in the unexpected.
Australia (WA)
Pie in the Sky is an old-school arcade, action game/simulation where you play as an Australian magpie, stealing food, swooping people and completing objectives to cause as much chaos as possible. Dripping with early 2000's aesthetics and charm coupled with more Australian content than you can shake a sauce bottle at, Pie in the Sky is a pick up and play, mischievous and chaotic, avian adventure!
United States of America
Raw Metal is an upcoming action stealth game which combines a top-down infiltration perspective with third-person beat-em-up combat. You play as a lone scavenger infiltrating an Orpheus mining facility on the exoplanet Charybdis, stealing whatever you can find. The deeper you dig, however, the darker the corporation’s secrets are revealed to be. With cues from extraction type games, players risk their gear the deeper they get, however rewards get evermore profitable.
Australia (WA)
Saddle up for Ricochet Rodeo, a 2D-platform, pvp brawl to see who's the fastest shooter in the pixel-rendered west. Assemble a posse of up to 8 cowboys to dance in chaotic deathmatches where bullets bounce and 1 hit kills.
Colombia
When Miho steps into the pantry to get a potato for his grandmothers' soup, he's pulled into a distant fantastical land where he must retrace the steps of a mysterious great traveler before him.
He must venture through a world of endless deserts, floating mountains, and talking beasts, outsmarting thieves and meeting quirky characters along the way.
But each time he returns to the kitchen with an ingredient, he finds things have changed in unexpected ways…
United States of America
The Diner at the End of the Galaxy is a resource management game that tasks players with managing a diner in space and navigating the politics of the interstellar factions that frequent the diner. Players must source and grow exotic ingredients, craft dishes, craft diner components from resources, and manage relationships with their clientele. This game combines strategic resource management with diplomacy elements to deliver something mechanically complex and challenging for players, while presenting a unique setting and characters.
India
A heartfelt story of ambition, struggle, and friendship told from the perspective of a young boy in fictional 90s rural India. Explore ancient palace ruins, set up your garden, cook Indian food, run errands for quirky characters, and learn about your history by making art.
United Kingdom
A cosy-punk slice-of-life narrative sim about managing a struggling record store. Chat to quirky customers with unique tastes, explore a handcrafted record collection, fall in love with bands (and their drama!), or just slack off with your colleagues - all to restore the groove!
Wax Heads is a game with:
- Gorgeous comic book art style including 50+ hand drawn records and customers
- Punchy, humorous and affectionate dialogue
- An emotional, uplifting narrative about community, mystery and underdog spirit!
- A lovingly handcrafted, immersive musical world with cozy-punk vibes
- Charming puzzle design
- Mini games... and Tamagotchis! 🥚
- Killer original soundtrack
Explore ground-breaking technologies and ideas that are changing the way we live our lives.
Dive into boundless range of Gaming tailored for game enthusiasts and more.
Get tuned in with the wave of talent within the Asia Pacific.
Explore the future of the screen industry with visionary creators and leaders who are breaking new ground.