The PAX AUS 2024 Indie Showcase area is bound to be one of the most popular, as it is every year, but this time with more games! Joining the six digital games this year are six tabletop games, the most ever featured in a PAX AUS Indie Showcase.

There’s bound to be something for everyone here, from the VR world of Max Mustard to the slow-motion bullet time of Anticitizen: Red to the roleplaying Spirit needed to succeed in Fight With Spirit.

Here are all the winners of the PAX AUS 2024 Indie Showcase.

Digital Video Games

MAX MUSTARD – Toast Interactive

Immerse yourself in the world of Max Mustard, a made for VR platformer meticulously crafted to deliver top-notch gameplay and unforgettable experiences. Combining the best of first-person power-ups with the timeless charm of classic third-person platforming, Max Mustard offers an irresistible blend that will keep you hooked from the moment you step into its virtual world. Embark on a heroic quest alongside our fearless protagonist Max to rescue adorable mudpups from the clutches of the devious Stubbins. Journey 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. Max Mustard is a thrilling odyssey paying homage to the classic platformers of yesteryears while offering a fresh and innovative gaming experience. With 40 hand crafted levels, each bursting with surprises, inventive mechanics, and endless variety, Max Mustard is an epic adventure that will capture your imagination and keep you coming back for more!

Max Mustard is out now on Meta Quest 2/3/Pro and PS VR2

Ascending Inferno – Oppolyon Studios

Experience rage-inducing precision platforming as a recently deceased soccer player damned to Inferno! Kick your sibling’s soul out of Hell for your chance at redemption! Vincent cannot ASCEND INFERNO without you. Thank heavens he’s conveniently shaped like a soccer ball… with eyes. You’ll have to kick, header, juggle and jump your way out of Inferno. As you ascend, each layer of Inferno will fight to keep you down in mechanically unique ways, so make sure to stay on your toes. A word of advice: don’t fall down. Not only will the smallest of mistakes prove to be costly, but Vincent will always jump at the opportunity to berate you whenever you fail. ‘Jump’ in the figurative sense of course because (as discussed above) he has no legs.

Ascending Inferno is coming to PC, and a demo for the game avaliable now on the Steam Page.

Anticitizen: Red – 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. Meet a unique cast of Aussie battlers, delve into the lore of the new American empire, and stay for the true blue charm.

Anticizen: Red is coming to PC, and you can wishlist on Steam now.

Untethered – True Anomaly Entertainment

Stranded in deep space, you must survive against all odds. Scavenge from wreckage, process resources, and build your own space station – a refuge in the most hostile of environments.

Untethered is coming to PC and Linux, where it’ll launch in Early Access. A demo for the game is available now on Steam.

Rita – SporkTank

Explore, collect, solve, converse, and platform your way as loveable chicklet Rita through this charming word-based puzzle adventure game!

Rita is coming to PC, and you can wishlist the game on Steam now.

The Rewinder 2 – Misty Mountain Studio

The Rewinder 2 is an action adventurEasterninspired by eastern mythology. Expl andre cursed, unlocks, dungeons,. Unlock new skills and meet all sorts of ghosts and monsters.

The Rewinder 2 is coming to PC, and you can wishlist the game on Steam now.

TABLETOP GAMES

Fight With Spirit – Storybrewers Roleplaying

Passion, victory, and friendship. Fight with Spirit is a sports drama rpg about a team growing up together and fighting for their passion. In this game, you’ll hone your skills, face down rivals, and strive to take your team to the national championships. Along the way, you’ll explore friendships, feelings, and the fleeting nature of your time together. Fight with Spirit is built to tell sports stories inspired by anime such as Free, Run with the Wind, and Chihayafuru, as well as high school movies like Bring it On, and Remember the Titans. Take your team to the top! Play a high school or college sports team battling your way through a major tournament. Your relationships, motivations and team will change as you grow, learn, and connect, on and off the court. Your team will win ultimate victory, or they will find defeat. But it is love, hope, and passion that are the real stakes on your journey, as you grow up together and share the moments until school ends.

Fight With Spirit is avaliable now and you can order the game via Storybrewers website here.

Oracle – Oracle Games

Oracle is a thrilling blend of battle and social deduction. In Oracle, each player is given a secret role card. On it is an objective to eliminate specific players, but the catch is, no one knows who is who. Through observation alone, you must deduce who those players are. Use your cards to construct powerful buildings, launch strategic attacks, and defend would-be allies, all for the sake of completing your objective before anyone else. Perfect for casual meetups and parties, it is extremely easy to learn and play, with simple rules and a playtime of 15-30 minutes.

Oracle is available now, and you can purchase the game via Amazon.

Frayed Ally – Button Fox

A party card game featuring deduction, strategy and explosive misfortune. Unleash your inner animal and fight for survival with 2–8 players.

Frayed Ally is available now; however, as of writing, the game is sold out on the Button Fox website.

MEAN! – Mean Games

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. You can use special cards to change the direction to block your rivals, force strategic hand swaps or wield the mighty MEAN! card to punish your frenemies and take them down. 2-8 players, 15 min playtime.

MEAN! is available now and you can order the game via the Mean Games website.

Glade – Teafrog Games

Glade is a new tabletop game for 3 to 6 players. The goal of the game is to create a mystic garden around your ‘homestead’ that outscores your opponents. You generate points by combining plants with matching cultivators. There are 16 unique plants with curious names. You might find yourself growing Bogwanders and Dazzlebushes, Brambledarts or Swaddlevines. Plants and cultivators share particular attributes – eg poisonous, aromatic, nut-bearing. You will also encounter ‘Decors’ – unique cards which activate game-changing effects which can grow your score or make life more difficult for your opponents. The game is played over four rounds or ‘seasons’. The garden, or field, that you grow around your ‘homestead’ creates your final ‘glade’. Luck plays a part but the game also rewards strategic players who can sabotage opponents’ garden plans.

Nimbus – Neural Forge

Nimbus is a highly dynamic abstract strategy game designed to double as a table centrepiece. The goal in Nimbus is to eliminate your opponent’s Nimbus piece by moving your pieces around the board according to their current movement mode, however you can change the movement mode of one of your pieces every turn, resulting in a challenging tactical experience.

Nimbus is available now, and you can order the game via Neural Forge’s Etsy page here.

What games are you interested in checking out from the PAX AUS 2024 Indie Showcase? Let me know in the comment section below.