PAX Aus 2023 is around the corner, and the ten-year celebration of the convention hitting Aussie shores is bound to be a big one, with the PAX Aus 2023 Indie Showcase winners announced. The selection features a range of Australian-made games, with four tabletop and six digital games from around the country highlighted during the event for attendees to check out.

The selection this year features a range of games, with no two alike – there’s everything from occult horror streaming sims, guided dungeon tours by a mud-crab DM, to a tabletop RPG about a travelling merchant company selling their wares. In a statement, PAX Aus called their Indie Showcase the “pinnacle of game development,” and the best starting point for indies to interact with players on the show floor. “Creativity is bursting out of the screens and across the tabletops with four tabletop and six digital games selected as part of this year’s Indie Showcase, all of which have been created by independent game
developers from across the country,” the PAX Aus team said.

If you’re keen to try out the next local cult game, we’ve rounded up all of the showcase winners here:

Digital PAX Aus 2023 Indie Showcase Winners

Copycat (Spoonful of Wonder)

A reflective, narrative-focused game about rejection, belonging and the meaning of home. Newly-adopted rescue cat Dawn is cast out from her home by a jealous stray copycat, and goes on an adventure to find a real family, learn to let go, and explore the human-pet bond. It could be described as “Stray meets Life Is Strange in The Stanley Parable universe.”

Crash Course Builder (Wombat Brawler)

Crash Course Builder is a “crazy rhythm racer” that sees players race and crash their way through impossible obstacle courses with hilarious rag doll physics. Players can build their own courses to share with others in this intense (and kind of goofy), mayhem-filled title.

darkwebSTREAMER (We Have Always Lived In The Forest)

darkwebSTREAMER is a horror RPG streaming sim where you control an occult streamer on the dark web. Explore the internet and find creepy (and cursed) things to show on your streams to grow your subscribers, all the while dealing with ominous paranormal and occult distractions that could help or hinder your streaming career (and safety).

Primordials Legends: Hollow Hero (Toybox Games Studios)

An epic storytelling game set in the fantasy world of Eridal, Hollow Hero follows the story of Brunt, Oak-Hide, a huge anthropomorphic wombat on a journey to save her people. Get transported to a mysterious world in this lore-rich, Lord of the Rings-esque adventure and immerse yourself in Eridal.

The Drifter (Powerhoof)

Described as a dark, pulp adventure thriller from the team behind Crawl, protagonist and drifter Mick Carter witnesses a murder, is pursued by mysterious, armed men, and killed. Mick finds himself alive again moments before his death, and is sucked in to a “mad web of shadowy corporations, murder, and the thousand-year old obsession of a madman,” all while grappling with his own death and unexplained revival.

The Dungeon Experience (Bone Assembly)

A hilarious first person guided adventure which sees a mud-crab turned entrepreneur play the role of Dungeon Master and tour guide. Encounter the dungeon’s inhabitants alongside your crabby DM, all the while exploring the depths of the dungeon and uncovering the “mystery of the great elimosphere” in an absurd and hilarious adventure. According to the game’s footnote, the corruption spreading throughout the realm is NOT from the asbestos and your mud-crab friend would like you to stop leaving negative reviews on his very legitimate and safe business venture.

Tabletop PAX Aus 2023 Indie Showcase Winners

Alien Frenzy (Comet Squid)

A card game about an alien invasion that sees players take charge of recruiting a team of zany characters as they try to defend against wandering aliens on Earth that seek to cause chaos.

Boba Master (Quokka Games)

From the creators of the PAX Aus 2022 Indie Showcase winner, Yum Cha, comes an engaging card game about making bubble tea. Steal from your opponents, trip them up, and try to be the first to complete your bubble teas to become the ultimate Boba Master in this rowdy game that’s just begging you to be a menace while making adorable (and delicious) bubble tea.

Kingless: Festival of Explosions (Two19)

The Festival of Explosions is the first expansion to Kingless, a fast-paced and easy-to-learn card game. Players go on a quest to gain the most influence to become King, while the player with the least influence is ‘the fool.’ Recruit from 38 unique dwarves from the Hammer and Crown during the yearly chaotic Festival of Explosions to help you take the crown from other players.

Saltfish & Almanacs (Storybrewers Roleplaying)

Saltfish & Almanacs is a tabletop RPG following a merchant company on a yearly journey through both old and new locations, meeting other adventurers and merchants along the way. Buy and sell your wares, experience life on the road and go down the path less travelled as you part ways with your fellow merchants and discover yourself and the impact others have made on their own journeys.

PAX Aus 2023 is running October 6-8 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. The PAX Aus Indie Showcase winners will be set up on the show floor for attendees to check out throughout the weekend so you can find your next favourite indie game to tell all your mates about.