Indie games are such an important part of Australia’s game development ecosystem, and MIGW is one of the best times of year to get hands-on with them.
The Freeplay Festival – one of Australia’s longest running independent games organisations – commemorated its 20th anniversary this year during MIGW. The festival has long celebrated the expressive and non-commercial games coming out of ANZ, welcoming creatives outside of traditional game career pipelines. This year marks the tenth edition of Freeplay: Parallels; a games showcase featuring heartfelt, informed talks by Aussie indie game devs.
This episode, May is joined by Freeplay Co-Directors Louie Roots and Mads Mckenzie, who shed light on some of the different ‘hats’ an indie developer wears, how indie game design is informed, and what’s on offer at Freeplay: Parallels 2024.
Parallels has given a space to the unique and underrepresented perspectives that stem from Australian game makers, and expanded on traditional presentations this year by introducing a brand new playable section. The expanded format offered the opportunity to platform ten more local creatives, while offering intimate talks from ten industry experts.
Queer games and game makers were also spotlighted throughout MIGW at The Queer Games Festival Showcase and The Queer Games Festival Awards.
Creative Director of Melbourne Queer Games Festival, Luke Miller, sat down with May to discuss what defines a queer game, and how queer game design separates itself from the mainstream to create nuanced, humorous, autobiographical gems like LOGAN and Good Lord! Everyone at the Reunion for my Religious All-Girls School is a Trans Man… And They’re Hot?!
“I do think queer games are ahead of mainstream gaming in several ways. I think queer game developers care a lot about the mental health of the player… and I just think those design aims are so different to a lot of mainstream gaming,” said Miller.
