Media Release:
The indie scene is set to take centre stage in Melbourne this October! PAX Australia has officially announced the winners for the PAX Aus 2026 Indie Showcase.
The Indie Showcase is easily one of my absolute favourite parts of PAX Aus every single year. There’s nothing quite like walking the show floor, getting hands-on with fresh indie games, and chatting directly with the passionate developers bringing these unique projects to life.
Powered by Superloop, which is upgrading the showcase pods with better tech, larger artwork displays, and giving each winning dev team 12 months of free super-fast internet, the 2026 lineup highlights 12 exceptional titles split evenly between digital and tabletop creations.
Here is your breakdown of the incredible Aussie indie talent heading to the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre from October 9–11, 2026.
Digital Winners
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Cozy Game Restoration (Parasol Corp): A relaxing simulator centered around cleaning, repairing, and restoring dusty, nostalgic video game cartridges back into prized collectibles.
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Key Fairy (Owl Machine): A hand-drawn, 2D pacifist bullet-hell action-adventure where players dance around monsters to collect shattered stars while dodging forgotten gods.
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Finch & Archie (Octarine Arts): An episodic, Great Depression-era co-op noir murder mystery featuring Detective Jack Finch and his police dog, Archie.
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The Last Exterminator (Ironworks Games): A retro-inspired 90s blockbuster shooter running on a custom in-house engine, packed with over-the-top action and corny humor.
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Mission Delta (Polarity Games): A fast-paced co-op action roguelike shooter where players battle up a corporate skyscraper to bring down Delta Corp.
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A Real Life Party (Silakka): A comedy game using first-person grid-based movement, real photography/video sequence crosscutting, and full voice acting to capture the awkward horror of waiting for a friend at a house party full of eccentric roommates.
Tabletop Winners
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Thrive (Avant-Card Games): A fast-paced (15-min) secret-choice card game where players manage animal energy and forage to out-survive rivals.
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Aqueducks (Corkscrew Games): A Roman- and duck-themed 3D tableau deck-builder where players establish a duck metropolis to earn the favor of the Pondifex.
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Deathbed (Devil Juice): A tense hand-management political card game where players maneuver for influence while performing eulogies for a dying king.
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Drago’s Dreamland (Emily Dallwitz): An imaginative adventure game 30 years in the making, where rainbow pixies travel to collect 20 wisdom points through rich storytelling and variable playstyles.
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Caught in the Rain (The Ravensridge Emporium): A GM-less/solo tabletop roleplaying game focused on investigating scene-based mysteries across any genre.
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Wireburn (Wireburnthegame): A high-octane 1–6 player cyberpunk card game featuring 5-color NULL shields, packet hijacking, and system-detonating mechanics.
Attendees can get hands-on with all 12 games and meet the developers in person at PAX Aus 2026. Tickets and festival info are available on the official PAX Aus website.
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