We had the opportunity to play some excellent games at PAX Aus this year, the Australian leg of PAX, one of the world’s most popular gaming conventions. These games proved to be some great examples of humor, horror, and adventure with some of them providing an endlessly enjoyable arcade-like experience.
With bigger experiences, smaller experiences, shooters, puzzlers, and everything in between, here are the 10 best games we saw while we were attending PAX Aus 2022.
Sonic Frontiers
Sonic Frontiers, which is currently slated to release in November, was genuinely fun to play. Any fan of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise knows that the games can be hit or miss. Fortunately, Sonic Frontiers seems to be one of the good ones. Touted as an open-world Sonic game, the gameplay feels like most of the 3D Sonic games, but its open world gives the player more ways to explore the game than usual, ditching linear puzzles for some fun hidden ones.
The combat also feels unique, taking out enemies and bosses with multiple dashes, along with some new abilities. Sonic Frontiers also contains some smaller levels more akin to levels in the other games, almost remixing the environments from the older games as an homage. None of this sacrifices Sonic’s speed either with his movement still as fluid as ever. Sonic Frontiers is set to release on Nov. 8, 2022, on all platforms.
Street Fighter 6
The newest installment in the insanely popular Street Fighter franchise features some very fun, tight gameplay. Street Fighter 6 which is slated for a 2023 release on all platforms, might have been the second-largest presence at PAX Aus 2022, and it was well deserved. We had the choice of playing as a few different characters, with the few rounds this writer put in bouncing between Ryu and Chun-Li.
Now sporting some facial hair, daddy Ryu can still pull off a tight Hadouken, while Chun-Li’s kicks still managed to knock him on his butt. Even though I’m not the best at fighting games, it is plain to see that Capcom has managed to inject some much-needed vibrancy into their franchise, with every match popping off the screen and sounding exactly how you expect. It is not that hard to imagine sinking tens of hours into the game once it releases to truly master some of those combos.
Rite
This is the only game on our list that you can actually buy right now. Rite is a precision platformer where you control a small creature called a Nim, and get to the end of each level avoiding traps while collecting gold and a key scattered throughout the levels. While playing the demo the hardest thing about the game was walking away from it, as the bite-sized levels were a fun breeze to get through, and they were the right kind of addictive.
Rite, like most of the games it was inspired by, is at its best when you die. The gameplay is simple, but because precision is key, you will die and want to come back every time. It was made by a single developer out of Adelaide, Australia and while the game has been available on PC for a while now it has recently come to Nintendo Switch. Check it out on Steam.
Anger Foot
A new game from developer Free Lives pits endless goons and tight corridors against the player and your angry foot. Anger Foot is a first-person shooter, where in addition to the guns you can pick up, you can kick your enemies to death. The game is as colorful as it is ridiculous, like when you kick in the doors of a bathroom to see the blurred genitals of the poor henchman you just killed. The music thumps right along with your kicks and shots, absolutely adding to the punishing but overwhelmingly awesome experience.
The cartoonish style of Anger Foot is great too, adding to the aesthetic we have come to know from the developers of Genital Jousting. The game, along with Gunbrella, was part of Devolver Digital’s booth at PAX, and it’s worth noting that they had couches as their seating for the demos. Comfortable seating goes a long way when you’re walking around a convention hall all weekend, otherwise, you will end up with some angry feet. Anger Foot has a planned release date of 2023 on Steam, and you can play the demo here.
Tempopo
The cutest game we came across at PAX Aus was a puzzle game called Tempopo. Made by the developer behind Unpacking you are the overlord in a vibrant green world trying to rescue flowers, backed by a very chill soundtrack. When you think you have placed everything in the right place you then play the level, leaving the Tempopo to move on their own, guided by your choices. What makes the game calming is that you can just sit back and enjoy your plan playing out once you’ve set up your path.
And while the game itself is absolutely fantastic, it was also available to play on the Steam Deck, which we got our hands on even though they aren’t available in Australia. These portable Steam devices make the PlayStation Vita look like a flip phone, and hopefully, they release globally sometime soon, along with Tempopo.
Steamcore
Steamcore is a fun assault-based third-person multiplayer shooter about to be in early access on Steam. You control a mercenary and venture to other planets to steal their resources and take them back to your own. While you attempt to steal this valuable resource, you face other mercenaries and rogue robots who try to stop you. The gunplay is fun, and attacking the robots feels very satisfying.
Aside from the gameplay, Steamcore is pushing another type of mechanic, Twitch integration. Promoting what at first seems too good to be true, they promise high Twitch views while you climb up the leaderboards of the game, as the highest-ranked players are guaranteed to get the most viewers via their Twitch integration. If being good at the game does garner you viewers it’s a neat idea, but luckily the gameplay is solid enough for that not to matter too much.
Dredge
If you are afraid of the water or the spooky creatures that can come from the depths of the ocean, this might not be the game for you. Dredge is made up of some interesting mini-games, designed around you navigating the sea and catching some fish. Steering your ship around the water allows you to find new areas to catch different, and increasingly mutated fish. After catching the fish you have to Tetris and Resident Evil style fit the fish into your inventory before taking them back to the port to upgrade your equipment.
After spending five minutes with the game it was easy to see how compelling the loop of catching fish and returning to the harbor would be, with the inventory management forcing you to be clever with which fish you catch. Dredge is being developed by a small team out of New Zealand and it is set to release in 2023. You can play the first chapter here.
Gunbrella
Gunbrella was the other game at PAX Aus that was a part of Devolver Digital’s booth. Watching footage of the game does not really do justice to just how fluid the gunplay feels in Gunbrella, with the floaty movement of the Gunbrella (a gun crossed with an umbrella) adding some interesting verticality to the close-quarters combat. The world is also instantly compelling, with a somewhat steampunk noir setting.
You play a woodsman who makes his way through towns and the endless supply of goons who come up against him. The characters in Gunbrella are just as compelling as its world too, befitting the noir story and setting. The pixel art style has a certain beauty to it, even though most of the levels are a murky brown. Gunbrella is set to release in 2023 but you can play the demo right now, here.
The Godfeather: A Mafia Pigeon Saga
If you liked the humor of Untitled Goose Game you might be in for a treat with The Godfeather: A Mafia Pigeon Saga, the game where you work your way up in the pigeon mafia. The gameplay is fairly simple, you control a pigeon and fly around town as you poop on unsuspecting townsfolk. As the neighborhood security systems get alerted to your presence, you will need to avoid a drone by swooping into a tree and waiting until it leaves to continue causing chaos and teaching the town who really runs things.
The real bright spot of the game lies in its humor, never missing a beat to make a bird or wiseguy-related pun. The mafia angle is hilarious, and because of how the dialogue is paced, not overplayed. The Godfather is being developed by the Sydney-based Hojo Studio and it is set for a release in 2023. You can play the first level, the suburbs, in the demo which is available here.
Vlad Circus: Descend into Madness
Vlad Circus: Descend into Madness might have been the creepiest game showcased at PAX Aus 2022. Developed by Indiesruption, a games studio in Argentina, it is a psychological horror, pixel art adventure game, that is set in the 1920s after a circus burnt down. The art style is reminiscent of old oil paintings, which adds to the eerie feeling the game instills in the player.
Without spoiling the story too much, there is a moment early on which is very reminiscent of the first Resident Evil. While it does have action mechanics it is very much more of a puzzle adventure game, navigating the character, Oliver Mills, through the creepy setting. The soundtrack is great too, emphasizing the macabre nature of the setting. The eerie, creepy vibes of the game make it a must-try when Vlad Circus Descent into Madness releases in 2023.
These were not the only games showcased at PAX Aus 2022, with an abundance of indies sharing their work across the show floor. But not all of these games were easily accessible, for example, one game called Letters to Arralla had a small booth on one of the higher levels of the convention. While they were also a small team and their demo was fairly simple, Letters to Arralla had one major thing going for it, a beach ball that I absolutely needed to kick around the game’s small map.
We hope that you check out some of the games featured on this list, and many of the others which were on display throughout PAX Aus 2022, as their demos are easily accessible from home. And of course, please check out the final products when they eventually release.
