Change is inevitable in this chaotic world we live in, especially if you’re unlucky enough to live in my apocalypse-prone SimCity save files. Thankfully, not all change comes with a spoon full of dread, and Playup’s new venue was a vibrant place to bring the freshest games into the fray. The thing that got me was just how cool the Nostalgia Box was. I expected something rad, but I wasn’t expecting to get swept up in waves of (funnily enough) nostalgia! Anyway, we’re here to talk about games being made right now, and there were plenty on show.

Screen Fighters

Right in the centre of the room was Screen Fighters, a game all about pushing your opponent off the edge of the screen with gold and dynamite. Both players control a pirate ship in gold-infested waters, and the more gold you get, the more your screen takes over theirs. The trick is that you can shoot along the screen to push it over, or you can just aim to get a heap of gold and win through being the richest pirate of them all. There’s a new indicator to show where you shoot, which is a welcome alternative to not having a clue. It’s one of the niftiest ideas I’ve seen in a while, and I’m very excited to see how it evolves in the future.

Samurai Showdown

Samurais aren’t too well known for their rhythmic skills (unless we’re talking about their music), but Samurai Showdown is all about hitting the right buttons at the right time. At this point, the game involves pressing the right buttons faster than your adversary to dominate them in a duel. It sounds simple, but it’s ever so satisfying when you pull it off. If it goes in a direction remotely similar to One Finger Death Punch, colour me keen.

Vectonic

Fuelled by ‘80s fever dreams and memes danker than a low-lit cavern, Vectonic is just as ridiculous as ever. The game has you fly around in strange ‘80s hovercrafts on a strange ‘80s wireframe block of terrain, either to destroy your opponent or play cube-soccer with them. This was the first time I got to play cube-soccer with someone, and as new as it is, there’s something so satisfying about trying to get a cube to roll a certain direction by ramming it. Combine that with some camera fixes since the last Playup and Vectonic’s looking in good shape!

Glitz

Glitz lies in the blurred region between Twister and Jenga, and may be a hidden gem of the Perth scene (Eh? Get it?). The game involves stacking gems atop other gems, with the first player to stack up their gems without messing up the last one taking home the glinting hoard of victory. The tweezers were in full swing this time around, and it made me feel too much like an archaeologist on a dig site to remember I’m not Indiana Jones. Hopefully the feedback Wes was receiving is enough for him to take this out of the prototyping phase, because I’m interested to see what else happens with the game!

Little Bit Lost

Ambition isn’t in short supply here in Perth, so it shouldn’t be surprising that at least one dev is making something bigger than life itself. Well, bigger in a different way, since Little Bit Lost has you play a scientist who’s been shrunk down to the size of a small ant. It’s a survival game with procedurally generated terrain, and while the game is still in it’s early stages, you can punch an ant in the face. If that’s not an appealing concept, you clearly need to reassess your views on ants, because those things are gnarly.

Collateral Damage

Collateral Damage struck a nerve with me. I like mech games as much as the next guy, but you know what this game looked like? Wall-E meets Armoured Core. You control a little robot with attitude, flying around with an intent to destroy the other robots with attitude and reign supreme as the most attitude-ey robot in all the galaxy. There’s not much else to the game as of yet but what is in there so far has plenty of potential to make something great.

As usual, the event was a great time all round for us patrons and developers. The Nostalgia box proved its worth as a wicked venue, not to mention how wicked all those old consoles are. As far as changes go, this is a pretty good one, and I’m sure the future of Playup will be spectacular within these new walls. The next Playup will be happening in conjunction with the Perth Games Festival, so keep your eyes open for dates!

Going into the event, there was a bittersweet feeling in the air. After what seems like an aeon ago, this would be the final Playup Perth to be run at SK Games as they move on to greener pastures. So, what better way to end the legacy of Playups at SK than another one? Filled with great games and keen developers, the night was a great time for everyone involved. If you missed out, don’t fret, I’ve got the run-down on the games just for you (well, the ones I got around to, at least!).

Endless Runner

If there’s one thing I don’t do, it’s play mobile games, but Endless Runner definitely made me smile a bit more than I expected. Sort of like a flipped Temple Runner, Endless Runner involves running through an infinite corridor while jumping up the walls to get through barriers at various heights. It felt like a perfect time-waster for when you’re sitting on a train, and I could feel myself wanting to get further than my last run each time it ended. Hopefully Endless Runner makes a return to Playup in the future so I can see what’s being added… And beat my last run.

Final Days

Zombies may have reached critical cultural mass a few years back, but Final Days is totally cool with a bit more zombie shooting. The game is a twin-stick top-down shooter that has you fight hordes and hordes of zombies, which is a solid formula for any game these days. Funnily enough, I’ve talked to the dev, Michael, since Playup to give him even more feedback, which is kind of what Playup’s all about. He seemed pretty chuffed to be receiving more than the usual, “Oh, it’s pretty good,” and it’ll be interesting to see how it evolves from what he’s receiving.

Vectonic

Bringing the ‘80s back to the future was Vectonic, a simple game about slamming your opponents in hovercrafts. There wasn’t much else to the game than jumping up and slamming down into others, unless you count the ability to spam emojis, but that was enough to sell me. The controls were barebones, only requiring a few buttons to allow the player to move and jump around, but the mechanics were solid as all hell. After having a chat with the dev, I’m sure the game will make a return to Playup later, so I’m excited for that!

Snakez

If you’ve ever played slith.io, you’ll have a good idea of what Wes’ yet unnamed game was all about. The idea was to take Snake and make it into a multiplayer board game, with each player ‘programming’ in their moves well in advance. By doing so, short snakes could still change their trajectory every three turns or so, while huge snakes had to wait 10+ turns to reprogram. It’s an ingenious idea, and I’m very excited to see where Wes takes it.

Starlost

Everyone loves space. It’s a fact. So, when I was offered an iPad with Starlost on it, how could I refuse? The game involves guiding your spaceship around to collect resources and bring them back to the mothership. Of course, there are plenty of enemies trying to stop you, which is where your lasers come into play. For a game so early in development, it looked fantastic, and the combat was faster that a warp drive being engaged for the first time. Not much was shown off on the night, but there’s certainly a lot of potential there for something very cool.

Desert Child

The general reaction to Desert Child was along the lines of, “I have no idea what’s going. This is awesome.” The game has you race against an opponent on a hoverbike, and don’t worry, there’s plenty of lasers and whatnot to destroy anything that gets in your way. It reminded me of Another World, except instead of being focused on a story about prisoners, it was just a crazy race with debris flying everywhere. It was controlled chaos, possibly without the control, and I’m really eager to see what changes this game goes through in the future!

With all the games tried and tested, it was time for everyone to go home and for the devs to mull over all the feedback they’d received. It may not be happening at SK anymore, but Playup Perth will be back very soon. Thankfully, we won’t be running the event in a void; you can catch us down at the delightful Nostalgia Box! Stay tuned for more info!

It’s hard for opposite ends of the country to see each other’s games, especially when the middle of the country is one giant desert. Recently, interstate arcades have started popping up, where developers from across the nation come into one room to show off what they’ve been toiling on. This time at Playup Perth, it wasn’t just about the local games, with offerings from Sydney, Kalgoorlie and even Canada on show! It was an awesome event to see come together, and in Perth no less!

Goatpunks Party

Set up in the main front room was Goatpunks Party from Sydney. The game involves you, a goat, climbing to the top of various kinds of mountains (natural and manmade) and slinging fireballs at everyone else. There are a whole bunch of powerups, from shields to speed buffs, and behind the ridiculous goat-fueled aesthetic is a cunningly nuanced game. It’s a neat little party game, and it has goats, so, it’s the best thing ever.

If you have the burning desire to see more of these goats, check out the website here!

Thwart Geo

Coming all the way from Kalgoorlie was Outback Pixel’s Thwart Geo. It played a bit like asteroids on a touch screen, but there were some important distinctions. You could go for the one-shot by aiming for the middle of the floating baddies, or you could hit them and ram into them. Such strategies, of course, assume you can hit them in the first place, because holy balls, this game was HARD. If you managed to hit things, it felt legendary, and because of that, I liked this game way too much to be healthy.

You can check out Outback Pixel’s website right here!

Roid Rage

Another game from Outback Pixel, Roid Rage was introduced as UI with screen tapping. Look, if you asked me to explain what exactly this game was about, I couldn’t tell you. It was a hectic ride, and the devs certainly didn’t expect anyone to decipher it, but it acted as their jumping point. To them, this was the prototype for bigger things, so it was cool to see nonetheless. I seriously could not explain what you did, though. You tap the screen and then… Magic?

You can check out Outback Pixel’s website right here!

Projection

Shining on from the back of the room was Projection, originally developed in Sydney. The core mechanic of the game was using a light source to create shadows that acted as platforms. It reminded me a lot of Contrast, but with a tighter focus and more unusual art style. It hooked me in from the get-go, and even though I had a friend hazing me on behind me, this is a seriously cool game. I’m hoping it gets developed more because there is potential for something great here!

You can keep up to date with Projection Studios from their website!

Morro and Jasp

Gracing the Australian shores was the Canadian ‘improv’ game, Morro and Jasp. The idea is that you play as one (or both in single-player) of two sisters at an improv show. It turns out the two of them have some things to work out, but an improv show is rarely a good place to vent out your inner psyche. There’s Hamlet, there’s drinking, and there’s even an angry producer, and while some of the jokes were pretty hit-and-miss, the characters were endearing in their dysfunctional way.

You can try out Morro and Jasp yourself in your browser right here!

Rogue Blitz

Finally, for a local touch, was Rogue Blitz, by Perth’s very own Wesley Lamont. The last time I played Rogue Blitz was a few playups ago, and it’s come a long way since then. Instead of looking like a bullet hell wannabe, it now feels and evolves like a bullet hell game for tabletop. The game revolves around dodging the giant boss’ shots from the other side of the table as you gun him down with your allies. It’s a hell of a lot of fun, and it captures that old school Raiden feel!

Keep in the loop of Rogue Blitz progress from the RAEZ facebook page!

It was awesome to see games from across the country set up alongside our own. The variety of games being made by places you really wouldn’t expect to find them is outstanding, and some of them are right under our noses. I’m always blown away by the quality of games being made, and it looks like it’s not just us Perthians producing high-quality stuff!