PAX Rising at PAX Aus 2015

Australian games:

Armed with Wings: Rearmed (Sun-Studios)

Armed with Wings: Rearmed has a fantastic art style that stood out to me among the rows of games featured at PAX Rising. Developed by Sun-Studios, Armed with Wings: Rearmed is a reinvented version of the popular Armed with Wings web game that was released in 2008. You play as a warrior and an eagle, solving puzzles and fighting your way through 25 levels. From the little time I spent with the game, the fighting style seems to have the type of seamless flow that makes you feel powerful without introducing complicated controls, and using the eagle to help solve puzzles feels natural. It’s incredible to think that this game was developed solely by Melbourne-based Daniel Sun. Armed with Wings: Rearmed is now available on Steam.

Early Worm

Early Worm was at PAX Rising to feature their game Skedaddle, which was one of the Student Showcase winners at GCAP 2015. This puzzle game requires you to control a number of adorable circus animals with varied skills as you attempt to navigate through each level and escape the circus. The gameplay makes me reminiscent of games like Trine, and grows steadily more difficult as you progress through the levels and have additional animals to work with and rescue. While playing the game at PAX Rising, I had a chance to chat with one of the developers. Though nervous about the number of little bugs still present in the demo version we were able to play (each of which caused hilarious results), she seemed incredibly proud of the game her team was producing, and rightly so. I look forward to watching Skedaddle progress over the coming months.

We of the Woods (Team RoboMuffin)

We of the Woods was one of a handful of PAX Rising games featured that was using virtual reality (and, therefore, had one of the longest queues in the area). We of the Woods is based on the studio’s 2014 Global Game Jam submission, We of the Forest, which allows you to exist as different animals and transfer your spirit between them as you try to unlock achievements. Only one scene was available to experience at PAX Aus 2015, but being immersed in such a unique, interesting art style was wonderful. The scene allowed players to step through some bushes into a bright world, kneel down before a curious red fox, and interact with the fox until it became scared and scampered away. I found it impossible to keep my hands still, even though I knew they wouldn’t help me through the foliage or to touch the soft fur of the timid animal in front of me. I will be watching out for how We of the Woods progresses, and in the meantime, I will continue enjoying We of the Forest.

International games: