PAX Rising - The Indie Games of PAX AUS 2026
Feature
We sent James, Brett and William off to the show floor to see what was on offer at this year's event.
The indie developers are just so enthusiastic about their games. You can hear it in their voices as they explain the game concepts to you, even on the third day of the busy event when they’re probably weary from speaking with hundreds of people and have tired legs. The games are often unique, some combining multiple genres that may be deemed too risky for AAA publishers to consider. Whilst some are still a ways off from being released, they show potential and are fun to play.
Below, we list some of our favourites from the show, and if any of these interest you, please wishlist them. In addition to these, there are heaps more that you can check out on the PAX AUS 2026 Steam page. Go and check it out!
The Dungeon Experience - Jacob Janerka
When you discover that The Dungeon Experience developer, Jacob Janerka, was also the mind behind Paradigm, you'll immediately recognise where the hilarious and somewhat eccentric dialogue and puzzles in this first person adventure have come from. A talking crab and a series of self-help tropes are just the beginning.
In our playtime with The Dungeon Experience, we were chuckling to ourselves at most of the absurd dialogue, as well as at the visual design and the puzzles, which were a sign of things to come. Guided by a mudcrab, players attempt to gain financial freedom in this 3D puzzle adventure game that has been seven years in the making. As well as the more casual main adventure game experience, players will take part in several mini games, some of which will change depending on the paths selected. If you like adventure games dripping in absurd humour, this one will be hard to look past.
Players can try out the demo of The Dungeon Experience, or can Wishlist the game on Steam now.
Killing Things With Your Friends - Flightless
We at Hooked Gamers first saw this online chaotic co-op survival game at last year's PAX AUS and there have been numerous improvements and additions since. The first thing we noticed was the lobby area. While waiting in the lobby for friends to arrive, players can now chill out by shooting some hoops - a fun game on its own. But once you head into the game with your team of up-to-four players, there are some notable changes.
Not only have the team at Flightless introduced several new arm types (each with their own weapon types) that can be used to defend against the mutant hordes, players can now swap out their heads for ones with different functionality. Once players complete small challenges within the enjoyable puzzle rooms, they can then unlock upgrades and new starting limbs for their next attempts at escaping the gauntlet of deadly experiments. Of course, you can still rip limbs off enemies and replace them as you work together to survive each of the levels.
Killing Things with Your Friends has a release window of 2027. Look out for a demo shortly, but in the meantime, Wishlist it on Steam.
Dungeon Pizza - Blab Labs
All those adventurers in your favourite role-playing games get hungry whilst they're navigating dungeons in search of loot. In Dungeon Pizza, you are the chef of a pizzeria deep within a dungeon that seeks to fulfil the adventurers' needs.
With some clear inspiration from games like Cooking Mama and from the Legends and Lattes graphic novel, players will make pizzas from the limited ingredients available, often supplied by the adventurers themselves. But they're not ordinary ingredients...Rat Chunk pizza anyone? Each of the adventurers like their pizzas cooked a certain way with their favourite ingredients, and it is up to you to get it right in this cozy cooking game. Adventurers have their own backstories that are explored throughout the game, giving it a visual novel type narrative between the cooking sections.
Dungeon Pizza does not yet have an announced release date, but fans can join the Playtest now, or Wishlist the game on Steam.
Down Under Destruction - dJOAT Games
A construction corporation is controlling the minds of the citizens of Tinnyroo, and it is up to our hero tradie Dave and his arsenal of demonic and supernatural bricks to stop them. Down Under Destruction is a stylised and chaotic first person brawler that has players taking on the role of Dave using bricks (in a sort of Thor''s Hammer way) as his weapon of choice, throwing them at anyone who stands in his way.
Down Under Destruction contains an Aussie flair, with slapstick humour, bogan dialogue and locations that Aussies will be fully familiar with, albeit in a non-copyright way. Fight off employees down at the Dunnings Hardware store, the local 6-7 convenience store, or the dilapidated train station with three different brick types, each with their own mechanics. With simple controls, players can freely swap between the bricks to create combos and maximise their destructive potential in around ten levels
Down Under Destruction is aiming for a 2027 release date. However, players can check out the demo now, and Wishlist it on Steam.
No Humanity - Internship - SweatyChair
After interviewing the SweatyChair team at last year's PAX AUS about their absurdist Tingus Goose, we were excited to check out their next title: No Humanity - Internship. As a disposable unpaid intern, you must drill deep into planets to collect resources while swinging and smashing your way to victory in this physics-based roguelike.
With comedic inspiration from Adventure Time, No Humanity - Internship provides all the whacky, zany and engaging character and world designs you've come to expect from modern animation, along with split-screen co-op so you can enjoy it with your family and friends. The tactile and physics-based controls proved to be incredibly satisfying, contributing to the progressively chaotic and bizarre levels.
No Humanity - Internship is targeting a Q1 2027 release window, with a demo currently available. Play the demo, or Wishlist it on Steam.