Despite many unfair comparisons to its competition over the last two years, last month The Game Expo (or TGX) came out swinging as the most varied and upbeat event I’ve seen in Australia in about five years.
Are the Indie and Tabletop sections smaller than those at PAX Australia? Sure. Could you say the artists alley and fighting game areas don’t have as much on offer as a Supanova or Battle Arena Melbourne respectively? Probably. Size isn’t everything though, and these points really worked in the event’s favour.
Many of the big gaming and pop culture events we’ve become accustomed to in Australia have been around for years, and they’ve felt increasingly stale to me the longer they’ve been around. The smaller size and more eclectic content mix at The Game Expo made it feel far more accessible and less overwhelming than the roughly week-long stints that folk will run during Melbourne International Games Week or SXSW Sydney.
The open bar for VIP pass holders feels more alive every year too – if you’re in the mood to splurge, that is.
TGX Director Dan Chlebowczyk said that players and gaming communities were front of mind for the team coordinating the show. “We just want to give people a show that has the feeling of the best gaming experiences that we’ve had, and that involves people doing things they like to do as players, first and foremost,” he said.
“So, it’s really a case of […] looking at what people want to see at gaming events and gaming communities that haven’t had a voice or need to be surfaced to see what cool things they do and providing a space for that.”
Dan and the team have also worked on Battle Arena Melbourne for over a decade, and he said that experience informed how The Game Expo has grown to this point.
“[Battle Arena Melbourne is] a 1000-person player event, so as a tournament it’s huge. It’s the biggest in the country of its kind, but it taught us a lot about adding in elements like cosplay and artist alley and having features like our LAN space alongside it,” he said.
The Game Expo focused on both attendees and exhibitors
Ben Droste is the solo developer of puzzle-based Metroidvania, Memory’s Reach, and brought a special demo to playtest on the The Game Expo show floor.
“It’s a bit more work-in-progress, and it’s an opportunity to get people sitting down playing the game for good 30 minutes or so, and […] taking a lot of notes on how it’s playing out so that I can take that home, improve the demo, and then next time I release it on Steam or I do a bigger show, then I can have a much better product ready,” he said.
“I’m not exactly going to get people to come into my apartment and play it in my living room, so shows like this are […] one of few opportunities to do live playtests.”
Ben appreciated The Game Expo’s size and focus on indie games compared to other big events.
“I think all the games here are indie games. There’s a bunch of indie tabletop games, and there’s a whole bunch of […] independent artists and stuff. It’s a really cool vibe.”
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Unlike most other gaming and pop culture exhibitions, the show felt almost as much for the attendees to enjoy as it was for the exhibitors. This is in stark contrast to any PAX Australia I’ve attended the last few years, where half my time has been checking in on my friends stuck working at a booth (though, this could be partly thanks to other events wearing out folk through Melbourne International Games Week).
While I’m excited to see The Game Expo continue to grow, I hope it’s able to keep this upbeat energy and exciting content mix the way Dan described it to me: “It’s a place to go to enjoy gaming in a way […] when you’re talking to your friends, and you want to get together on the weekend and gaming is part of your life. It’s really a great fit for that feeling.”
