Jason Imms

But I swear, there is a whole-ass documentary to tell on the Australian games scene. It’s my dream project that I won’t ever take to fruition. If I can help you make it happen, that would be ticking-off two bucket list items!

lol whatever you like 😆

Let me know if you want a brief backgrounding chat in whatevever downtime you can scrape together while we’re in the same time zone, or once you’re back home and getting thoughts together!

Danny, for the record we're riffing on Pavlova, a New Zealand dessert that Australia has famously claimed as its own, much like Russel Crow, Crowded House, the Lamington, and ANZAC Biscuits.

omg it's so good but have you tried Paovolovoia? Goodness.

Tana ilu almost as much as I love Australian invention, Pavolova.

The last 15 years have been a fascinating period of independent growth, people with no experience or an idea of what they're getting themselves into building a new industry on top of the ashes of what came before, returning international investment, government support, and much more.

LONG story short, The Crash was when the GFC, the loss of the Australian Interactive Games Fund (AUD$14m in grants) and the value of AUD vs. USD swapped, meaning every single Aus studio (almost 100% international satellites) shut down. Our veterans left the country/industry, and indies were born.

Ay come to Parallels next year - your eyes will be even wider!

I've been around forever and was once a games journo for Gamespot, happy to give you a quick crash course if you want a call! I've just come home to Tasmania from MIGW, but happy to help seed your trip with some Aus history so SXSW is as fruitful as possible!

I am extremely pleased. You’re here to see how the Australian game scene has grown since it’s huge crash 15 years ago. There are many of us who can help you connect to the people you want to speak to, feel free to reach out!

I feel the same way. The only exceptions to this for me have been Timberborn (which I've put HUNDREDS of hours into various forms of its EA life) and to some extent Satisfactory, but only because even in its unfinished form I had a huge amount of fun with it. I may not go back to the latter, tho.

I feel this very deeply, which is why I was so delighted and surprised to get my "developed" camera roll from Firewatch sent physically to my house. I genuinely treasure what are functionally just some screenshots!

Ffff that SUCKS. Murdoch doesn't need your money. He's fine.

"Here's Binge Basic for only $2 per month!"
Motherfuckers get it through your skull:
I AM NOT PAYING YOU TO ADVERTISE TO ME

This writeup would be sick for @aftermath.site and/or @thisweekinvideogames.com (cc @lukeplunkett.com @edmondtran.bsky.social)!

Meg and her son Lyndon together are the Michael Jordan of covering indies at PAX Aus, a generational family work ethic. Incredible stuff. Commission Meg now, I know from first hand experience that she can write compellingly about any one of these 150 (!!!) games.

PAX 2025.xlsx

Here is a player facing spreadsheet of 150 indie games from PAX. Aus, NZ and SE Asia. Game name, steam (or other) link, demo y/n, genre, comments (which I'm editing). Please share. Let's work together to connect people to Aussie indies. I'm going to tag people next. docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

Thank you to our speakers, to my fellow board members, our incredible co-directors @madmacsfuryroad.bsky.social and @louieroots.bsky.social, our showcase game makers, and especially to the 1000 people who joined us this year for one of the most meaningful Parallels I've had the privilege to witness.

Thinking more about #Parallels25, my primary take-away is the same as it is every year:

Life is overwhelming.
The world is a nightmare.
Politics are exhausting.

BUT: We keep making art! Art is vital, beautiful, heartwarming, and a salve against everything that ails us.

Freeplay Parallels 25: everything revealed at the show | ScreenHub: Film, TV, Streaming and Games Freeplay Parallels 25 was a celebration of fun, experimental indie games, and how developers continue to create in a storm of complications.

here’s my full talk roundup for freeplay parallels 25, an excellent evening all around!!

Glad you could be there, Leah!

Onya Danny

can you imagine just sitting down to plan this and not feeling any shame or hesitation. seeing jane goodall on the tv as you’re doing it and how her thing was gorillas and yours is getting ready to deport a guy who’s been wrongly imprisoned since reagan’s first term

In case you missed it - Shape Sender Deluxe has a demo on Steam you can play now!
⭐🟥🟠
If you play it and wishlist it I'll give you a crisp high-five next time I see you, I promise 🤞🏽

store.steampowered.com/app/2976470/...

Absolutely! And that time that kid came up while we were chatting and asked for your autograph!

I was talking about you today! Miss you, old friend ❤️

We have been through HELL. Many have lost jobs, studios, and opportunities, but on the whole we have faced an existential crisis similar to the crash of 2010 and we’re STILL HERE.

I wish we had more opportunity this week to explore why were more resilient than we once were, and how move forward.

Heading home after Freakon, GCAP, Parallels, and a little bit of PAX.

I have missed you all, and it was amazing to reconnect and feed my extrovert. Thank you for challenging me, encouraging me, and reminding me that this community of heartful and artful game makers give me life and love ❤️

I still think the most accurate and consistent way to think about generative AI is that, in every instance, people exclusively use it for tasks that they don't have any respect for or give a shit about.