Gaming convention PAX Australia hit Melbourne last weekend, uniting gamers, cosplayers, and parents who were dragged along for an incredibly sweet union of fandom.
Now, if you’re reading this entirely unaware of what PAX is, what’s important to understand about the convention is that it’s not your average Comic-Con or Supernova experience.
For a significant part of the gaming community within Australia, PAX feels like a family reunion. And that’s by design. When you enter PAX, you’re met with a massive “Welcome Home” sign to usher you in. People from all over Australia and even overseas travel to make the event. They fly over to see the friends they play games online with and to meet new friends either through cosplay or various social events run at the convention.
So, I’m going to share everything I did at PAX and prove why it’s Australia’s largest gaming event of the year.
Aussie games at the forefront
To begin the PAX discourse, let’s start with its biggest draw — the games.
In the massive expo hall, there are a wide variety of games you can check out at your own leisure.This includes the chance to check out a bunch of indie titles made by local developers and have conversations with them.
While most of these games hitting the indie floor are still works in progress, it’s incredibly neat to see the scrappy versions while you’re there. One neat game I played was called Squat Ops, a classic Metal Gear Solid-inspired fitness game that has you squat to progress through levels, avoid guards, or knock them out.
Another favourite of mine (because I have the same sense of humour as a 14-year-old raised on YouTube Poop brainrot) was 420BLAZEIT 2: GAME OF THE YEAR. The Illuminati has stolen the world’s memes, and it’s up to you to get them back. As a result, you mow down entire rooms of Illuminati soldiers, witnessing a barrage of 2016-era memes that will throw themselves at your screen.
Finally, I was also a huge fan of My Arms Are Longer Now, a strange puzzle game where you control a Mr Fantastic-esque hand that slithers down train carriages, stealing people’s goods and belongings. If you love quirky games like Untitled Goose Game, this will scratch that same itch.
If you’d like to check out more and see what other games were on display, PAX has a list here! Check them out, watch the trailers, wish list them on Steam! It helps the devs out a tonne and can help them continue to work on their passion projects.
Plenty of social events for gamers
A staple of PAX every year is the Final Fantasy XIV booth. For years now, game publisher Square Enix has set up a sizeable booth to allow convention-goers the opportunity to try out an 8-person boss battle from the game’s latest expansion, and this year was no different. After clearing the battle, players would win a t-shirt celebrating their victory.
To recognise the release of the latest expansion, Dawntrail, the booth had two lines: one for newer players where just playing will score them a free bucket hat. For more veteran players, there was a second line where they could win a pin and a sticker if they beat the boss.
On the other side of the expo hall, convention goers can flock to check out the board and card games on offer.
If you wanted to try out Magic: The Gathering, you could score free packs of cards and take an introductory lesson to learn the game. Right next to the Magic booth was a mini-painting area, where you could go to paint a small mini-figure for a few hours quietly and take it home with you.
Similarly, there was a Star Wars card game called Star Wars: Unlimited on offer to play, which had the same format as Magic: The Gathering, except you have space and land battles simultaneously.
Panels and weddings
Keen to give your feet a rest after walking five times your average steps a day? Worry not, because PAX has a large variety of events and panels open for attendees to sit in and relax. One event in particular even made mainstream news.
On the final day of PAX, the Cult of the Lamb booth officiated two weddings for passionate fans who had bonded over their time playing the game. While on paper it sounds like an ironic bit, you’d be surprised. It was an incredibly sweet event, and the PAX crowd all turned up to cheer on the couples who gave loving speeches to one another.
@sagefoxgames We got two Cult of the Lamb weddings at PAX Aus and they were both so cute 🥹 #cultofthelamb #paxaus #pax #wedding #gaming #gamer @Cult of the Lamb ♬ Cult of the lamb start a cult – ObliviousAbomination
Panels were another big part of the event, with devs advising on how to break into the industry or discussing their game creation process. Plenty of influencers hosted panels ranging from Dungeons & Dragons with literal skill checks instead of dice rolls (which ended up raising $60k for charity) to a panel dedicated to the hot, sexy villains in video games.
Nearly every panel I stumbled into to rest my poor, weary legs was completely filled, including ones starting at 9 PM, which I think is a testament to how passionate the PAX crowd is.
Photo Ops
PAX is also home to people wanting to show off a lot of cool shit. If you’re looking for opportunities to snap a pic for your socials or to be inspired to pick up a new hobby, you’ll find plenty of inspiration here.
Several booths across PAX flexed a bunch of Australia’s amazing creative muscles, showcasing some sweet-looking models. At the Blizzard booth this year, the team had enlisted Australian YouTuber Jazza to build them a statue of the new ‘Spiritborn’ class from Diablo’s latest expansion, Vessel of Hatred.
When chatting with Jazza about creating the statue, he revealed that he had created it in only a week and that it’d be making its way over to Blizzard headquarters in the United States. He noted this was one of the biggest highlights of his career, only made possible thanks to events like PAX.
For PC-building enthusiasts, or people who love weird looking tech like Battlebots, several hardware stores had set up their own booths, flexing some insane working PC cases. One of which cost around $17,000 AUD and was built into the shape of a Medusa.
Why you should go
This year’s PAX was probably one of the best-run events I’ve attended all year. If you’re not much of a gamer and think the event won’t appeal to you, you couldn’t be more wrong. The largest appeal of PAX is that there’s something for everyone.
Want to roam around the expo floor and play some neat games? You can do that. Need a quiet space to just sit down and relax? There’s an AFK room and a PAX Playroom where you can pick up a controller and try some cozy games or board games away from the large crowds. If you’re into fashion, there’s a huge cosplay community who spend months designing and creating outfits to flex in the competitions at PAX. Want to play those beloved classics from your childhood? There are entire rooms set up to play Rock Band and other video games from Nintendo 64 all the way to the PS5.
There’s a reason why PAX week lights up Melbourne every year. If you’ve ever been curious to dip your toes into the local gaming scene, PAX is for sure one of the best introductions to it.
Image credit: PAX
The post I Went To PAX Aus 2024, Australia’s Largest Gaming Convention & Here’s Everything That Happened appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
