Screen Australia Announces $3M in Support for Local Game Selection

Screen Australia has announced the recipients of over A$3 million in digital gaming grants. This initiative aims to increase Australia’s creative output regardless of national borders. A number of studios and developers have been selected as part of the grant, each receiving a share of the fund to support the production and development of upcoming games.

In addition to the A$2.4 million made available to individual developers, A$600,000 has been set aside to support two First Nations-run game studios: lookthat is currently developing Future folkloreand Awesome Black, a social enterprise that supports First Nations creators in the development of content.

Read: Screen Australia launches First Nations Game Studio Fund

“It has been amazing to see the large number of incredibly strong applications for this latest round of Games: Expansion Pack and also for the first First Nations Games Studio fund,” said Graeme Mason, CEO of Screen Australia, in a press release.

“These projects and studios represent a fantastic mix of exciting games from talented developers from across the country, and it’s great to be able to help them hone their skills and talents and bring their creative visions to life.”

The following games have been funded as part of Screen Australia’s latest support round:

• Ailuri (NSW) – “A hand-drawn 2D co-op exploration platformer in which players take on the role of the titular Ailuri, a red panda who rescues endangered animals.”
• Covert crew (WA) – “Set in a near future fantasy world, the Covert Crew is a team of unconventional heroes motivated by good rather than fame and greed.”
• DarkwebSTREAMER (SA) – “Players take on the role of an occult streamer on the dark web whose mission is to find the weirdest and spookiest things on the internet, bring them back to their stream and impress their viewers enough to add it to the #” Best streamer on the web.”
• delphinium (SA) – “This is a narrative farming simulator with unique, dialog-based mechanics driving an emotional story from producer Heidi Borge of CinnaDev.”
• Drăculeşti (VIC) – ‘Drăculeşti is a horror novel visual novel adaptation of the classic novel, Dracula. Set in the frozen mountains of Romania, players take on the role of exiled English lawyer Roger M. Renfield, who visits Dracula’s Castle to meet an eccentric new client.
• Dryft City Kings (VIC) – “This story-driven adventure game combines role-playing and racing elements to create a unique open world where the player can progress and explore at their own pace.”
• feed the deep (QLD) – ‘feed the deep is a roguelike underwater exploration survival game where players can delve into the darkness in search of resources, upgrade their gear, and uncover the strange mysteries and mysteries that are waiting to be found and understood.”
• The Godfather Feather: A Magia Pigeon Saga (NSW) – ‘The godfather feather is a villain mafia pigeon comedy game in which players take on the role of a humble collaborator in the pigeon underworld and are tasked with retaking the old town from its enemies.
• Incolatus (WA) – “After crash-landing on a strange and alien world, now overrun by a despicable corporate entity, players must make their way through the planet and find the parts needed to repair their ship.”
• Letters to Arralla (VIC) – ‘Letters to Arralla is an exploration RPG in which players take on the role of a newly recruited mailman who is responsible for delivering letters, parcels and packages to the island’s charming residents.”
• The Reach of Memory (VIC) – “After a cryptic signal penetrates the void, players are lured into a world of ancient alien megastructures – a beautiful, awe-inspiring sight devoid of a single sign of life.”
• Mouse games – working title (SA) – ‘mouse game is a 2D action-adventure platformer starring a tiny mouse exploring a strange, interconnected world.”
• Neyyah (WA) – ‘Neyyah is a first-person point-and-click adventure game set in a mysterious archipelago full of puzzles. Through unique storytelling, puzzle-solving and world-building, the game offers players hours of non-linear gameplay as they grapple with the ambiguous ethics of truth and illusion.”
• outpost (ACT) – “Set amongst the creepy tendrils of an abandoned Antarctic base, outpost is a psychological thriller game about Indian-Australian Pete who is running away from a health diagnosis in his family.
• RPG game – working title (SA) – “An open-world fantasy role-playing game by Killerfish Games.”
• shrine house guardian (WA) – “This is a rogue-lite deck-building game in which players assume the role of a member of a diverse ‘founding family’ of Shrine House Keepers led by The Parriarch.”
• Spiritwell (VIC) – “A story-driven role-playing adventure comedy exploration game from solo developer David Chen in which players take on the role of a gentle child who runs away from home and falls into the spirit world via a mysterious well .”
• sunset (WA) – “This story-driven exploration adventure game invites players to take on the role of Mary, a wannabe astronaut who never got to fly into space.” “Mary is 93 years old and suffering from dementia when players Put on slippers to traverse memories and hallucinations in a last ditch effort to go into space.”
• Tame the dragon once (SA) – “This educational adventure platformer from My Colorful Mind is set in the fantastical land of yore, once full of color and life and inhabited by fantastical creatures that roamed the land.”
• Tempopo (QLD) – “By Witch Beam Games, the studio behind it.” unpackingcomes the healthy puzzle Tempopo where players rescue musical flowers across sky islands.’
• Tempus Rail (SA) – “This story-driven, roguelike first-person deckbuilder is set in the Wild West on a train that travels through a temporal rift.”

Visit the Screen Australia website for more information on each game.