PAX Aus has come and gone and it was a tremendous success, filled to the brim with exciting indie games, fun tabletop games both new and old and even Cult of the Lamb-themed weddings.
The event registered the biggest visitor numbers ever for a PAX Aus and boy, was it busy. ManSpace magazine was lucky enough to attend and it was heaps of fun. Spanning across multiple halls at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, PAX Aus had everything a nerd could need, video games, comics, collectables and tabletop gaming.
Kicking things off with the video games, on day one, visitors could meet the devs, a ‘Creating Games’ panel and a chance to hear from Richard Lambert, Lara and Hazie about the iconic, seminal music from The Elders Scrolls(as well as hear some of those iconic tracks). Also, visitors learnt how to create worlds with the Civilization VII Developer Panel which spoke about bringing your CIV to life and Ryan Warden, Production Director of Avowed, lifting the lid on game production.
Day two featured a ‘Getting Into Games’ panel, hosted by Playside Studios. It explained to the audience the soft and hard skills required to get into gaming: hard skills being the technical skills required like art and engineering, but also the soft skills required like communication, problem-solving and the ability to work as a team.
On the tabletop front, there were several Magic: The Gathering events, including ‘Learn to Play’ sessions, sealed drafts, commander tournaments and even some card artists who were on hand to draw a custom MTG token or sign one of their cards.
Outside of MTG (a personal favourite), there were ‘Learn to Play’ sessions with Disney Lorcana, Dungeons & Dragons, Robo Rally and Pinball Basics, and hundreds of generous gamers who would patiently take a newcomer through the basics of any game.
And between events, we walked past the Cult of the Lamb-themed church that hosted multiple weddings across the entire event. All attendees were wearing culty red velvet gowns and had to chant their approval of the lamb before the bride walked down the aisle.
But it wasn’t a stunt, these were legitimate weddings, vows and all and the one I saw was beautiful. For those getting married, it must have been nerve-wracking because you’re not just tying the knot in front of friends and family, there are thousands of randoms around to cheer you on as well.
All in all, PAX Aus continues to be a staple for the Australian gaming industry and with the sheer number of tabletop opportunities alongside video games, I can’t wait till it returns next year!
