Freeplay rules! Fund art!!!!!

An update: Unfortunately Freeplay didn’t secure multi-year funding and is potentially looking at its last year of operation. We’re exploring what comes next & want your input. Read our full statement here: www.freeplay.net.au/survey2026 Help us decide our next step here: forms.gle/W4ZSns1bGCX1...

Reviewed the new 28 Years, didn't like it as much as its predecessor but still a very good and interesting film with one scene in particular that will live rent free in my head for the rest of the year (complimentary).

Extremely happy with this new co-authored paper where Finn and I explore the 'interface game' as an emerging microgenre - gives us the opportunity to discuss some fascinating games and talk about the prominence of user interfaces in our daily lives.

We are once again putting together the ultimate list of upcoming Australian-developed video games. Tell us about your game: forms.office.com/r/d4E0jdPQGw Share or tag any Aussie game dev you know so they can be involved in the coverage! @igea.bsky.social checkpointgaming.net/features/202...

I'm helping put together the list this year so feel free to reach out with questions or circulate the form around!

DiGRAA is always a delight and a really accommodating conference - for anyone interested even just zooming in to see the breadth of cool games research happening in Aus is worth it.

Saw Sentimental Value, absolutely loved it. Will almost certainly end up being my favourite film of the year amidst some stiff competition. Well worth seeing when it comes out on Christmas (though maybe don't take your family if things are, well, complex).

New article up! Its called 'A Minor History of Interactive Movies: Brilliant Digital Entertainment and the Dot-Com Bubble' and is part of Convergence's new special issue on 1990s Hollywood and Games edited by Helen Stuckey and Angela Ndalianis (open access): journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Thank you to all the incredible ANZ-based developers who took part in our first Frosty Mini showcase today, and shared such wonderful announcements! What a beautiful line-up 👏🏼

Reviewed Skate Story, a properly unreal game that gave me a 'come to Tony Hawk' experience for skateboarding as a craft. It's awesome. checkpointgaming.net/reviews/2025...

🌟We are still looking for reviewers for the following books: - The Rule Book: The Building Blocks of Games - Seeing Red: Nintendo's Virtual Boy - Fifty Years of Dungeons and Dragons - Run and Jump: The Meaning of the 2D Platformer - Undertale: Can a Game Give Hope?

It's also hard not to see this Netflix/WB merger as maybe the most brutal stake in the theatrical business in a long time (irrespective of what Netflix claims they will do). I hate this.

The Journal of Games Criticism has published a new issue!! Come and read 6 great new open-access game studies articles! gamescriticism.org/issue-6-1/ #gamestudies

Kniv3s Out is obscenely fun, and a very unsubtle grappling with the effects of ideologically captured religious institutions and cults of personality (especially spicy for anyone with religious trauma).

This is the last week where Playful Paths will have display posters up on campus! You can find us at the following locations: • The South Lawn • John Medley • The Systems Garden • The Student Pavilion • The Science Gallery

Technically it would be cheating for me to claim one of these given I helped make the game but I still kinda wanna.

REVIEW: Demonschool "Demonschool is nonetheless a vivid, stylistic mesh of Argento and Persona that, alongside strong writing and a fun cast, was a great companion over a semester of time." @necrosoftgames.com checkpointgaming.net/reviews/2025...

Reviewing @necrosoftgames.com's Demonschool after it was delayed by Silksong was REALLY HARD, because I had to spend three months resisting my urge to recommend it to everyone. But now its finally coming out tomorrow and its great and you should play it. checkpointgaming.net/reviews/2025...

Finally got around to playing Wednesdays, a game where the heaviness of it's subject matter is only matched by how deftly it handles it (huge recommend). Also sets the template for how to handle content warnings in videogames too, hoping other games will start to adopt similar mechanics.

Screen Australia is doing a massive research project on the current state of the screen and games industries in Australia. Local devs, please consider taking the time to complete their survey survey.alchemer.com/s3/8573365/S...

Has been an absolute joy to work on this, both as something very different to research but also for the opportunity to work more closely with the incredible @oddgoo.bsky.social.

Hey all, we are extending the deadline for our 2026 issue to December 10, 2025📅This is an excellent chance if you have a paper you're working on right now but need just a bit of extra time! We look forward to your submissions😉

Everyone still needs to play despelote btw. Special game.

This seems outrageously cruel. And just a handful of months before these folks would have been set to enjoy the release of one of the biggest games of their careers too. The imbalance of power in the games industry remains utterly fucked.

I almost don't want to put this out in the world in fear of manifesting it, but after Xbox utterly buried Keeper's release I fear for Double Fine.

Reminder to Australian devs that @sifterhq.bsky.social does the lord's work every year by compiling every single Australian-made videogame they can find. You can submit your 2025 releases here: www.sifter.com.au/add-my-game-...

I am facilitating a workshop trying to heal the disease of racism, using an anti-racism game 'Between the lines', at the Being Human Festival 2025. Come along for a mindful engagement & fight racism. #beinghumanfestival2025 #Gamesforchange events.unimelb.edu.au/arts/event/5....

Whether it's creators and designers or researchers and players, gaming communities show that the true value of games lies not just in the code - but in the collaborative worlds they build together 🎮 Tap through to read more → unimelb.me/46VD9wV

Parallels was great last night. Absolutely wild that Freeplay has been both the anchor and the beacon for experimental and independent game development in this country for 21 years now.

Day one of PAX and I've already hit the floor.

Reviewing this game was actually a joy, not because it's good but just because of how eclectically interesting it is. Simultaneously recommend and warn you.

Oh its me.

To coincide with Melbourne International Games Week, MAGPIE has put together a special report with @unimelb.bsky.social's Pursuit talking all about the effects gaming is having socially and culturally on the world around us. pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/special-repo...

The latest Video Game History Hour podcast talks to Dr. Stephanie Harkin, lecturer at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, about her research on video games in girls’ lifestyle magazines like Girl Gamer & Total Girl: gamehistory.org/episode-141-...

My book is out! 💗 Girlhood Games: Gender, Identity and Coming of Age in Videogames is a 6-year-long labour of love for young adult stories, teen heroines in videogames and unnoticed girly game histories. Thank you @livvy.itch.io for the beautiful cover! www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi...

‼️Call for reviewers‼️ We're looking for three reviewers for an article concerning Pokémon and the deconstruction of the Hero's journey. Please check the attached image for the abstract. (1/2)

Got to watch and play a secret early version of this and absolutely loved it (also incredible trailer), everyone go wishlist immediately.

New article in @theconversation.com today reflecting on Australia’s 2024 loot box regulations and how, 1 year later, there remains widespread non-compliance - and generally really confusing age ratings for mobile games on the App Stores! theconversation.com/loot-boxes-a...

Happy Hades II day to all who celebrate (I will see everyone in a week's time).

‼️Call for reviewers‼️ We are looking for three peer reviewers familiar with textual analysis and/or media philosophy for a manuscript titled "The Look of Gaming's Cognitive Bond" 📷 Please check the attached image for the abstract. (1/2)

Played this at PAX in 2023 and had an absolute blast (and still got the pin!). Great Aussie get by Devolver.

Letters to Arralla is OUT NOW on Steam with a limited time 20% launch discount!! 🏝️💌 After 5 long years of development and lots of fruit & veggies eaten to power our developers, this cheeky game is finally ready to be delivered directly into your hands!! ☺️ Play now on Steam! youtu.be/7GbGTEpsoIM

I realise posting this on a Saturday is not ideal, but, hear me out. We are trying very hard to keep Frosty alive, and even grow it into something more helpful for ANZ based devs, long term 🍦

✨I’m recruiting for a research project on game monetisation!✨ I’m keen to chat to game devs about how monetisation shapes the dev process. Interviews will be 60mins via Zoom. To learn more, head to bit.ly/40mOB3f if you'd like to participate, shoot me a DM or email [email protected] 😊

@antipollution.bsky.social and I double-dipped this week and ALSO spoke at Media Traditions 2025 on our work thinking through itch.io as an incidental videogame archive. Full on week, but been very luck to see a lot of great research and meet a lot of lovely researchers.