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ALT: GAMES is a new festival that brings together the Australian games community and industry.
Image Credit: 'Deck and Conn' by Elissa Black
ALT: GAMES
ALT: GAMES is a new festival that brings together the Australian games community and industry. Featuring digital showcases, sessions with industry leaders and a large-scale interactive game installation. A Powerhouse initiative, presented in partnership with City of Parramatta, Screen Australia and Screen NSW
Date: 12–13 April 2025
Time: 10am-3pm, Features 5pm-7pm
Location: Parramatta Square / PHIVE / Parramatta Town Hall
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Event Partners
ALT: Play
ALT: Play is an Australian digital games showcase, that puts the spotlight on independent game makers. Featuring local works-in-progress and newly released games. Join us to discover and playtest upcoming Australian titles. All ages welcome. FREE
Date: Saturday 12 April – Sunday 13 April 2025
Time: 10am–3pm
Location: PHIVE
Tickets: Free
ALT: Ex
ALT: Ex will showcase experimental games that explore and emphasise the breadth of the medium. Curated by Serenade, a NSW based collective of artists and developers Cuauhtemoc Moreno, Duncan Corrigan, George Mak, Jae Stuart and Kaveh Tabar. All ages welcome. FREE
Date: Saturday 12 April – Sunday 13 April 2025
Time: 10am–3pm
Location: PHIVE
Tickets: Free
ALT: Sessions
ALT: Sessions is a series of deep dive sessions for emerging developers to gain industry knowledge. Hosted by industry leaders the workshops are designed to elevate the growing games community in NSW and provide opportunities for local industry.
Date: Saturday 12 April – Sunday 13 April 2025
Time: 10–3pm
Location: PHIVE
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Award-winning Canadian game maker and creator of Inscryption, Daniel Mullins, will provide creative advice to game makers in this informal pitching session. Makers will bring their game to discuss informally their process with Mullins in front of an audience. To apply to pitch your game: games@powerhouse.com.au
Date: Saturday 12 April
Time: 11–12.30pm
Location: PHIVE, Civic Gallery, Level 4
Audience Tickets: $10
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Go behind the scenes with the creators of Australia’s first Aboriginal mobile game Blaktasia to learn the secrets of making art for games. Led by studio GUCK developers, you will create your own Murk Bug enemies and Bush Jewellery as see it come to life in the Blaktasia game. This is a First Nations focused workshop.
Date: Saturday 12 April
Time: 10:30–11:30am, ages 7–13, 12:30–2pm, ages 14+
Location: PHIVE, Civic Reception, Level 4
Tickets: Free. By application only, to apply email your interest to games@powerhouse.com.au
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Join American game designer and creator of Magic the Gathering, Richard Garfield, as he examines the importance of game balance in game design.
Date: Saturday 12 April
Time:1.30–3pm, ages 16+
Location: PHIVE, Civic Gallery, Level 4
Tickets: $10
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Join JoJo Zhou, from Melbourne-based studio Massive Monster, for a game writing workshop where participants learn how to apply the fundamentals of storytelling to game creation.
Date: Sunday 13 April
Time: 10:30–11:30am, ages 16+.
Location: PHIVE, Civic Gallery, Level 4
Tickets: $10
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Join award-winning GamesHub Managing Editor Steph Panecasio for a deep dive into the intricacies of games journalism.
Date: Sunday 13 April
Time: 11:30–12:30pm, ages 16+.
Location: PHIVE, Civic Reception, Level 4
Tickets: $10
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Join the pioneering Tomo Kihara and Daniel Coppen from Japanese and UK artist collective Playfool for a discussion about their practice and how they engage with play.
Date: Sunday 13 April
Time: 1:30–2:30pm, ages 16+
Location: PHIVE, Civic Gallery, Level 4
Tickets: $10
ALT: Installation [Australian Premiere]
Japanese and UK artist collective Playfool will present their work How (not) to get hit by a self-driving car for the first time in Australia. The work challenges audiences to avoid being detected by an AI-powered camera and aims to become a platform to understand how these systems work. Playfool’s work has been presented at institutions including Victoria and Albert Museum, London and the MAK, Vienna.
Date: 12–13 April 2025
Time: 10am–4pm
Location: Parramatta Square
Tickets: Free
ALT: Features
ALT: Features will connect Australian game makers with the wider international industry for networking and knowledge-sharing. Join us for a keynote address from leading artist, game developer and writer Ally McLean-Hennessy, who will reflect on why we make games, and an in-conversation with the esteemed US game designer Richard Garfield (creator of Magic the Gathering) and Canadian game developer Daniel Mullins (creator of Inscryption) discussing deck building and design process.
Date: Saturday 12 April
Time: 5–7pm
Location: Parramatta Town Hall
Tickets: $10, ages 16+