In town for PAX weekend? Here's the SIFTER team's top Melbourne International Games Week 2025 events and panels
This year, as per usual, MIGW is stepping up with some awesome events throughout the week that you should definitely slot into your calendar. While you’re there, keep an eye out for our team! We asked them for the events and Pax panels they were most looking forward to, and we’d all love it if you came up to say hi at any of them!
Naomi (Nom) is a gender-fluid, award-nominated producer as well as many other hyphenated phrases, who has been working in the media since 2018. When not creating stuff for SIFTER you can find Nom lurking on Bluesky and occasionally Twitter watching the world burn.
The Cult of the Lamb Puppet Show:
Fri, 10 Oct, 7:30pm - 8:30pm
New gods rise and old gods fall in three new stories set in the world of Cult of the Lamb. Golden Scissors Puppets (Motus in Morte, ANTHROPOCENE) reinvents the hit indie game in puppetry, shadow, light, and sound with their unique twist of the grotesque and macabre - from the beginning of the Lands of the Old Faith to the rise of the Lamb, it’s Cult of the Lamb as you’ve never seen it before.
Premiering at the historic Abbotsford Convent, Cult of the Lamb: Puppet Show will be an evening of visual thrills, eerie sensations, and strange delights.
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Trivia in the Swamp: A Shrekstreamer Smackdown - A Green, Meme-Fueled, Game Show Extravaganza for Charity
Fri, Oct 10, 2025 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
GenerOZity Wombat Theatre
Join us for an unhinged, meme-packed, Shrek-themed game show where four of the internet’s greenest, most chaotic creators battle it out to become the Ultimate Shrek Creator™ — all while raising money for The Black Dog Institute. This isn’t just trivia. This is a streamer-style, audience-powered variety showdown packed with absurd challenges, donation-driven chaos, and Shrek memes galore. Expect layers. Like onions. 🍊
D&D but donations make it spicier
Fri, Oct 10, 2025 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM
GenerOZity Wombat Theatre
Laugh and cry along with us as our party of brave(?) souls step onto the stage for a good cause, putting their stomachs on the line in this Dungeons and Dragons game, where the heat levels rise as we raise funds for charity. Your donation causes the entire group to eat something incredibly spicy over and over again and the panic sets in and the adventure continues.
It's pretty much what's on the tin. D&D but make it spicier!
Adam is a radio producer, games reviewer and cultural critic based in Melbourne-Naarm Australia. They have a keen interest in how games work, their cultural impact and how they fit into popular culture . Adam also works and broadcasts at Triple R (rrr.org.au) 102.7FM.
Big Games Night Out + Electric Arcadia
Thursday, 9 October 2025 4:00pm - 11:00pm
From 4pm ‘til late on Thursday, October 9th – Big Games Night Out returns with a free, all-ages celebration of games culture at Fed Square.
The eye-catching centrepiece exhibit, ELECTRIC ARCADIA – designed in collaboration with Melbourne’s Callum Preston and Louie Roots – will transform a corner of Fed Square into a week-long exploration of games nostalgia. This tribute to the timeless Amusement Plaza will transport fans to the classic era of the 80s and 90s and highlight the enduring impact games culture has on our lives.
INDIGINERD presents a unique 80s-inspired Dungeons & Dragons adventure on the stage in The Edge, within a Stranger Things-themed set that will also serve as an immersive photo opportunity for fans.
Tabletop games take centre stage at Big Games Night Out with MELBOURNE MEEPLES TABLETOP TAKEOVER. Featuring a special Games Market and life-size playable games for everyone to enjoy, visitors will be reminded of the power of tabletop games to foster connection in the digital age.
And for the next generation of gamers, the inaugural LITTLE GAMES NIGHT OUT will kick off festivities from 4pm-6pm. A place where children and adults can dress up and party together, this family-friendly afternoon will feature games, facepainting, Australia's Favourite Bubbleman Dr Hubble and Joey Lightbulbs' Family Rave.
The fun continues at ACMI, with late night access to its major new exhibition Game Worlds.
Festival favourites will also return, including over 100 free-to-play arcades, digital and tabletop games, esports, Cosplay Parade, main stage Just Dance-offs, ACMI late-night programming and a spectacle of live music, prizes and roving entertainment.
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Saturday, 4 October 2025 8:30pm - 11:00pm
At Are They A... Bard?, witness a party of comedians and drag performers will attempt to effectively work together to achieve a shared goal! Seems impossible, no? Can they do it? Only with the help of you! The audience! As the adventurers move along their journey the audience will be able to vote on helping or perhaps even hindering them in their goal, add bardic inspiration to our character's rolls, and even suggest voices for NPCs!
Whether you're an adventuring newbie or seasoned traveller, grab your D&D loving friends or come along to make new ones on an adventure you'll never forget at Grouse Melbourne.
Hosted by Mum the Drag Queen, with our heros guided along their journey by Dungeon Master, Tom Oxnam.
Cat is a game developer, artist and journalist. She is interested in the cultural ways we interact with games and stories, and how games represent gender and sexuality.
Explore major titles like Minecraft, Final Fantasy XIV Online, The Elder Scrolls Online, SimCity, and Stardew Valley, joining iconic titles including World of Warcraft, The Sims, Neopets and the highly anticipated Hollow Knight: Silksong.
Spanning over 50 years of play, Game Worlds features more than 30 videogames from the 1970s to today, with 44 playable moments, original builds, rare design materials and hands-on prototypes you won’t find anywhere else.
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Saturday, 4 October - Sunday, 12 October 2025
DISTRACTION plugs into the streaming torrent of content and the places our brains go when we want to focus on anything but the thing. You know, the thing you're supposed to be doing right now?
Sim it and See - Your Ultimate Sims Panel
Sat, Oct 11, 2025 6:30 PM - 7:30 PM
Quokka Theatre
Join your favourite ANZ Simmers as they take you through 25 years of pool ladders, cowplants and endless memories. Watch them guess Simlish translations, confess their most heinous Sim-related crimes and give you insights into all the crazy ways Sims can inspire and change your life (in-game and real life). Get ready to Leeb, Leefuh and Lurve as we celebrate and share The Sims.
Ghost hunting IRL VS in game
Sat, Oct 11, 2025 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Fruitbat Theatre
Are you feeling brave? Join us as we cross the veil between paranormal and pixels in this thrilling showdown of real-life ghost hunting vs the spooky games that haunt our screens! Expect laughs, chills and maybe a ghost or two!
Roy has been playing Magic and tabletop games for decades and brings this expertise to your table.
After Hours x Good Games Morley - Live Commander game
Sat, Oct 11, 2025 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Fruitbat Theatre
Known for playing the meanest games of Magic the Gathering Commander, After Hours take on the sweet hearts of Good Games Morley live at PAX Aus! Will Riley, Violet, Ricky and Aaron come out alive? Or will Gillsons and Gray Merchant go for the throat?
Find them in the Fruitbat Theatre Saturday at 7:00pm - 8:00pm, followed by a Meet & Greet directly after.
Rewind: How Retro Games Shaped Today's Creators
Sun, Oct 12, 2025 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM
Dropbear Theatre
A nostalgic conversation with Gmanlives, Galaxy and Norzza, discussing the influence of retro games and consoles from the 80s, 90s and 00s and how they have shaped both their love of gaming and their careers in content creation.
Fiona is a multi award winning radio producer and podcaster, who's inquisitive and fun style is a massive component of what makes SIFTER great. She's also the very best at games out of all of us, so if we can't win, we hand the controller to Fi to show us how it's done.
Tuesday 7 October 2025 until Saturday 18 October 2025
9:30pm-10:30pm
This quirky and high-energy show mixes comedy, acoustic guitar, Pokemon and a buzzing audience energy. Playfully strange and unexpected, Holographic Charizard encapsulates the spirit and ethos of fringe festivals.
After not performing in Australia for 10 years, Holographic Charizard is back in 2025, bringing his evolved showmanship and stories to new audiences around Australia. Every song is about Charizard, interspersed with stories that take you on a journey of love, betrayal, hardship and humour.
You will hear all the cult classics including 'A song about Charizard', 'I choose you Charizard' and 'Why did you have to leave me Charizard'.
Along with new works about Charizard adventures in far off lands including 'Everywhere you go is Charizard' and a song written entirely in Indonesian, 'lagu lagu Charizard harus dangdut la'. Many people have asked for it, now it's here, a new Holographic Charizard experience.
Everyone who attends will receive a random Pokemon card (high-value cards included).
Extra Applause tickets gain access to Holographic Class seating (like normal seats but more shiny).
Come celebrate the greatest ever Pokemon with us!
(Pokemon knowledge is not required but encouraged)
Ranking The Best Food in Video Games with Actual Video Game Journalists
Fri, Oct 10, 2025 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Kookaburra Theatre
Video Game Podcast Thumb Cramps has gathered up their best friends and likeminded video game journalists from all over Australia to come together at PAX to try to get to the bottom of gaming’s most argued topic; which is the best food. With a collective experience that spans over 50 years of playing video games and at least half of that professionally talking about them, it’s time to focus on what really matters; which food in gaming should be ranked number 1 based on hypothetical taste, visual flair and overall vibe!
Can Swords Really do that? Sword Fighters discuss game combat
Fri, Oct 10, 2025 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Fruitbat Theatre
From the rolling hills of Skyrim to the dungeons that house so many dragons, sword fighting is a core part of many of our favourite games, but do games reflect the histories and realities of swordplay, and how? Join our panel of sword fighting experts as we thrust deep into the relationship between sword fighting in games and as real world skill. Panellists include a historian, a game designer, the World Broadsword Champion, Captain of the National Women’s Armoured Combat Team, a globally top ranked rapier fencer, and a superb Dungeon Master, all of whom have real world sword fighting experience as practitioners of historical fencing, LARP, or HMB armoured combat. Join us for a cutting edge discussion on game combat
The big dog at SIFTER, Gianni’s talent for compiling interesting and compelling content each week is what keeps the ship afloat. You can catch up with him on Bluesky
Power Move
Tuesday 30 September 2025 until Sunday 19 October 2025
Power Move at Fed Square is not your average boogie. It’s a sprawling, technicolour playground where every shimmy, stomp, and spin pumps clean, green energy straight into the party’s heart. This interactive kinetic dancefloor is an open invite and a challenge to the people of Melbourne. Can we dance hard enough to power the whole thing off-grid?
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Games & Orchestra: Behind the Indie Symphony
Sat, Oct 11, 2025 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM
Dropbear Theatre
What does it take to put on a gaming concert with a full orchestra, choir, and soloists, to a crowd of two thousand people, in one of the country’s top concert halls?
Go behind the scenes of Indie Symphony and Indie Symphony II with their presenter Meena Shamaly (ABC Classic) and their creator Elise Lerpiniere (Orchestra Victoria), unpacking what it takes to plan, promote, and execute a concert like this, with all its blessings, challenges, and surprises.
The Indie Symphony series has celebrated indie game scores from Australia and the world – from Journey, Undertale, and Slay the Spire to Celeste, Hollow Knight, and Baldur’s Gate 3. It has featured appearances by Austin Wintory (Journey, Abzû, Hades II, and Stray Gods), Dan Golding (Untitled Goose Game), Christopher Larkin (Hollow Knight), Tripod (Stray Gods), Montaigne (Stray Gods), Ryan González (In the Heights), and Jude Perl (I Have A Face).
On this panel, Elise and Meena explore how Orchestra Victoria program a special concert like this, how game scores are chosen, and how musicians flawlessly perform this often-challenging music – including world premieres and tributes to fallen heroes (River Boy, Cult of the Lamb). They dive into the poeticism of game music, the visual language of the show, and how the orchestra takes the audience on their unique interactive journey.
Chris is an award winning games journalist and the host of Drop Rate SIFTER's review podcast, where you'll find him chatting to some of the best games writers about their thoughts and feelings about the newest most interesting games.
Thursday 9th Oct Melbourne town hall 6pm-late
Parallels is a party for people who make playful art. Come celebrate with talks and playable games from some of the most excellent creatives in our community.
Returning to the Melbourne Town Hall, Parallels will serve you up delicious food, local drinks and fabulous merch.
A showcase of heartfelt talks by independent game makers alongside playable installations of experimental works, Parallels is a celebration of creativity in playful media, highlighting curious projects and the humans behind them.
Presented by Freeplay, the worlds longest running independent games festival, Parallels puts a focus on the expressive and non-commercial games being made in Australia and the surrounding regions.
Worldbuilding that sticks with you
Sun, Oct 12, 2025 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM
Main Theatre
Ever wondered what makes a game world unforgettable? Join host Chloe Appleby and creative powerhouses from some of the biggest studios in the industry as they reveal how they craft stories, settings, and gameplay mechanics that linger long after the credits roll.
Lis Moberly, Creative Lead at 20th Century Games (The Walt Disney Company), Josh Sawyer, Studio Design Director at Obsidian Entertainment and Sam Winkler, Narrative Director at Gearbox Entertainment bring decades of experience building worlds players can’t help but explore, inhabit, and remember. From immersive lore and compelling characters to interconnected game mechanics and environmental storytelling, this panel will explore the art and science behind creating worlds that stick.
Whether you’re an aspiring designer, writer, or just curious about what goes into making your favourite game worlds, you’ll leave with insight into the techniques and philosophies that shape unforgettable gaming experiences.
Fireside with Amelia Tyler
Sat, Oct 11, 2025 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Main Theatre
Join host Steph Panecasio as she chat's with the incredible Amelia Tyler!
Amelia Tyler is an English actress who recently became Dungeon Master to millions as the voice of the ethereal Narrator in BALDUR’S GATE 3, a performance which earned her a BAFTA Games Awards nomination for Performer in a Leading Role'. She's also best known as the voice of fan-favorite half-demon Malady in DIVINITY ORIGINAL SIN, vicious huntress Wenduag in PATHFINDER: WRATH OF THE RIGHTEOUS, and The Siren Queen in SEA OF THIEVES. Next, Amelia will be appearing as the Goddess of Witchcraft, Hecate, in Supergiant Games' highly anticipated sequel HADES 2.
You can also find Nom and Adam speaking at the 'Out, loud and critical: queer journalists changing games media' panel at PAX, and Sifter alumni Courtney Smith at ‘Not Your Waifu: An Exploration of Asian Fem Characterisation in Gaming’
'Out, loud and critical: queer journalists changing games media
Sat, Oct 11, 2025 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM
PAX Together Theatre
Join leading LGBTQIA+ voices from across games journalism as they share stories from the front lines of reporting, reviewing, and shaping the conversation around video games. From navigating industry challenges to championing authentic queer representation, this panel will offer candid insights into how identity intersects with criticism, coverage, and community. Expect thoughtful takes, lively debate, and a glimpse into the future of games media through a queer lens.
Not Your Waifu: An Exploration of Asian Fem Characterisation in Gaming
Sat, Oct 11, 2025 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Fruitbat Theatre
This panel will explore the depictions of Asian AFAB characters in gaming and other pop-culture media, and track the shifts in representation over time. In the early days of gaming, Asian AFAB characters were, and still are, plagued with conforming to stereotypes such as the Femme Fatale or the Damsel in Distress, under the illusion of representation. In an industry furthering their steps into diversity alongside growing acceptance of diversity in sociocultural contexts, it is important for character portrayals to be analysed under a critical lens, to improve the standards of representation.
Game developers and story writers often tread the thin line of representation and fetishisation, and breaching this line can often have negative repercussions for perceptions towards Asian AFAB populations in real life, due to the influential nature of pop culture and gaming on social mentalities.
Each panelist will bring a unique perspective and area of expertise regarding this topic. As an example, @nyra.nox will discuss Ada Wong within the Resident Evil series and how she has developed over time from being a typical Femme Fatale, to becoming a more complex character beyond the “tough girl” demeanour. @sagocos will discuss the rise of gacha games, such as Genshin Impact, and how the steady inclusion of Asian populations e.g., Chinese inspired regions, has altered expectations of diversity in gaming.
We hope to see you around!
