Serenade is a pop-up video games exhibit in Sydney this weekend

“Serenade”, A one-day pop-up gaming exhibition that hopes to expand the range of topics explored in video games, opens in Sydney this weekend and collects a range of works from different Australian indie video game developers.

Organised by a small team including George Mak, Jae Stuart, Cuauhtemoc Moreno and a few of their friends "Serenade" has been inspired by both national and international exhibitions and collectives.

The event will showcase video games and interactive works that were developed with a deeply personal connection to their developers, covering topics not often discussed in games and organiser George Mak hopes that this will encourage more indie developers to do the same thing.

“We believe there is a vast potential of games and experiences that can be discovered when developers look outside traditional video game tropes and use the medium to say something meaningful and genuine,” Mak said.

“We wanted to show a wide range of games to show there isn’t a single type of art game, experimental game or personal game,” Mak said.

The topics explored range from hilarious dates, whimsical creativity and new friendships to self-care, childhood nostalgia and difficult reflection.

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The exhibition will feature predominantly Australian made games, many of which were made in Sydney, and Mak said they are always looking to showcase lesser known creators.

“There are a lot of talented people out there that we don’t know about and we hope to change that,” Mak said.

• A Month to Look at the Moon by Lenny Magner
• Adventure Boy Jailbreak by Paul Georghiou
• Amberial Dreams by oddgoo
• Am I Making Sense by Tegan Webb
• Become by Kaveh Tabar , Duncan Corrigan, George Mak and Erin McKimm
• Compass Points by Gemma Mahadeo
• Endless Scroll by Cecile Richard
• Every Brick Laid by Fenreliania
• Everybody's Sad by puncta
• First Date Can't Relate by Ruqiyah
• Grass Mud Horse by Toby Do, Emi Schaufeld and Julia Wang
• Irori by Pomepomelo (Daum, Jewell and Zhi)
• Ode to My Hometown's Craft Fair by Samantha E. Schaffer
• Pigeon Game by Leura Smith
• Symposium of Grief by T-Dog-Extreme
• Wibble Wobble Multiplayer by Daniel Linssen

Mak hopes that people who like video games after visiting Serenade have a greater awareness of the diversity and creativity that exists largely below the surface in the industry.

“We’d love to see it contribute towards a more vibrant games culture in Sydney,” Mak said.

“We want to keep running events like this in the future to showcase more game makers, but equally as important we want to inspire other people to do the same themselves.”

Serenade is a free event open 12pm - 10:30pm Saturday 11th January 2020 at held at the 107 event and coworking space on 107 Redfern Street, Redfern NSW.