Roving Rovers: PAX 2024 Expedition
With the impact that PAX can have for Indie Developers, it may be surprising to hear that we weren’t initially sure if we were going to attend this year’s convention; with a client’s project as our main focus it was initially hard to see how we would fit an interstate convention into our busy schedule. But we at Mini Mammoth Games are nothing if not a little stubborn, so as many are probably aware we did of course attend; we made it work no matter what!
(Ensuring it didn’t hinder our client and their project)
Despite our focus not being centred on our own projects, we always made some room for our much beloved Roving Rovers whenever we could; ensuring that we playtested the demo ahead of PAX Aus with the help of our friends over at AUSS (Adelaide Uni Space Society). They organised, marketed and ran a playtesting event a few weeks before ensuring we were able to make the demo playable and of course enjoyable on top of that!
Just another quick shout out to them, they are a great group and if you have any interest in space I would suggest keeping an eye on them and their achievements!
Furthermore, we have kept up a yearly tradition with the support of ATCSR (Andy Thomas Centre for Space Resources) of bringing Roving Rovers to their annual Australian Rover Challenge (ARCH); which had allowed us earlier in the year to make drastic changes to how the game was played since PAX Aus 23! We made it more driven and less just playing around the mechanics in their concept stage; adding a mission system, story and more interaction with the environment than we previously had. Feedback from ARCH 24 had been that they enjoyed having a much clearer sense of direction, even if we hadn’t quite figured out how to make sure the rover wouldn’t consistently flip at any turn.
Like many Indie Developers the travel to and from interstate conventions may not be the most comfortable or simple; sort of. We chose to travel by road over to Melbourne to save on money and to ensure that all our hardware would get there and undamaged. We did thankfully get there with little difficulty and had some time to relax before having to bump in on Thursday and showcase on Friday.
With our arrival in Melbourne it was only a matter of time before thousands of people would be swarming into the expo hall and getting to see what Australia’s Indie Developers had been up to this past year; excited to see what they will be buying when they get back home!
We had a lot of fun talking about and showcasing Roving Rovers, especially with the chance to do so to a much larger audience than what we usually get with South Australian conventions. With a large number of SA Indie Devs getting interviewed, including some of our own devs; there was a much larger microscope on how big the games industry is becoming in South Australia, but also the country as a whole!
Now Mini Mammoth isn’t one to get all down, but despite not being able to work on Roving Rovers as much this year and not having the game in the state we wanted for PAX Aus 24; we still had many people telling us how much they enjoyed the game and how they are going to be keeping an eye on its development. This was a much needed uplift that many of our devs needed; due to this year being quite slow for us. The joy that you feel as a developer when you get to see in-person the amount of fun people have when playing your game is genuinely something you can’t get anywhere else, except for conventions. These events bring so much more to the industry here in Australia and a lot more passion back into Indie Developers who may have become burnt out the past few years.
On top of that, it was fantastic to be able to keep Roving Rovers fresh in the public’s mind and keep bringing it to multiple events so that the public can see it’s progress and how much it improves every time they play it! Attending these events enables the public who may have their social feeds swamped by all sorts of game content up to date on Roving Rovers and able to play and feel the progress themselves.
I will also take this time to give a shout out to April Benjamin and her company My Colourful Mind who attended and shared a booth with us! Her game, Taming Yore Dragon is a gorgeous game and deserves as much recognition as Roving Rovers!
You can find more information about Taming Yore Dragon here:
My Colourful Mind – Home
Enjoying your time at PAX Aus is a must and we didn’t miss out on that rule; with it being one of the best tools to create awareness and build hype around a project you’re working on, furthermore it’s also a great way to test your game to the max and find all the bugs!
With the whole of Melbourne International Games Week (MIGW), it is great to be able to connect with so many more amazing game devs from across Australia!
Now the biggest question that probably isn’t on your mind; are we going next year?
Of Course! We love attending, no matter how stressful it may be; Pax and all the other MIGW events are such a joy to attend and be a part of!
But for now continue to keep an eye out for any updates to Roving Rovers and Taming Yore Dragon, but also keep an eye out for next year’s Australian Rover Challenge, cause we will most certainly be there!
And maybe in a few surprising places too!
Roving Rovers: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2447240/Roving_Rovers/
Taming Yore Dragon: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3267650/Taming_Yore_Dragon/