Freeplay Independent Games Festival

The Freeplay Independent Games Festival is Australia's longest-running and largest independent games festival, first established in 2004.[1] The Festival celebrates fringe artists and game makers, and highlights grassroots developers and art games. It gathers artists, designers, programmers, writers, gamers, creators, games critics, games academics and students to celebrate the art form of independent games and the culture around them.

Freeplay Independent Games Festival
The Freeplay 2018 logo
The 2018 Freeplay visual identity art
StatusActive
GenreIndependent video game development
FrequencyAnnually
Location(s)Melbourne, Victoria
CountryAustralia
Years active16
Established21 May 2004 (2004-05-21)
FounderKatharine Neil & Marcus Westbury
Most recent7 May 2019 (2019-05-07)
Previous eventINTERSECTIONS (2018)
Next eventINTROSPECTION (2019)
Participants50+
Attendance500+
Sponsors
Websitefreeplay.net.au

Freeplay is funded primarily through arts grants. Past and present sponsors include Australia Council for the Arts, Film Victoria, Victoria State Government, City of Melbourne, Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI), and RMIT University.

With the aim of celebrating game making as arts practice, Freeplay has consistently aligned itself with the arts, and over the years has partnered with arts organisations such as Australian Centre for the Moving Image, State Library Victoria, Next Wave Festival, Wheeler Centre, Federation Square, Arts Centre Melbourne, National Gallery of Victoria, City of Melbourne, Arts House, National Young Writers' Festival, and more.[2]

The current director of Freeplay is Chad Toprak (2017–).[3] Previous directors have included Dan Golding (2014–2017),[4] Katie Williams and Harry Lee Shang Lun (2013–2014),[5] Paul Callaghan and Eve Penford-Dennis (2008–2012).[6] The founding directors of Freeplay were Katherine Neil and Marcus Westbury.[7]

History

The Freeplay Independent Games Festival began in 2004 as Next Wave Festival's three-day-long Melbourne-based indie games conference 'Free Play', to celebrate independent game development and games culture. Since then, it has run in a variety of formats and venues across Melbourne.

In 2009, Freeplay hosted its first festival away from Next Wave, and rebranded itself from 'Free Play: The Next Wave Independent Game Developers Conference' into 'Freeplay Independent Games Festival'. Since 2009, Freeplay events have generally run annually.

In 2014, inspired by Venus Patrol's alternative E3 press conference Horizon, Freeplay introduced Parallels, a one-night event that serves as a counterpart to the main Freeplay festival. It takes place as part of Melbourne International Games Week, and highlights "unique, experimental, personal, and culturally significant games" made in the region.

In 2015, Freeplay held, for the first time, both a multi-day Freeplay festival (10–19 April 2015) and a Parallels event (24 October 2015).

Freeplay Festival
Date Theme Keynote Speaker(s) Venue
21–23 May 2004[1] (As part of Next Wave Festival: 'Unpopular Culture') Harvey Smith The World Wing Chun Kung Fu Association

3rd Floor, 96 Flinders Street, Melbourne

15–17 July 2005 Greg Costikyan, Kieron Gillen Australian Centre for the Moving Image
18 August 2007 Jonathan Blow[8] Australian Centre for the Moving Image
14–15 August 2009[9] Petri Purho[10] State Library Victoria
14–15 August 2010 Play Is Everywhere[11] Brandon Boyer, Adam Saltsman[11] State Library Victoria
17–21 August 2011[12] Handmade No keynote State Library Victoria
19–23 September 2012[13] Chaos and Grace[13] Mare Sheppard, Morgan Jaffit State Library Victoria
25–29 September 2013[14] Volume of Revolution[15] Erin Robinson, Steve Swink State Library Victoria
10–19 April 2015[16] Austin Wintory Australian Centre for the Moving Image
22–27 May 2018[17] Intersections[18] Zuraida Buter, Auriea Harvey and Michaël Samyn Australian Centre for the Moving Image
7–12 May 2019[19] Introspection[20] Hannah Nicklin, Richard Lemarchand RMIT University

Freeplay Parallels
Date Lineup Venue
18 October 2014[21]

Push Me Pull You (House House)
Gonubie Hotel, Booot, Action Painting Pro (Ian MacLarty)
Magister Ludi (Christy Dena, Marigold Bartlett, Trevor Dikes, Cameron Owen)
Movement Study 1 (Sam Crisp, Marigold Bartlett, Jamie Anderson, Adrienne Owen, Alexander Perrin)
FUTUREVOXIMAGINARIUMDOTEXE (Ben Weatherall, Jason Bakker)
Magenta Sunset, Spacething (Impromptu Games)
Provision Supply Cat (Alexander Perrin)
Bush Bash (SK Games)
CTRL_CODA (Josh Cousins, Maize Wallin, Sine Morris, Amani Naseem)

 Australian Centre for the Moving Image
24 October 2015[22]

Knuckle Sandwich (Andrew Brophy)
Undercity_Discotech (Chalk in Rain)
Vertex Meadow (Ian MacLarty)
Project Ven (Joe Liu, Ngoc Vu, Kevin Chen)
Broken Sounds (Lee Shang Lun, Amani Naseem, Harrison Smith)
Untitled Project (Marigold Bartlett, Lizzie Bartlett)
Intergalactic Space Princess (Izzy Gramp, Laura Stokes)
Polymodal Arcade (Andrew Trevillian)
Pluto (Mez Breeze, Andy Campbell)
Paperbark (Nina Bennett, Kael Jessup, Terry Burdak, Ryan Boulton)

 Australian Centre for the Moving Image
26 October 2017[23]

Wayward Strand (Ghost Pattern)
Totem Teller (Grinning Pickle)
Putty Pals (Harmonious Games)
OfficeBots: Reality Bytes (FutureStateMachine)
Road Trip & Do You Remember? (Joanna Tran)
A Moment Between Us (Ruby Simpson & Aaron Williams)
Sandstorm, Reap, & Planetarium (Daniel Linssen)
It Will Be Hard (Hien Pham)
Action Loop (PlayReactive)
Florence (Mountains)
Untitled Goose Game (House House)

 RMIT University
25 October 2018[24]

Rise (Dakoda Barker)
Unpacking (Wren Brier, Tim Dawson)
Pigeon Game (Leura Smith)
if not us (Ruqiyah Patel)
Sign In / Sign Out (Tegan Webb)
Novena & Touch Melbourne (Cecile Richard, Andrew Gleeson)
Desert Child (Oscar Brittain)
SIMULACRA (LeeYing Foo)
Dead Static Drive (Mike Blackney)
Vignettes (Pol Clarissou)

 RMIT University
10 October 2019[25]

Paint Game (Max Myers)
Dollhouse (Olivia Haines)
I Must Reach The Top & Every Brick Laid (Fenreliania)
Need 4e+9 Speed (Kalonica Quigley & Jason Bakker)
Heavenly Bodies (Alexander Perrin & Joshua Tatangelo, 2pt Interactive)
The Library of Babble (Demi Schänzel)
سايبر تصوف Cyber Tasawwuf (Mohamed Chamas)
Acrylic (Lucy Morris)
Mutazione (Douglas Wilson, Die Gute Fabrik)
Way to the Woods (Anthony Tan)
The Frog Detective Series (Grace Bruxner & Thomas Bowker, Worm Club)

 The Capitol

Freeplay Awards
Year Awards[26]
2010

Best Australian Game: Jolly Rover
Best Design in a Game: Up Down Ready
Best On-Paper Design: iCrazy Man
Best Art in a Game: Captain Forever (Series)
Best Concept Art: Exodus
Best Technical Innovation: Colourbind
Best Game Writing: Transumer
Best Audio: Train Conductor
Best International Game: Last Hope

2011

Best Australian Game: Antichamber
Best International Game: The Swapper
Best Design: Antichamber
Best On-Paper Design: Dead Eye
Best Art: Warco
Best Concept Art: Firo
Best Technical Innovation: Kingspray
Best Game Writing: MacGuffin’s Curse
Best Audio: Solar 2

2012

Best Australian Game: Stickets
Best Design in a Game: They Love You
Best International Game: Splice
Best Art in a Game: Toybox
Best Concept Art: Peleda
Best Audio in a Game: Lunar Flight
Best Technical Innovation: Automation
Best Writing in a Game: Flatland: Fallen Angle

2013

Best Game: Framed
Design: Framed
Visual Art: The Paper Fox
Audio Design: Particulars
Narrative: Particulars
Technical Innovation: Turnover
Non-Digital: Outside These City Walls
People’s Choice: Turnover

2015

The Freeplay Award: Push Me Pull You
Best Design: Push Me Pull You
Best Visual Art: Movement Study 1
Best Audio: Submerged
Best Narrative: Project Ven
Best Tech: Space Dust Racers
Best Non-Digital: Rise to Power

2018

The Freeplay Award: The Catacombs of Solaris
Excellence in Design: Dissembler
Excellence in Visual Art: Paperbark
Excellence in Audio: Florence
Excellence in Narrative: Bound By Blood
Non-Digital Game Award: {<>}
Micro-Game Award: Rise
Experimental Game Award: Thomas Bowker’s Draw
Student Game Award: Lacuna
Across The Ditch Award: Echo Grotto

2019

The Freeplay Award: New Ice York
Excellence in Design: JUMPGRID
Excellence in Visual Art: Necrobarista
Excellence in Audio: Skyward Journey
Excellence in Narrative: The Haunted Island, a Frog Detective Game
Non-Digital Game Award: Edible Games Cookbook
Micro-Game Award: Novena
Experimental Game Award: The Common Campfire
Student Game Award: Pigeon Game
Across The Ditch Award: Toripon 鳥ポン

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See also

References
  1. "Free Play: NextWave Independent Game Developer Conference - tsumea". Tsumea.com.
  2. "About Freeplay". Freeplay Independent Games Festival. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  3. "A very Freeplay update: New director and suite of events for 2017-18". Freeplay Independent Games Festival. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  4. Dominguez, James 'DexX' (23 October 2014). "Freeplay, Australia's premier indie games festival, gets a shake-up". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
  5. "INTERVIEW: Katie Williams and Harry Lee, the new directors of the Freeplay Independent Games Festival". Game On. 12 December 2012. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
  6. "More Freeplay coming soon". The Sydney Morning Herald. 14 February 2011. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
  7. "The Age Blogs: Screen Play". blogs.theage.com.au. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
  8. Boyer, Brandon. "Braid 's Blow To Keynote AU Indie Game Conference". www.gamasutra.com. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
  9. "Your Turn: Freeplay".
  10. "Playing creatively - Screen Play - Digital Life - Blogs". blogs.theage.com.au. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
  11. "Freeplay for all". The Sydney Morning Herald. 20 July 2010. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
  12. "Freeplay 2011 - Handmade". freeplay.net.au.
  13. "Freeplay 2012 - Chaos and Grace".
  14. "Sessions - Freeplay Independent Games Festival". 2013.freeplay.net.au.
  15. Pitcher, Jenna (12 September 2013). "Freeplay Independent Games Festival tickets open, keynote speakers announced". Polygon. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  16. "2015 Program - Freeplay". freeplay.net.au.
  17. "Freeplay 2018 Festival".
  18. "Freeplay 2018 - Keynotes & Theme Reveal".
  19. "Freeplay 2019 Festival". Freeplay Independent Games Festival. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  20. "Freeplay 2019 – Keynote & Theme Reveal". Freeplay Independent Games Festival. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  21. "Freeplay Parallels 2014". Freeplay Independent Games Festival. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  22. "Freeplay Parallels 2015". freeplay.net.au.
  23. "Freeplay Parallels 2017". freeplay.net.au.
  24. "Freeplay Parallels 2018". Freeplay Independent Games Festival. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  25. "Freeplay Parallels 2019". Freeplay Independent Games Festival. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  26. "The Freeplay Awards". Freeplay Independent Games Festival. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
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