There were a lot of games on show at PAX Australia, some from very large publishers and some from one or two man teams. So it was always nice to see publishers there supporting indie developers. One such publisher is Surprise Attack, a group from Melbourne that not only distributes games, but also helps indies make their games.


One of the sleeper hits of the year was Screen Cheat, a very simple idea that harkens back to what everyone did during those marathon sessions of Goldeneye back on the N64. If you are not aware of this games, you need to go and check it out now and while the developers of the game were on hand at the indie pavilion, members of Surprise Attack were hanging out at the Xbox booth, in the amazingly huge indie section to showcases three titles, the first was Screen Cheat which was just announced before the show as coming to Xbox One via the ID@Xbox program. Then game plays just as it does there as it does on a standard PC with a controller, the game is as fast as ever with those same moments of joy and frustration coming in.

The Escapists was also on show, developed by Team 17, the game puts you into the life of a prison inmate, who really does not want to be there. If the short time I had with the title, you are given a series of tasks to complete, from lining up for morning roll call to hitting the exercise yard at a set time. Of course, when you are doing these things you have time to think about what you can do in your free time. My main task that day was to get a shovel, something not really available to an inmate, so I had to find the resources to create my own.



Of course, while getting the materials to create the shovel seemed easy, doing it while not breaking the rules remained a challenge. When the lights went out, I went to work on my escape tunnel, which required me to dig. While my time with the game was short, I did get a chance to experience life as an inmate and while the portion I played was only bite sized, I can only image the challenge the full game will bring.

The final game that Surprise Attack had on show was Overruled!, a simple smash bros style fighting game but with a twist. As you played through the games you were given the chance to change the rules of the game on the fly, you might start off winning a match no problem, but when the focus changes from beating up your opponent to collecting as many coins as you can you may find yourself slipping back in the rankings. In the match I played with a few other people the rules changed that much, sometimes it was hard to keep up, but it did afford some really odd moments. At one point there was a player on fire and the only way to get rid of the fire was to attack the other players, a simple punch was not all that it took, you really need to get in some big hits to transfer it.



As the rules changed the focus of each of the players has changed and I could hear the players getting angry when the rules changed and they did not notice. While the match only lasted 5 minutes it was a hectic time that resulted in some hilarious moments and I can see the game becoming a party favourite.