Indie games festival coming to Melbourne

The Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) in Melbourne will be showcasing the best of independent games development in a new exhibition opening this December.

The Best of the Independent Games Festival 2011 will run until March 2012 and is the fifth installment in the long-running ACMI exhibition celebrating the best new video and mobile games from independent developers around the world. The 14 games that will be on display (and available to play) have been handpicked by ACMI curators from the 2011 Independent Games Festival in San Francisco and chosen for their innovative concepts and groundbreaking design.

Games that will be on show include Minecraft--a multiple award winner at the Independent Games Festival in San Francisco this year--as well as Australian-developed puzzle game Antichamber; innovative sword-playing title Nidhogg; and Bohm, where players are instructed to grow their own tree. The exhibition will also feature four games designed for mobile devices.

"There's a fantastic range of ideas and styles evident in this year's exhibition," says Fiona Trigg, curator of the exhibition. "With talent on display from Sweden, the United States, South Africa, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Denmark, and Australia, the exhibition is a great opportunity to sample new developments in gaming from around the world."

The exhibition will be followed by a showcase of the best games at next year's Independent Games Festival, which will run at the ACMI from March 27 to July 8, 2012.

The Independent Games Festival is the longest-running festival dedicated to independent games, first established in San Francisco in 1998, and inspired by the success of the Sundance Film Festival.

The Best of the Independent Games Festival 2011 will be exhibited in Gallery 2 at ACMI in Melbourne from December 20 until March 25, 2012. Entry is free.