Pride at Play: Queer Games Exhibition

Good Design Award Winner in Social Impact, 2023.
Designers Australia Award Finalist, 2023.

Pride at Play celebrates LGBTQIA+ in games and makes them more accessible for the public. The exhibition will bring together queer games from Oceania and Southeast Asia, putting “queer indie games” on the map. It took place within the Pride Amplified, part of the Sydney WorldPride 2023 program, and it will be brought to Melbourne during St Kilda Film Festival in June 2023.

During the exhibition visitors will be able to play from a curated collection of thoughtful queer games made by queer folks. The space will feature traditional gallery elements like images, written text, zines, and audio/visual elements for browsing and viewing.

Community-led workshops, industry, and research talks will be a part of the program, utilising the space to have conversations about queer experiences and making games as an interactive medium. The area will also function as an informal social space for queer devs to hang out.

The exhibition is made possible entirely by contributing volunteers, support from organisations, universities, and external grant funding. The curatorial team are Xavier Ho (Monash Uni), Mads Mackenzie (Sydney Uni), Claire Hosking (Independent), Fae Daunt (SAE), and Chloe Appleby (Sydney Powerhouse), with much heavylifting support from Mahli-Ann Butt (University of Melbourne), and Jae Stuart (Serenade Games).

Pride at Play is jointly funded by the Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture (MADA), Monash University, and the Sydney Social Sciences and Humanities Advanced Research Centre (SSSHARC), University of Sydney. Partners include the Sydney WorldPride, Sydney Mardi Gras, and Checkpoint, Joy FM, and is housed at the Sydney College of the Arts.

You can read the catalogue and visit the website for the official selection of queer games!