The recent ANZ Indiefest 2026 event on Steam showcased new and upcoming games from studios across Australia and New Zealand. There was plenty on show, with an array of notable titles arriving with brand new demos, revealing quirky, bright and interesting ideas.
Many of these games have been flying under the radar but after diving into their demos during ANZ Indiefest, we wouldn’t be surprised if that’s not the case for much longer.
Here are ScreenHub‘s five major standouts from ANZ Indiefest.
5 standouts from ANZ Indiefest 2026 – quick links
Allogloom
Aloogloom from Galactic Ghosty is a point-and-click adventure game for those who love the macabre and strange. You play as Nora, a young girl who’s part of a very strange family with very strange traditions, who must solve an array of puzzles found in her hometown of Gruesome Grove.
What stands out most about this game is its art style – it’s like a painting that moves – but you’ll also find ultra-clever and very logical challenges, and lovely layers of lore over the top. It brings to mind Fran Bow or Little Misfortune, while presenting its own spin on gothic adventure and puzzling.
Slumbering Woods
Slumbering Woods from Chunky Quail is a colourful, cartoonish adventure starring a young hero attempting to rebuild a woodland forest in the wake of a major flood. In your travels, you’ll encounter folks who have been impacted one way or another, and use your smarts and special tools to help them get back on track.
The neat twist is that this adventure is about planting mushrooms, with each providing some benefit. Some mushrooms will help you clear land. Other mushrooms provide energy to keep striving further and helping more people. Slumbering Woods is delightful so far.
Lone Pine
Lone Pine is a point-and-click adventure game from Bang Bang Bang Interactive all about hunting down and photographing various cryptids along a lonely mountain trail. You play as hiker Izzie, an intrepid explorer with an excited, curious attitude. She wants to find all the cryptids she can in her journey, and uncover all the secrets in the mountains.
The first demo for this upcoming game presents a lively and colourful world to explore, with various neat challenges to conquer. It’s particularly novel to figure out all the cute little puzzle solutions and to get your cryptid snaps as a reward for your ingenuity.
How Was Your Day?
How Was Your Day? from Mad Carnival is a very intriguing point-and-click adventure that focuses on a series of strange events in the life of Diya, a 13-year-old girl dealing with the pressures of everyday life in school. As the adventure begins, Diya is working her way around strict parents and bullying at school – not to mention having to avoid the strange old woman who lives on her street.
But the old woman proves to be a lynchpin in this story. After Diya’s dog Beans goes missing, she sees the old woman with his collar – or so she thinks. What’s actually happening is much stranger, as Diya finds herself in a time loop where everything goes wrong. We’re certainly keen to see what’s next for this game.
Rhythm Hotel
Rhythm Hotel is a Rhythm Heaven-like game from SyncArc-Studio and Infini Fun that tasks players with completing various tap-based mini-games. It’s all about keeping your ears focused on the beat, and your eyes on cute animations, as you attempt to tap-tap-tap your way to victory in a range of absurd scenarios.
This game feels particularly novel for its devotion to being uniquely strange. In segments, you’ll be flying through the clouds as an ancient Greek philosopher while kicking donkeys, or you’ll be Albert Einstein comically posing for photographs. You’ll also be corralling ancient warriors, bar-crawling birds, and more. So far, this game is a fun, funny time, and perfect for anyone who loves a good musical game.
