Museum Lab: Game Lab
Dates
Saturday 22 March | 10am – 4pm
Free entry | Drop in
Age
Suitable for all ages
Location
Across Level 2 and 3
Site access information
WA Museum Boola Bardip is fully accessible. Call 1300 134 081 for assistance. Accessible resources and programs >
Level up your day at Game Lab, a full-day event for gamers and gaming families as part of Perth Design Week!
Press play on Level 3 as the Museum transforms into a playground for gamers of all ages. Celebrate decades of video game fun with a day full of free activities. Here's what's happening:
- Talks | Plug into video game history, learn game design secrets, and test your skills as a game designer.
- Interactives | Relive the nostalgia with vintage consoles and compete in our esports zone.
- Indie Games | Meet top developers, preview upcoming games, and play the latest trending games.
- Unplugged Zone | Recharge with offline activities like board games and crafts.
Game Lab has a level for every player! This is a non-ticketed event, and families are welcome to drop in throughout the day. Scroll down to see the full program.
Partners
SPACEJUMP The Nostalgia Box Tinyware Games Monster Shop Games Intr Studio Classic Mistake SAE University College Perth Echidna Studios Winterwire Games FrameLabs Mystic Road ARCH REBELS Perth Arcade Machines
Talks Program | 10am - 3pm
David Green is a self-proclaimed geek. Within a few months of owning Nostalgia Box, he fell in love with the customers, the staff and the pure nostalgia the place gives to people.
Michael Pearce is the lead developer of Misc. A Tiny Tale. A self-taught animator and 3D modeller, Michael remembers growing up playing videogames as a family. His father built computers as a hobby. He and his brother didn't just play games together. Sometimes they also pulled apart and edited the textures of characters. It's what got him interested in videogame development as an adult.
Michael is founder and director of Tinyware Games together with Bernard A. Kyer and Chris Kleiner. Tinyware Games makes games that make you smile.
Caitlin Lomax, founder and Director of Intr Studio, gained a national and international reputation for her work in VR and AR before focusing on games for all platforms, genres, and audiences.
As Senior Producer on 'Moving Out 2' for SMG Studio, Caitlin won the 2023 ADGAs Excellence in Gameplay Award as well as the ADGAs 2023 Empower Award for contributions to the Western Australian Games industry. Combining her extensive production experience with software engineering skills, Caitlin leads the development teams both for internal game production and client projects at Intr Studio.
As of 2025, Ivan Ertlov has worked in the games industry for more than two decades, holding roles on more than 100 games for all major platforms, including Gothic 3, Painkiller, Hitman, Shattered and Civilization VII VR. With more than 25 Game of the Year Awards throughout their career, Ivan is now focused on Production, Design and Narrative Direction. As a published author of 50+ novels, including 20+ German and 3 international best-sellers, Ivan takes the lead on the narrative development of all Intr games.
Classic Mistake creates chiptune music for the dancefloor. Having played gigs in Perth, Melbourne and Tokyo he's ready to share how he writes and performs live music from the Nintendo Game Boy using nanoloop.
Interactives Zone
SPACEJUMP is Perth’s dedicated esports company specialising in creating new events, experiences, and opportunities showcasing gaming and esports.
Jump on a computer and play some quick-round games of Rocket League with friends and family on high-end gaming PCs.
Nostalgia Box is Australia’s first and only retro videogame museum. Hosting over 100 different consoles, it brings generations together in a fun way.
Have a taste of some of the consoles available.
Perth Arcade Machines is Perth's premier game supplier for purchase and hire. Supplying multigame retro arcade machines of all ranges for all ages such as handheld consoles, sit down cocktail tables, stand up cabinets, pinball machines, skill testers, electronic darts, and more.
Experience retro arcade games with several machines available to play and experience.
Indie Games Zone
Tinyware Games is made up of three game developers across the world, with the lead developer Michael Pearce located right here in Perth.
Learn the secrets of Misc. A Tiny Tale, Tinyware's first commercial game that will come out this year.
Monster Shop Games is a one-man team dedicated to making great games.
Trial Pie in the Sky, an old-school, action arcade game where you play as an Australian Magpie. Steal food, swoop people and complete objectives to rack up a high score and cause as much chaos as possible. In order to find a new home for your chicks, you'll need to visit iconic Australian locations, meet the locals and show no mercy to the humans around you
Founded in 2020, Intr is a leading studio for Games, AR, and VR productions, serving clients globally.
Preview Sovereign of the Seas and experience a pirate's life between bounty and barter, adventure and exploration, politics and sea shanties - in VR! There are five different career paths for aspiring pirates - from fearless explorer to beloved shanty master. Sail a fictional version of the Caribbean Sea in the 1700s, find buried treasures, chase and get chased across the waves, trade and build political alliances, become famous, infamous - or both!
Founded by a duo of indie game makers in Western Australia, Echidna Studios is committed to delivering couch-play and shared experiences for all ages, across multiple gaming platforms.
See if you're the fastest shooter in the pixel-rendered west. Try Ricochet Rodeo – an 8-player, cowboy brawler, where bullets bounce and 1 hit kills – just launched in November 2024.
Winterwire Games is a small indie game studio from regional Western Australia dedicated to developing fully immersive games, full of life and the challenging fun we grew up with. We’re working to create a home for amazing talent, and show off what Western Australian developers can do. Power Sink is just the beginning.
Descend into the depths of a decaying underwater power plant in this immersive puzzle platformer. As the Diver, you’ll navigate a submerged world of intricate circuitry puzzles, restoring power to your home. You’ll unravel hidden mysteries and uncover the ticking mechanism at the heart of the system.
Frame Labs is an independent XR Studio based in Western Australia, pushing the boundaries of immersive technology to craft innovative XR games and experiences.
Navigate through haunted corridors, dodging obstacles, and outsmarting spooky adversaries as you race towards victory. Monster House Racing VR offers a thrilling twist on the classic Kart Arcade VR experience by immersing players in a spine-chilling haunted house setting.
An indie studio with a focus on creating Asian culturally themed video games. Its first title, Zodiac Mountain is set to be released later this year.
Step into the mystical realm of Zodiac Mountain, a roguelike deckbuilder following the journey of a Panda as they adventure to become a Chinese Zodiac. Utilise dual decks of Yin & Yang, encounter mythical characters, outskill your enemies, and climb Zodiac Mountain.
ARCH REBELS is an Australian indie creative studio creating and developing compelling, immersive stories through innovative technology and asking “what if…”
Test your ghost catching skills with GHOST CAM, a haunting ghost photography VR and PC experience where you search for spirits to capture—but what happens if a ghost captures you? Armed with a paranormal-detecting camera and a torch, you’ll explore an abandoned bedroom that twists into a shifting labyrinth of secrets.
Unplugged Zone
Board and card games provide entertainment through play and transport players to entirely new worlds. From Super Mario to Pac Man to Sonic the Hedgehog, we guarantee a lot of fun!
Make a simple 2-player racing game to take home. All it takes is some paper, colour and your imagination.
