Pack your Vegimite, crack open a tinny, make sure the pluggers are good and strong, pull on your best singo and don’t forget to let your glorious mullet fly! Aussie Bogan Hero is coming soon and it’s such a shockingly fun game.
Meet Davo from Dusty Springs, a small mining town in outback Australia. Dusty Springs was a quiet sleepy little town until some drongo went digging around the nearby opal mines and unleashed pure chaos. As if the local wildlife wasn’t frightening enough, it has morphed into sheer terrors out to wreak havoc on this small bit of paradise. Once megacorp Drill and Thrill block off the town all seems well and safe again, that is until the pub runs out of beer. Now it is up to Dave to trek the great sun burnt land to stop the dodgy megacorp and save his town and most importantly, his pub!
Aussie Bogan Hero first caught my eye at 2024’s PAX Rising as part of the showcase of new up and coming teams and their unique games. Team members from Snag Swag Studios were on site proudly showing off their newest creation and after a few moments of conversation we could tell they were a dedicated team that were not afraid to have a laugh nor take themselves too seriously. Snag Swag are a small team based out of Sydney with Aussie Bogan Hero being their first release.
Aussie Bogan Hero is a 2D side scrolling “metroidvania” where you take on the character Davo and must fight your way through the landscape on your way see Doc in Timbuk Town. Armed with your trusty cricket bat you set off through a set of levels that platformers will know and love, jumping, rolling and smacking through the wildlife that the rest of the world constantly thinks is trying to kill us on a daily basis.
Snag Swag Studios have done a good job with limited resources for their first time out. While Aussie Bogan Hero is a simple title that feels familiar in its style and gameplay mechanics, its uniquely Australian idiosyncrasies give it an edge to help it stand out in a very saturated market. Davo is that typical bogan stereotype, he swills down Bogan Beer, that comes in a familiar looking somewhat boganish tinny, and collects Vegimite as a special currency. Jokes aside, combat is fluid while remaining tight once you get the timing down and graphically while it is reasonably light on the resources, I have yet to encounter anything that would be problematic. Character models are as cute as possessed Aussie wildlife can be with each area bringing new enemies to dispatch.
Aussie Bogan Hero is shaping up to be a cult classic and while it may not hit the highs that some other PAX Rising specials have in recent years this is one to keep an eye out on.
Aussie Bogan Hero is coming out soon on Steam but right now you can try out the same preview as me for free and don’t forget to add it to your Wishlist!
