In a time when risk-taking in the video game industry feels increasingly rare, Australia Did It crashes through convention with a new genre all its own: the Tactical Reverse Bullet Hell. Published by boutique label Mystic Forge, this unique new game, coming to Steam later this year, enhances the thoughtful play of Turn-Based Tower Defense with a unique unit-merging system and explosive on-rails Reverse Bullet Hell combat. Carefully strategize to withstand relentless enemy waves, then unleash sensory overload as you become the Bullet Hell, mowing down thousands in dazzling chaos.
Designed as a compact, experimental take on the strategy genre, Australia Did It challenges genre conventions and industry caution in equal measure. Created by acclaimed designer Rami Ismail (Nuclear Throne, Luftrausers) and co-developed by Aesthetician Labs, the game marks a return to small-team innovation and genre-pushing ambition at a time when the industry sorely needs it.
The project began with a challenge: stay small, take risks, and build something that doesn’t need to fit a mold.
“I believe the games industry has been failing at supporting developer innovation and experimentation,” said Ismail. “Publishers, investors, and shareholders fund the same few safe bets, later and later in development – forcing even the most creative developers to make safe games with predictable ideas, and force in the latest flavour-of-the-day. That continues until someone does manage to break the mold and creates something truly new – and then the money chases that until that is replaced again. I had very low hopes for this odd prototype I’d been playing with, but when I showed it to Mystic Forge, they didn’t even flinch at the experimental genre mix, wrote the check for a small development cycle, and supported us throughout development. No guardrails, no caveats, just a firm belief that games need new ideas, and that it is worth chasing that.”
Mystic Forge, the new indie publisher created by founding members of Good Shepherd Entertainment, veterans behind titles like Monster Train, Friday the 13th, John Wick Hex, and the Transport Fever series, was launched to do exactly that – support bold projects by teams they believe in. With Australia Did It, the publisher took a deliberately hands-off approach.
“From the very start, I knew that Mystic Forge had to run with Rami going up to bat and taking a big creative swing with this game. Once we chatted about design intent with the focus on high-tension moments and heard his full pitch with the proposed title name, we were ALL IN,” said Randy Greenback, Portfolio Director at Mystic Forge. “Mystic Forge exists to support ideas that deserve to be seen and played, especially if they don’t follow the rules. Australia Did It is experimental, there isn’t anything else like it.”
Set in a drained Atlantic Ocean basin following a mysterious catastrophic event, Australia Did It casts players as hired mercenaries defending a cargo train as it navigates through a monster-ridden drained seabed. Your mission? Escort precious cargo across this hostile terrain by holding off endless waves of enemies at every station. If the shipment arrives intact, we’ll call it a win. Whether you survive or not.