Nonsense Machine: Blowing Holes in Reality with Aussie Indie Games (and Potato Cacti)
AI Gaming News Author · Rock Paper Shotgun ·
Nonsense Machine, led by the wonderfully irreverent dweedes, is an Australian indie studio masterfully blending wild, free-form game experiments with ambitious commercial projects, proving that genuine innovation thrives on creative chaos and a healthy dose of Aussie eccentricity. They're basically wizards making gaming magic without bothering with the rulebook.
Alright, gather 'round, mates! I've been tinkering with a story this morning that's wilder than a rogue spell, all about an Aussie studio called Nonsense Machine. It’s headed up by a developer known as dweedes, and let me tell you, his approach to making games is the kind of gloriously chaotic genius that makes you wonder what happens if you just... *try* things.
See, for the better part of a decade, dweedes has been kicking around the indie scene, not with grand pronouncements, but with a cheeky, punkish rebellion that feels utterly refreshing. His personal playground, WET GAMIN, is a treasure trove of experimental, scribbly, DIY games—stuff he just throws out there for free. As he told Austin Lancaster over at Rock Paper Shotgun (who, fair dinkum, did a cracking job digging into this), making free games "lightens the load off my head. I don’t have to market it, I don’t have to invest time in it. I just want to get the idea out, and then people can play it." No quality targets, just pure, unadulterated creative abandon. Sounds like a wizard just messing about in his workshop, doesn't it? Casting whatever spell comes to mind.
And *bloody hell*, what ideas he's had! We're talking a Justin Bieber karaoke sim, a strategic bladder-relieving public toilet maze (yes, you read that right), and my personal favourite: *A True Western Romance*. This little gem blends poetry with Wild West exploration and features a conversation with a senile, potato-faced cactus. Seriously, a *potato-faced cactus*. Then there's *Braid 2*, an 'unauthorised sequel' where you skateboard around, mowing down 'Monstars' while a very loose, probably dweedes-improvised cover of Eminem's 'Lose Yourself' plays. It’s the kind of joyous, slightly unhinged creativity that makes you grin from ear to ear. These aren’t just games; they're digital thought experiments, proof that the most interesting stuff often happens when you just let your imagination run wild.
But here's where it gets interesting, eh? While still dropping these free, glorious oddities, dweedes and Nonsense Machine are also stepping up their commercial game on Steam. Their most ambitious project yet, *Dryft City Kyngs*, is a racing life sim set in a near-future, neon-soaked Melbourne. Think *Grand Theft Auto* vibes, but with a uniquely Aussie, utopian twist. Instead of Rockstar's neoliberal hellscapes, Greater Dryft City has no cops, residents happily give you their number, and the council will repaint the roads to your preferred eyesore hue within a day. Medical bills? Infinite tab, no worries. It's a charmingly exaggerated vision of the Australian welfare state, which, let's be honest, is a pretty novel setting for a game!
You play as a starry-eyed romantic, balancing a boring internship with their true passion: 'The Dryft'. Sound familiar, all you indie devs out there? It’s a pretty clever parallel. The traditional industry narrative often pushes this idea that amateur experiments are just a stepping stone, a 'rite of passage' to making a 'proper game' – one that turns a profit. But dweedes, being the cleverly observant sort he is, doesn't see it that way. For him, free games are about unconstrained fun and improvisation, while commercial projects like *Dryft City Kyngs* are a different kind of challenge, bringing in collaborators who are "the best at what they do." It's not a value judgment, just a different flavour of magic.
Speaking of collaboration, Nonsense Machine also teamed up with local rapper Realname for *THE SOUL OF TOO BIRDS GAME*. Realname, part of the industrial hip-hop outfit Too Birds, has this fascinating philosophy that all video games, from *Pong* to *Metal Gear Solid*, are art. "Every frame is, in a way, some rare acrylic, otherworldly," he reckons. And *THE SOUL OF TOO BIRDS GAME* leans right into that, inviting you to smash exploding artworks in a labyrinthine art gallery, all while Too Birds' aggressive, oddball music throbs. It's got that crude 3D, gleefully ironic vibe that reminds me a bit of *Cruelty Squad*. Realname even admitted to a past life of being "the most toxic person" in *GTA Online*, finding glitches to grief people. It's a dark mirror, perhaps, to the game's own 'scabrous gaming habits' and the 'reality is bonkers' ethos he shares.
Then there's *Cape Hideous*, the most recent Nonsense Machine release, from experimental freeware veteran Jake Clover. You're a pirate in a red dress and bold eyeliner, puffing three pipes, navigating windy masts and scorching bowels. What started as a quick comedy game morphed into something far more thoughtful. Clover's aesthetic is a genuine marvel – a mix of silly sight gags (a pirate eating a glass bottle!) with earnest, understated wonder. Some animations are comically low-effort, others impressively assured. It's a glorious mess of stylistic inconsistency that somehow works, bursting with idiosyncratic details that Clover trusts you, the player, will notice. Like a tiny feather plucked from wood and let fly in a strong wind – it's all part of the charm.
Clover talks about wanting to create the sense of a bigger world, even in small projects, making them feel "like looking through a window to a small part of a different world." He aims for games that feel alien and unfamiliar, almost as if they exist "for reasons other than just to be played by someone." It's an ambition that brings to mind the work of artist Shaun Tan, where meaning isn't pre-conceived but emerges as you draw, like a bird's thought in its throat. Dweedes himself calls *Cape Hideous* the closest to 'art' they've published, and you can see why. It's a testament to letting creativity dictate the rules, rather than letting rules dictate creativity.
So, what's the takeaway, you ask? Nonsense Machine, dweedes, and their collaborators are showing us that the true 'art' of game development often lies in the refusal to be clamped by expectation. It's about embracing the unexpected, finding joy in improvisation, and letting genuinely weird ideas flourish, whether they're free experiments or ambitious commercial ventures. In an industry that often feels pressured to conform, these wackos down under are a brilliant reminder that sometimes, the best way forward is to simply make some beautiful, glorious nonsense.
Tags: Indie Games, Game Development, Creative Process, Australian Gaming, Experimental Games
Original article: Rock Paper Shotgun