louie Roots

Growing up in regional Western Australia, I would scour the playstation section at the video store looking for titles that my friends and family could play. I love approachable games, because play is for everyone, and that’s led me down weird pathways through indie games, custom hardware and immersive events.

My degree in game design and culture formed the foundation for my games studio, SK Games, developing games for public spaces and community events. These games would be displayed at festivals, exhibitions, gigs and more, with one large work even getting shipped to London to exhibit at the V&A. For a trip down memory lane the old SK Games website is over here [skgames.com.au]

In 2016 I opened Bar SK, where I’d display hundreds of works and foster a wonderful community, all the while making some absurd controllers and immersive spaces both within the venue and externally. The space built collaboration between independent game developers and artists of all sorts, all supported by passionate indie brewers. For more Bar SK stuff head here [barsk.com.au]

Since 2020 I’ve spent time building outdoor media displays for petrol pumps, run a few games events, tutor games students at Swinburne University, and co-directed Freeplay Independent Games Festival.

Currently I’m a studio-for-hire, building custom displays and interactive hardware in my Heidelberg West workshop, continuing to search for the optimal way to bring a little bit of play to everyone’s life.

For more of my experiments and writing visit my portfolio here [portfolio.louieroots.com]