Big Games Night Out 2025
Presented by Creative Victoria in partnership with Fed Square.
Australia’s biggest free celebration of games culture returns as part of Melbourne International Games Week, with retro arcades, tabletop adventures, esports, cosplay and family-friendly fun.
Clear the calendar, BGNO is back, featuring more free and thrilling entertainment celebrating all things games and games culture.
A highlight this year is ELECTRIC ARCADIA, an immersive installation transforming Fed Square into a nostalgic tribute to the golden age of arcades, designed by Melbourne creatives Callum Preston and Louie Roots.
Families can kick off the evening with Little Games Night Out from 3–6pm, featuring face painting, bubble magic and a family rave.
In The Edge, Indiginerd invites adventurers into a Stranger Things-inspired Dungeons & Dragons experience, and The Edge will also be the home of tabletop games, where you can connect with Melbourne Meeples, join in life-sized games and purchase games by local board games creators at the games market.
The fun continues with over 100 free-to-play games, esports, live music, the fabulous and very popular Cosplay Runway, and late-night access to ACMI’s Game Worlds exhibition.
Check out the program below and discover programs, maps and timetables on the Big Games Night Out website.
3–9 October, 12pm–7pm + open late for BGNO | Birrarung Building
Jump back into the lost era of games culture at this vintage video arcade.
Designed in collaboration with Melbourne’s champion of nostalgia, Callum Preston (Video Land), and interactive artist Louie Roots, ELECTRIC ARCADIA captures the spirit of 80s adventure films sprinkled with futuristic 90s techno – all wrapped up in the warm embrace of a classic mall arcade.
Relive unforgettable moments inside a free, playable, highly shareable visual feast where upright classics sit alongside exciting indies in an immersive Amusement Plaza experience.
3–6pm | Throughout the Square
Come early to enjoy a special BGNO program for the young and the young at heart. A place where children and adults can dress up and party together, featuring free-to-play family-friendly games activations, facepainting, the Cosplay Parade, Just Dance, Australia’s Favourite Bubbleman Dr Hubble and Joey Lightbulbs’ Family Rave.
The Edge
Explore Melbourne Meeples’ fantastic selection of new and classic board games featuring titles from local designers and publishers. Dive into a thrilling new dimension of fun with the life-size version of newly released Melbourne game Octocube. And check out the Local Board Game Market to find your new favourite game, showcasing titles exclusively from Australian creators, designers and publishers.
Main Stage
The Main Stage will be a focal point for free entertainment, with the popular Cosplay Parade, live music and a nail-biting Lip Sync Battle.
The Cosplay Parade is the ultimate showcase of fandom creativity, with the best in bespoke couture and makeup on the Main Stage. Open to all cosplayers to participate, regardless of skill level, whether you make or buy your costumes – all are welcome to sign up!
The Atrium + Main Square for Electric Arcadia
Explore the Square to encounter multiple free-to-play Games Zones – from 80s to indie, arcades to esports, and tabletop to roleplay. Big Games Night Out will feature more than 100 free-to-play games for gamers of all walks of life.
Throughout the Square
The main stage will host the Cosplay Runway, Just Dance-Offs, DJs, live performances, big screen games experiences and more while the whole precinct will be alive with games, LARPers, roving performers and interactive fun for all.
From 8.30pm | The Edge
Indiginerd is opening a portal that will transport you directly to the 80s for a night of epic Dungeons & Dragons adventure. Gamers will embark on a thrilling one-shot campaign inside an immersive Stranger Things-inspired world. After the one-shot, the set will open as a photo opp, so dress to your 80s best, channel your best Stranger Things Character and prepare to enter this retro realm. While the campaign will be only open to D&D players, all are welcome to come and check it out.
From 5pm | Swanston St Forecourt
On Big Games Night Out, the Power Move dancefloor will come alive as we explore the age-old question: does a Swordcraft LARP battle produce more energy than the slick routines of a K-pop dance crew, or even more than YOUR dance moves to an epic chiptune DJ set by Jamatar?
ACMI
Experience ACMI after dark at Big Games Night Out with exclusive late-night access to Game Worlds – ACMI’s major new playable exhibition celebrating videogames from the 1970s to today. Game Worlds is a ticketed event.
Creative Victoria presents Big Games Night Out in partnership with Fed Square as part of Melbourne International Games Week 2025.