Finch & Archie is one of the six digital games selected for the PAX Aus 2026 Indie Showcase. The Australian co-op mystery will be exhibited in Melbourne from October 9 to 11.

It has been available through Steam Early Access since January.

The glamour of the 1920s is already gone

Octarine Arts sets the story in America during the Great Depression. Poverty and crime have replaced the careless prosperity associated with the previous decade, giving Finch's cases a deliberately grim social backdrop.

The visual treatment borrows heavily from pulp and illustrated noir. Brick alleys, bars and low light are filtered through stylised characters rather than strict historical realism.

Archie is a partner before he is a mascot

The police dog has investigative information of his own. His sense of smell exposes trails and evidence Finch cannot perceive.

That makes the relationship structurally important to each case. Finch may be the experienced investigator, but the human character cannot simply perform Archie's job when cooperation becomes inconvenient.

The fiction gives that dependence some friction. Finch lost his former canine partner and had sworn never to repeat the experience. Archie enters the story as a newly trained replacement he never asked for.

Their communication problem belongs to the story and the players

Archie cannot explain a scent in English. Finch cannot answer in fluent dog.

Octarine Arts turns that obvious joke into the organising idea of its co-op design. Each role receives different information and the two players need to communicate around the characters' limitations.

The developers have described the relationship as a ludonarrative arc: Finch and Archie gradually become a more effective partnership while the players controlling them are expected to develop their own shared habits.

Each case feeds a larger serial-killer story

Finch & Archie is episodic. Individual crimes provide suspects, witnesses and evidence to examine, while a wider narrative follows a serial murderer called The Jackal.

Interrogations allow the pair to test alibis, confront statements with evidence and expose contradictions before assembling an accusation.

The Early Access format leaves that larger story unfinished. Octarine Arts said during the summer that Episode 2 was in active playtesting and polish, with Episode 3 already entering planning.

PAX gives Octarine Arts a hometown-industry spotlight

The Perth studio was founded in 2023 by six developers who had graduated from university together. Finch & Archie is their first commercial title.

Screenwest and Screen Australia have provided funding support for the project.

The game will now appear among the six digital Indie Showcase winners at PAX Aus from October 9 to 11, 2026.