Aussie Footy Game Turns Ridiculous Rules Into Viral Fun

Trying to explain Australian rules football makes you sound like you're inventing a sport on the spot, says David Ashby, the filmmaker behind cult hit Danger 5. So he built a video game that celebrates the madness.

Pro Jank Footy is an arcade game where the already confusing rules of Aussie rules get even more ridiculous as you play. Teams like the Salisbury Park Snags and Port Noarlunga Chips compete with constantly shifting gameplay that pokes fun at Australia's beloved but bewildering sport.

Ashby, who previously created the parody Italian Spiderman, says the absurdity is the point. "If you describe the code to somebody who's unfamiliar with it, it sounds like you're making it up on the spot," he explains, referring to the real sport where 36 players chase an oval ball across a cricket field.

Comedy group Aunty Donna's Broden Kelly recorded thousands of commentary lines for the game, combining his two passions in an unexpected way. "I had these two worlds, one is comedy and one is footy, that built alongside each other," Kelly says.

The recording session tested Kelly's patience over four to five straight hours. One improvised line that went viral came from pure exhaustion: "These are all just pixels and one day we will all die."

The Ripple Effect

Kelly sees something special in how both football and comedy connect strangers instantly. He can chat for hours with 60-year-old fans he has nothing in common with, just because they support the same team.

"What I love about comedy is it's completely disarming," he says. "As soon as you make someone laugh, you feel like you know them deeply."

Melbourne designer Louis Roots built two custom arcade cabinets with wood-paneled aesthetics evoking old pubs and footy grounds. They're installed for free play at the Great Northern Hotel in Carlton North and the Victoria Hotel in Brunswick.

The machines include an FM transmitter that broadcasts Kelly's commentary across the pub, recreating the experience of hearing radio at a real game. "I had this idea, what if people could hear it from across the pub?" Roots says, remembering sitting with his dad listening to commentary on someone's AM radio at WAFL games.

Ashby is now working on a Netflix comedy series but says he'd absolutely make another game. Seeing Pro Jank Footy appear on the PlayStation store felt surreal: "That's sick, dude. My 10-year-old self would be very happy with that."