Focus + Reset + Repeat
Three days of speedruns, practical psychology and the communities that make gaming matter.
Level Up Psychology is proudly supporting the Speedrunning Stage at PAX Aus 2026, presented with AusSpeedruns.
Win one of three PAX Aus three-day badges
For many people, gaming communities are where belonging actually happens. We want to hear about yours.
To enter, comment or reply on an eligible PAX Aus competition post and tell us:
What is a moment when a gaming community made you feel like you belonged?
There are three PAX Aus 2026 three-day badges to be won.
- Free entry
- Open to Australian residents aged 18 and over
- One entry per person on each participating platform
- Entries close at 11:59 pm AEST on Friday 18 September 2026
- Three winners will be randomly drawn and announced on Saturday 19 September 2026
Why is a psychology practice at PAX?
Because, for many of us, gaming communities are where we found our people.
They are places where a niche interest becomes shared language, where practice and persistence are understood, and where the thing you are obsessive about is suddenly the normal thing to be obsessive about.
That is not a small thing. Belonging, identity, competence and connection can all contribute to wellbeing.
We are not coming to PAX to tell anyone to touch grass. Level Up Psychology was built with gamers in mind. We take gaming seriously as a source of enjoyment, achievement, identity and community, while also recognising that players sometimes need support with pressure, motivation, balance or mental health.
Speedrunning makes many of these psychological processes unusually visible. Focus under pressure, recovering after a mistake, deliberate practice, managing frustration and continuing through attempt 400 are not abstract ideas on this stage. They are part of every run.
What we’re doing at PAX
Find the Level Up Psychology team at the Speedrunning Stage across all three days.
During selected changeovers, our clinicians will join the AusSpeedruns hosts for short, practical conversations about what happens in your head while you play.
Topics will include
- recovering attention after an error
- why automatic skills can become fragile under pressure
- managing nerves before going live
- anger, tilt and emotion regulation
- deliberate practice versus mindless repetition
- attention and fatigue during long runs
- perfectionism and chasing personal bests
- gaming nostalgia, recovery and restoration
- identity, community and belonging
- enjoying gaming while recognising when impairment matters
Full segment times will be added when the PAX Aus schedule is confirmed.
Come and say hello
Drop by the Level Up Psychology table beside the stage to meet the team and talk gaming, performance and psychology.
We are also planning:
- a Tilt Meter for a quick, light-hearted check-in
- Split Cards with practical strategies to take away
- limited-edition Level Up pins
Final activities are subject to production and event approval.
About Level Up Psychology
Level Up Psychology is an Australian psychology practice that takes gaming seriously.
Alongside clinical psychology, educational and developmental psychology and general mental health services, we provide specialist support for gamers, esports athletes, streamers, families and people who participate in gaming communities.
Our Psychology for Gamers work covers mental performance, focus, tilt, sustainable practice, problematic gaming, online identity, belonging and finding a healthy place for gaming alongside the rest of life.
Competition terms and conditions
1. Promoter
The promoter is Level Up Psychology Pty Ltd, ABN 40 654 820 167, of 2/15 Ricketts Road, Mount Waverley VIC 3149 (“Promoter”).
Questions about the promotion may be directed to admin@leveluppsychology.com.au.
2. Eligibility
Entry is open to Australian residents aged 18 years or older who can attend PAX Aus 2026 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre from 9 to 11 October 2026.
Directors, management and employees of the Promoter, RX/Reed Exhibitions, PAX Aus and AusSpeedruns, and their immediate families, are not eligible to enter.
No purchase or payment is required.
3. Promotion period
The promotion opens at 9:00 am AEST on Monday 14 September 2026 and closes at 11:59 pm AEST on Friday 18 September 2026.
Entries received outside this period will not be accepted.
4. How to enter
During the promotion period, entrants must comment or reply on an eligible competition post published by PAX Aus or Level Up Psychology on Facebook, Instagram or X.
The comment must describe a moment when a gaming community made the entrant feel like they belonged.
The entry must remain visible to the Promoter until the draw has been completed.
5. Entry limits
A maximum of one entry per person per participating platform is permitted, allowing up to three entries in total.
Additional comments on the same platform, duplicate entries and entries made using multiple accounts on the same platform may be disregarded.
Each entrant may win no more than one prize.
6. Entry requirements
Entries must be the entrant’s own contribution and must not:
- contain unlawful, discriminatory, threatening or seriously offensive material
- identify another person or disclose their private information without permission
- infringe another person’s intellectual property or other rights
- breach the rules of the relevant social media platform
- be generated through automated, bulk or fraudulent activity.
The Promoter may disqualify an entry that does not meet these requirements.
7. Prizes
There are three prizes.
Each prize is one general-admission three-day badge to PAX Aus 2026, valued at approximately $185. The total prize pool is approximately $555.
The prize provides admission to PAX Aus on 9, 10 and 11 October 2026. Travel, accommodation, meals, insurance and other costs are not included.
Prizes are not transferable, exchangeable or redeemable for cash.
Attendance is subject to PAX Aus’s entry requirements and terms of participation.
8. Draw
The draw will take place at 12:00 pm AEST on Saturday 19 September 2026 at Level Up Psychology, 2/15 Ricketts Road, Mount Waverley VIC 3149.
All eligible entries will be entered into a computerised random draw. Each eligible entry will have an equal chance of selection.
Three winners will be drawn. If the same person is selected more than once, the later selection will be disregarded and another entry drawn.
Entrants do not need to be present at the draw.
9. Winner notification and publication
Winners will be contacted in writing through the social media account used to enter, by direct message or a reply to their winning comment.
Winners’ first names and social media handles will also be announced on the original competition posts and at leveluppsychology.com.au/pax on Saturday 19 September 2026.
Entrants should be cautious of impersonation accounts. Level Up Psychology will not ask a winner to provide payment or banking details to receive a prize.
10. Claiming the prize
A winner must respond by 11:59 pm AEST on Monday 21 September 2026 and provide the information reasonably required to verify eligibility and arrange the badge.
Badge issue or collection will be arranged by the Promoter at no cost to the winner. Photo identification may be required.
If a winner cannot be contacted after reasonable efforts, is ineligible or does not respond by the deadline, the prize will be forfeited and a replacement winner will be randomly drawn at 12:00 pm AEST on Tuesday 22 September 2026.
11. Privacy
Comments submitted as entries are public and remain subject to the privacy practices of the platform on which they are posted.
The Promoter will use an entrant’s profile name, social media handle and any winner contact information only to administer the promotion, verify eligibility, announce the result and deliver the prize.
Entry information will not be added to a marketing list. The Promoter will not reuse an entrant’s story in promotional material without separate permission.
Personal information will otherwise be managed under Level Up Psychology’s Privacy Policy.
12. Event and prize changes
If a prize becomes unavailable for reasons outside the Promoter’s reasonable control, the Promoter may provide a substitute of equal or greater value where permitted by law and, where required, with the winner’s agreement.
The Promoter is not responsible for changes to PAX Aus dates, programming, access arrangements or conditions of entry that are outside its control.
Nothing in these terms limits any rights that cannot lawfully be excluded under the Australian Consumer Law.
13. Social media disclaimer
This promotion is not sponsored, endorsed, administered by or associated with Meta, Facebook, Instagram or X.
Entrants release those platforms from responsibility for the administration of the promotion to the extent permitted by law.
14. General
The Promoter’s decisions concerning eligibility and administration are final, subject to applicable law.
The Promoter may verify entries, disqualify fraudulent or automated entries and suspend or modify the promotion if circumstances outside its reasonable control prevent it from being conducted fairly.
Any material change will be published at leveluppsychology.com.au/pax.
By entering, entrants confirm that they have read and accepted these terms and conditions.