Devs Choose My Adventure For Me @ PAX West

This year I let go of the controls, and ask Devs what games they’re excited about at PAX West 2019 . . .

PAX West is like going to a multi level arcade where all the machines are on freeplay. You pay in time, not money. Time spent in lines, time spent walking from floor to floor, waiting for the bathroom, waiting for food, time spent trying to get a signal. Almost a greek tragedy – all the games in the world, but such little time to play them.

It’s an amazing and equally exhausting time. While planning the weekend at my kitchen table, pouring over the website, app, twitter, and well meaning texts from friends (“Oh! You GOTTA check out . . . “), I felt my stress peak, and an abnormal sense of calm infect me. I would never be able to play all of the games I wanted to. So what was I hoping to get from PAX? In past years, my favorite part has always been talking to the creators. I wanted to know what the people making the games were playing. What THEY were excited about. 

So I let go, and asked the Devs of PAX West, what games I should check out. And I’m so glad I did! This led me to play new games I would have likely overlooked, and see a bit behind the curtain. Below is the adventure that was chosen for me. I hope you too, find something new!

1. Disintegration – Private Division 

I usually stay away from online shooter games, but I wanted to start at the Private Division booth after hearing about the automaton mechanics central to Disintegration. During the presentation they kept warning us to not make the mistake of tying one arm behind our back- to make sure we used the AI bots to their full potential. You play as a fighter pilot, but also have a team of bots carrying out orders and your bidding. When it was demo time, the amazing PD team kindly, but mistakenly, put me on the big screen so the entire show floor could watch me play. They taught me how to emote, gave me some tips on which team (designed like biker gangs of the future) I might do the best with, and then sent me off to do them proud. I quickly died a thousand tiny deaths, both on screen and within my own ego.

Tiffany, our team’s coach, took pity on me, and started to whisper extra hints while still coaching the team at large. As I began to understand how to dance between piloting and coaching my bots, the game came to an end- the other team had won. My gut reaction was to ask for “Just five more minutes!” which was a good sign that this game is an addictive one. Shout out to Kari, Jen, and Tiffany for coaching me so kindly. I’m sorry I let the Neon Dreams down. I’ll do them proud in the future.

• Available 2020
• For PC, PS4, and Xbox One
• You might enjoy this game if you like Fortnight or Destiny.

From here, Kari and Jen sent me over to the Indie Megabooth to seek out Nibblity.

2. Nibblity – LeafTail Labs

There are snapshots of moments I’ll always remember when playing with new tech in games, or a new take on existing tech. The first time I saw Super Mario 64 (open world wow!) the first time I tried the Oculus Rift (I almost puked from both motion sickness AND excitement) and now this Nibblity demo will join the museum. Nibblins are personified objects you hatch and feed with the magic of  augmented reality. The app (IOS only at the time of writing) puts the little guys in front of you, and then you use a suction gun to make copies of real objects around you, and feed them to your Nibblin. For example, I hatched an adorable Breadator. Apparently his favorite snack is clothing, so the Dev suggested I make a copy of their shoe, and feed it to my lil buddy. After a few shoes, my Breadator was happy and full. Really exciting tech to see from a small developer.  I can’t wait to see where this game goes. 

• Not out yet, but sign up for the beta here
• Will be available on iOS, Android
• Play if you like Pokemon Go, and Neopets

The Nibblity team sent me over to Nova Drift.

3. Nova Drift– Chimeric

Nova Drift is a gorgeous,  strategy classic arcade combat game, but I suspect it’s real appeal is the dedicated community around it. An incredibly streamable game – because of both the art style and the constant evolving builds – this game is soothing to watch. Their discord channel has over 1500 active members.

Jeffery is the main force behind Nova Drift,  constantly taking into account data the active fans disclose on discord. A great example of how indie games can pivot seamlessly to incorporate what their fans want. I wasn’t able to play the game because two kids were trying to get on the leaderboard with combos they had been practicing at home. I didn’t mind – it’s a joy to watch people practice what their passionate about, and I suspect many people will come to be passionate about Nova Drift.

• Early Access currently available
• Available on PC, MAC
• Play if you like Galaga, Asteroid

Jeffery sent me over to Lumote, calling it one of the prettiest games on the floor.

4. Lumote – Luminawesome Games

. . . And he was right! Lumote is a gorgeous, relaxing puzzle game about two opposing powers. You play as a bioluminescent creature being trying to take back your environment from the Mastermote. Your squishy creature will manipulate its surroundings to allow you to progress by solving puzzles. My sleepy con brain stumbled with the mechanics until I realized double jumping was possible, but I never felt frustrated or put off. I just felt like a little squishy buddy trying to figure out the big scary world. I will definitely be playing this game to wind down after stressful days.

• Not yet available, coming out 2020
• Will be available on PC, Xbox One, Playstation 4, Nintendo Switch
• Play if you like Portal or Q*bert

Kyle sent me over to while True: learn ().

5. while True: learn() – Luden.io (Unable to test)

That’s right, it’s a cat machine learning specialist simulator.  I wasn’t able to demo this game due to time constraints and the constant line of people playing it, but it looks charming. From the website:

while True: learn() is a simulator of a machine learning specialist who uses visual programming to make his and his cat’s living. You’re a machine learning specialist who makes neural networks but your cat seems to be better at it. Now you must solve puzzles to build a cat-to-human translation system (who knows what else this cat is capable of!). Earn a fortune, buy kickass cat outfits and learn how machine learning really works!

• Available now!
• For: PC, Mac, Linux, iOS
• Play if you want a unique gaming experience (what could I possibly compare this to?)

6. Monster Prom (Camp and Reverse)

A game that seemed to be getting a lot of buzz over the con was Monster Prom, a multiplayer competitive dating sim. I played the original a few months ago, and was so charmed I took it to a dinner party the next day. They were similarly charmed, but none of us could get prom dates. After the success of Monster Prom, the team of Beautiful Glitch did another Kickstarter to fund its sequel. Their original goal was $32,000, but they ended the campaign around $500,000. This allowed them to create three separate games. The first is Monster Prom: Reverse, the same storyline as the original, but now you play as the potential prom dates and woo the players. The second sequel (no really) is Monster Camp. While at Summer Camp, you try to find a date. It’s important to point out that this was the first dating sim I played with open gender and sexuality. From their press kit:

Freedom of choice: Monsters don’t like boys or girls, they like monsters. In Monster Prom the game experience is unaffected by gender or sexual orientation, since finding love is already hard enough. 

• Monster Camp will launch Halloween of 2020, Reverse sometime after that.
• Will be available for PC, Mac, Linux, with the intention to launch on more platforms “soon”
• Play if you like Dream Daddy, dating simulators

Elias sent me over to Praey for the Gods, a game I had been visiting at PAX West for a couple of years. Luckily, this year I learned they have a release date!

7. Praey for the Gods -No Matter Studios

A spiritual successors to Shadow of the Colossus, Praey for the Gods was originally announced in 2014 – coincidently  on the ten year anniversary of SOTC. You play a human sent to a snowy island to confront the very Gods you believed in. You must climb these giants and defeat them, using your size to your advantage. I’ve been waiting for this game for years, but with every PAX the art gets more detailed, the demo longer, and exciting new mechanics are added. Since we last spoke, they added a survival element to the game. For example, when cold, your archer will shake slightly, making it harder to hit your target. If, like me, you love eating IRL, but hate being forced to in a game, you can adjust how harsh the survival difficulty is. 

• Currently in Early Access on Steam
• Launching Q2 of 2020
• Will be available on: PC, Mac, Xbox One, Playstation 4
• Play if you like Shadow of the Colossus, Tomb Raider

Brain sent me toSuperluminal, but due to time constraints, and the popularity of the game, I was not able to demo it.

8. Superluminal – Pillow Castle Games – (Unable to test)

I was unable to play Superluminal due to time constraints, but the booth was always packed- a good sign. From their website:

A game inspired by forced perspective. In this mind-bending first-person puzzler, you explore a surreal dream world and solve impossible puzzles using the ambiguity of depth and perspective. Perception is reality.

Screenshots don’t do this game justice, so please enjoy the teaser trailer above.

• Launch date TBD
• Will be available on PC, Consoles
• Play if you ever looked at an M.C. Escher painting and thought “I could beat that.”

Special thanks to all the devs that indulged my game, the incredibly helpful enforcers of PAX West, and the WSCC staff that kept the bathrooms IMMACULATE. You’re the real MVPs.