Note: Our editorial coverage at events is separate from our awards coverage, which is determined by our voters. We were not provided any discount or review copies of any titles featured below.
Summer is nearly over, and after nearly twelve years of scouring the internet and making “Mongolian Basketweaving Award Shows”, the Vidya Gaem Awards finally made it to its first gaming convention: PAX West 2023.
Before we begin, I wanted to shout out to Penny Arcade for giving our organization a badge (one for me, and one for the Director). There was no shortage of indie game developers here — and the convention was definitely a great place to meet many of them for the first time.
How’d we get so lucky? We were fast on the way to rejection — but after posting the Loss comic from Ctrl-Alt-Del (which is Tim Buckley, not Penny Arcade) — somehow our badge was approved. They made a huge mistake! Or did they?
Twelve years on, we’re glad to still be doing this, and we hope our coverage will make our audience and voters proud.
The Games
West Hunt
covered by Cormano
Amidst a vast array of booths featuring playable game demos, one stood out for its interactivity: the Wandering Wizard booth. Whereas most booths adopted a “Hey, pal, step right up and play our game!” attitude, leaving you to your own devices somewhat like a Gen-Z parent handing off an iPad to their child, West Hunt gives you a chance to put that thinking cap back on.
West Hunt separates itself from the pack by offering gameplay far removed from a game of Whodunit. In this lively setting, players are divided into two teams: the sly Crooks and the discerning Sheriffs. While the Crooks blend in with NPCs and complete mischievous tasks around a quaint town, the Sheriffs employ their deductive skills to unmask them but only have five attempts to do so. This intricate dance between the two teams creates a game environment where strategy and quick thinking are key. But the gameplay is balanced thoughtfully also, with careful consideration given to the movement capabilities of both teams, creating a level playing field that keeps the excitement high.
But it wasn’t just the game that stood out — the presentation was also quite good. The Wandering Wizard team excelled at creating a highly interactive booth that encouraged participants to immerse themselves fully into the experience — bound by the cardinal gamer rule of no peeking.
Another great thing was the in-game crafting system. Players can pick up cosmetics that add a personal touch to their Crook or Sheriff.
Beyond the chase, “West Hunt” seeks to dethrone “Among Us” as the sussiest gameplay experience imaginable. What’s more, the game, currently available on Steam and supporting up to 6 players per lobby, is gearing up for a Nintendo Switch port too. Looking forward to emulating it.
DreadXP’s showcase
covered by beatstar
Two games from DreadXP caught my eye: “Sucker for Love: Date to Die For” and “My Friendly Neighborhood”.
Dating sims are out of my element, but I spent the most time of any of the DreadXP games with AkaBaka’s upcoming title, Sucker for Love: Date to Die For. The game's aesthetic was accomplished by using a green and purple palette to distinguish the haunted Sacremen-cho (replete with Japanese townhouses) from the real-life Sacremanto, which also has a reputation for radioactive monsters wanting to abduct you.
There was a pleasant surprise in the first demon temptress that crossed my path —Rhok’zan, The Black Goat of the Woods. I got to refuse her advances by spraying water from a spray bottle right in her face.
There weren’t any dialogue choices in my 30-minute playthrough, but the navigation and the fact that you had to “craft” spells and incantations echo the same critical thinking skills you would want to see in point-and-click adventure games.
My Friendly Neighborhood, on the other hand, reminded me a lot of Five Nights At Freddy’s Security Breach, though with the added benefit of having a gun from the get-go. My Friendly Neighborhood was developed by Evan and John Szymanski, brothers of David Szymanski (“DUSK”). My Friendly Neighborhood was a title pitched as “Sesame Street Horror” and it does not disappoint.
My Friendly Neighborhood (MFN for short) is also the name of the in-universe television show, and you’re in its backrooms. featuring Muppet-like creations that ramble amongst themselves and would like nothing more but to give you a great big hug. Get hugged too many times by the puppets, and it’s game over. The game is cutesy enough, but its puzzles will give you a challenge. It’s a fair scare and a touch lighter than its competitor, Five Nights At Freddy’s: Security Breach.
I should clarify that the start of the PAX West demo is different than the demo currently on Steam. For the PAX demo, you are in a “neighborhood” with the puppets, as well as a few rounds in your shotgun to back them off a bit.
Two Platform Fighters
covered by beatstar & Cormano
Nestled in a corner of the Arch building were various platform fighters, and I thought I’d talk about at least two: Fraymakers and Smack Studio.
One of the first games I got to play at PAX was Fraymakers — a pixel-art platform fighter featuring indie game characters from other franchises. Some notable ones include CommanderVideo of BIT.TRIP Runner, Octodad (of Octodad: Dadlist Catch), and Peppino (of Pizza Tower). Fraymakers employs a system of having both primary and assist characters (some can be both) fight each other in a battle royale. Taking damage contributes to the ability to earn an attack from your assist.
The Animator for Fraymakers, Ramsey Kaid, solicited ideas for indie game characters to bring next into the game. Of the ones the audience suggested, he said a few of them were in negotiations to get into the game.
I also played Smack Studio, another platform fighter. Located close enough to Fraymakers to “rival” them, Smack Studio competes by giving autonomy to their player base to make their characters via Steam Workshop — including more abstract fighters such as the Gigachad, Reroll (from the game “Rerolling Nights”, which was inspired by “Patapon”), and a giant Cheez-It. The controls were tight, and combat felt noticeably lighter than Smash.
An informal chat with We Are OFK
Covered by beatstar
The first people I had visited in Summit building were OFK. While I missed their live performance on Friday due to a flight delay, I managed to download the performance and watched it mid-flight. The setlist offered a mix of original compositions and some covers — including “Simple and Clean” from Kingdom Hearts and The Cardigans “Lovefool”.
You may know OFK from their debut at The Game Awards 2020, a recorded performance of which was looping at their booth. But what brought me to visit was their win in our show, the 2022 Vidya Gaem Awards, where it won “Most Pretentious Indie Game”.
When We Are OFK won, I was a little suspicious. There was hardly any discussion about the game on /v/ for months, and the few nominations the game got were eclipsed by more popular titles such as Stray. However, nominations are not votes, and ultimately our voters picked it because they thought it was the most deserving of the award.
There isn’t much real crucial decision-making to be made as a player in We Are OFK, and despite the identity politics of some of 4chan’s users clashing with what was on Luca’s shirt, neither the plot nor characters were incendiary or inflammatory enough to trigger a lasting discussion on /v/. Still, a playful response to their win in Most Pretentious — a middle-finger emoji — was enough to make me purchase the game at full price on Steam.
While I ultimately agree with the “pretentious” label of the game, I still respect the earnestness of the concept. Making a virtual band is a road laden with obstacles and landmines, and you’re gonna have your share of doubters, internal and external. The fact the project didn’t pick fights with people or straight up insult their customers (like the YIIKdev) was a testament to their good nature, and the fact they didn’t immediately run away was welcomed too.
Dief (who voices Luca and was the main vocalist), Kalli Lang (who performed on bass), and Dajaun (who produced a few songs for OFK) each were available to answer the questions I had regarding the characters and plot details of We Are OFK. When I quizzed Dief about the possibility of a Season 2, they were optimistic, but also realistic. With so much time expended working on Season 1, a Season 2 would be dependent on the sales of the first one. Still, I committed to playing the next one and giving the series another chance.
Midway through the conversation, a fan of the game came up to the booth, presenting their iPhone that had a wallpaper of We Are OFK to the team. This led to a quick photo op, and the OFK team gave the fans the photograph they took with their Polaroid camera. It was a genuinely heartwarming moment to witness. After wrapping up my conversation with Kalli and Dajaun, I shook Dief’s hand and bid the three farewell.
ANTONBLAST blasts off
Covered by beatstar / Donny Q
Amidst a very successful year for indie sensation “Pizza Tower”, its childhood friend Antonblast plays grittier and at a slightly more cinematic frame rate befitting the 16-bit era it draws inspiration from. The protagonist, Anton, has all his booze stolen from him by Satan. So he decides to get even by demolishing the Backburner Peninsula brick by brick.
A Japanese mobile dev goes all in on PC?!
Covered by beatstar
With the gold standard for mobile games being Genshin Impact, Clash of Clans, or Roblox, the Japanese mobile game developer MIXI (known for “Monster Strike”) has returned to the West to make a splash on PC.
MIXI was kind enough to show me two games at the nearby Hyatt Regency — the torrential rain in Las Vegas led me to miss out on attending the MIX (Media Indie Exchange) on Friday, where they were showcasing the game. The games were Asym Altered Axis and Project CRIMSON.
Asym Altered Axis is really neat. It’s marketed as a cross-genre in that strategy is essential. However, real-time decision-making is equally important. You can play either as one of up to five “infiltrators” who capture the point and escape into a portal or as the Master Hand-type “protector” that oversees swaths of land, responsible for thwarting infiltrators and capable of inflicting massive amounts of damage.
The infiltrators can shoot at the hands at any time, but playing stealth was an emphasized component. I was also able to provide some feedback regarding balancing possibilities because of it being one person versus five people. It played swimmingly well on a Steam deck, though a little more choppy on the gaming laptop they had.
As with many competitive games, credits are a facet of the gameplay experience. Winning the match results in many credits, while losing the match still results in some credits being awarded.
They also showcased another game that hasn’t been publicly announced yet — a Diablo-like called Project CRIMSON. It was a bit laggier, as it required an internet connection to a server hosted in Europe (they had exhibited at Gamescom last month). That said, the visual elements were stunning, and the movesets seemed innovative. You and your team can wrap around enemies and lasso into one another to speed forward, the only disappointing thing was what appeared to be procedurally-generated cosmetics for the characters. Hopefully, they prioritize the gameplay experience first.
I think both titles represent an earnest try for a modest company to enter the PC market and re-enter the hearts of Western audiences (they had an English localization for Monster Strike many years back). Thanks again to MIXI.
Death of a Wish
Covered by Cormano
Death of a Wish is a top-down action-adventure game with an art style mainly composed of chicken scratch lines. Its plot is simple, the player takes the role of Christian, the son of a cultist who is trying to escape their clutches and being indoctrinated into his father’s cult. Along the way, he meets a girl, though her name escapes me, who isn’t much of a fighter, but offers Christian help during his quest.
The player encounters enemies who are monstrous beings called Nightmares, their abilities range from single-hit melee attacks to ranged projectiles, with more challenging foes boasting larger movesets. Christian has multiple ways of dealing with enemies with both offensive and defensive options. The starting attack is a simple 3-hit combo attack with relatively slow speed but high damage. New weapons, which the game calls Arias, can be found and swapped in real-time to suit the player’s needs.
Attacking enemies not only drains health, but also their guard meters. Once the guard meter is fully depleted, the enemy is staggered for a short time and cannot attack or move, leaving them wide open for the player to freely launch a volley of attacks. As for Christian’s defensive options, he can do a simple dodge roll to evade enemy attacks.
Instead of traditional healing through item consumption like potions or food, the player can restore health by using one of five rewinds, which restart the current encounter as if nothing happened. When the player is low on health, a prompt appears above Christian, encouraging a rewind. There is a corruption meter on the top right, which fills upon the beginning of each encounter or death. The game only says something will happen once it’s full, but I haven’t reached that point yet.
Character progression is done through both items found in the world and by Ia, which is the game’s form of experience points, which can be found as either an item pickup or by defeating enemies in the world. Once enough Ia is acquired, the player is given one point to level up various stats. Ia is lost upon death, so carrying large or small amounts adds to the risk value of any encounter.
The game has simple and solid fundamentals; it knows what it’s going for and doesn’t try to throw anything from left field to try and “spice up” gameplay. Personally, I don’t like the art style the game has, but I don’t see anything wrong with it as it fits the game's themes of corruption and insanity. So far, I’m not liking the girl Christian meets, she comes off as sassy and not in a fun way, as if everything she says has to be a quip on the current situation.
The demo was played on Steam Deck and runs smoothly without major issues. The tutorial prompts show an image similar to this one, which I’m assuming is because the prompts show an FMV example of whatever it’s teaching, and so far, Valve’s Proton doesn’t play very nice with some video formats.
The other games I played at PAX
Covered by beatstar
There were many games I wish I could speak more about, but hopefully, I’ll do them justice by summarizing my experiences below.
- Fling to The Finish: A collaborative 4-player obstacle course developed by SplitSide Game and published by Daedalic Entertainment. A two-player team faces off against another two-player team in a race. While I first thought it was possible to play with only one controller per team, you need two by the halfway point. Very cutesy, reminiscent of Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout, but unlike Fall Guys, it’s $15.
- The Dreamer Must Die: A dream world full of eldritch abominations. Reminded me of “This Strange Realm of Mine”. Notably, there was a shrine room dedicated to a fictitious Vtuber. The creator mentioned that he originally was trying to get Nyanners (a /v/GA alum) to be in this room, but couldn’t due to cost reasons.
- Tekken 8: The sequel to Tekken 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, the line moved quickly as each player was expected to play only one match each. The camera notably moved inward as a player approached the end of their health bar. I’m not much of a fighting game person, but it was aesthetically pleasing as always.
- Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown: A side-scrolling Prince of Persia with familiar platforming and combat as the classic one.
- Olliefrog Toad Skater: Combines the best of Tony Hawk in a cuteish, low-pressure skating experience.
- The World of Kung Fu: A wuxia RPG that takes inspiration from Fire Emblem, the English edition was showcased and very detail-oriented.
Spread Out
As opposed to one home, PAX West was held in many. The Summit Building, the Annex, the Arch, and the Sheraton.
Badge pickup for media badges and will-call took place in the Sheraton; the indie game showcases were in both Summit and Arch, depending on the developer. In my personal opinion, neither Summit or Arch outshined the other, and I was going to both a roughly equal amount of times.
Arch’s strength was its variety in developers, whereas Summit’s was its variety in content.
The Annex was a nice shortcut to enter Level 4 of Arch while avoiding most of the crowd.
The Summit building proved aesthetically gorgeous, though some may find the four-level climb a challenge, emphasized even more by the six-level descent to Summit’s game exhibitors.
Closing Out
It was great to meet so many developers and people in the industry and fans of gaming. It’s our first official meetup at a gaming convention, and the Vidya Gaem Awards team extends heartfelt thanks to all the creators and fellow gamers at PAX with us. We look forward to attending more conventions, meeting the fans, and witnessing all these games stepping onto the scene.
