pax_east_logo-660x340For many attendees, PAX East is all about the big AAA console releases and much of their days are unfortunately spent waiting in line for hours only to get maybe 15 to 30 minutes playing a game they’ll then have to wait months to be released before they can spend $60 to play it at home. Usually the only people around for the average attendee to speak with from the bigger studios is a Marketing person or the individuals currently manning the booth.

To these PAX-goers I say more power to you, but while you are spending hours in line, I’ll be spending hours actually playing games and speaking directly with the people who made them. And if I want to play that game even longer, odds are I can pull out my phone on the spot and buy the game for just a couple of bucks!

PAX East is all about the Indie…

It is an event where one and two person development teams on shoestring budgets have a place to showcase all their hard work alongside games that were made by huge teams on multi-million dollar budgets. Finally there is a level playing field.

This year there is an astonishing number of Indie mobile game developers that will have a presence at PAX East. Since our site focuses on iOS, I will concentrate on these offerings, but there are plenty of Indie Android, PC and console developers at the show as well, ready to bend over backwards to show you their game and answer any/all questions that you might have about the game and how it was made, so TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS OPPORTUNITY!

pax-east-2013-exhibThis will be my busiest PAX East yet, with appointments and drop-ins scheduled with 20+ developers. It is awesome to see how the love for mobile gaming grows year over year. If you are lucky enough to be headed to the show, then here’s the scoop on what’s being presented to iOS gamers.

Since the list is fairly big, I’ll start with PAX’s own Indie Showcase (booth #691) where each year the folks at PAX select the best “indie games you’ve never heard of available on mobile platforms”. This year’s games can ALL be played on iOS platforms and all, but one (Third Eye Crime) are currently available for purchase on the App Store. So if you like any of them you can buy a copy right there on the spot.

pax-east-indie-showcase



indie-megabooth-logoEasily the largest collection of Indie devs at the show is the Indie MEGABOOTH. Encompassing 42 booths and representing 50 developers and 62+ games (not all iOS) “the Indie MEGABOOTH is a collection of independent game developers all banding together to bring you the latest and greatest indie games at PAX.” This should really be your first stop and with so many titles to play you could probably spend your entire day here.

Within the Indie MEGABOOTH, there will be a rotating space know as the Indie MINIBOOTH (aka Booth 581) where additional developers that may or may not have own private booths will stop by for periods of time over the weekend to be able to demo their game for you. Some of the games/devs scheduled to make appearances here are:

Coming Soon

Jungle Rumble
Disco Pixel
COMING SOON


Other Indie MEGABOOTH attendees include:
Tin Man Games (572)

TrialOfTheClone_GamebookAdventuresIn addition to existing Gamebook titles: Strange Loves : Vampire Boyfriends and House of Hell Tin Man will be showing of their latest Gamebook Adventure, Trial of the Clone, written by Zach Weinersmith (Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal comic creator) and narrated by Wil Wheaton!


Ronimo Games (675)

Two Tribes (679)

toki-tori-2Will be giving attendies their first look at their upcoming sequel, Toki Tori 2.


Renegade Kid (681)
Little Bit Games (686)

the-seedShowing off The Seed (releasing on iOS March 22nd)


Lunchtime Studios (688)

lords-of-nyLords of New York (Adventure RPG, Kickstarter)

Popcannibal (778)

A game I really enjoyed from last year’s PAX East.

Nyamyam (779)

tengami
Tengami is an adventure game in which you explore a beautifully paper crafted 3D pop-up world, with an art style inspired by traditional Japanese arts and crafts.

The Tap Lab (875)

Tiny Tycoons is a location-based game that just launched today.

Men Who Wear Too Many Hats (881)
Vlambeer (881)

In addition to Ridiculous Fishing, Vlambeer is showing a playable version of their next PC title, Luftrausers, in which players “control a lone pilot in an experimental LUFTRAUSER and try to survive as long as possible against increasing numbers of hostile fighters, jets, boats and battleships”.

Pixelscopic (886)

delvers-dropDelver’s Drop is a fast, physics-based Action RPG with random dungeons and puzzles.


Additional Studios presenting iOS titles, but not part of the Indie MEGABOOTH:
Mugen Studios (799)

harbingerHarbinger : Skeleton Crew is a first person adventure game in which “through a combination of open exploration and simple puzzles, the story of the derelict starship Armada unfolds”.

Supergiant Games (892)

Stone Blade Entertainment (548)

These are the creators of the deck building games Magic The Gathering and Ascension. You might be able to get some information out of the regarding the upcoming Ascension Online which just had a successful Kickstarter campaign, which could mean updates to Playdek’s iOS app. Or the newly released SolForge.

Kiz Studios (580)


Giant Spacekat (606)

revolution-60-screenGiant Spacekat will be debuting their action-adventure game, Revolution 60 which “features anime legend Amanda Winn-Lee”.

11 bit studios (Booth 1053)

anomaly2There is a fairly good chance that the RTS tower offense game Anomaly 2 is headed to iOS and this may be your chance to check it out.


Vellum Interactive (1085)

tel-kyle-screen
Showing off their upcoming puzzle platformer, Telekinesis Kyle in which you play Kyle who has telekinetic powers. Using this gift, you can levitate crates to create stairs, redirect pipes to douse fires, activate elevators, avoid lasers, robots, and lava to escape your captors.

Snowed In Studios (1163)

Tribute Games (1169)



pax-east-indie-scedule

Some (of the many) panels you should consider checking out are:

Friday

Saturday

If you are attending PAX East, make sure to grab the Guidebook app for the latest schedule, map and list of exhibitors.

There are also a number of other developers that I will be speaking with that may or may not have a presence on the show floor, but I’ll be posting more information on the site throughout the weekend regarding these as well, so make sure to check back.

I apologize if you are an iOS developer who’ll be at the show and I left you off of my list, please leave a comment below letting us know what you’ll be showing and where.

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