PAX was terrific. Team SideQuesting had an absolutely incredible time checking out the games, the sights, the panels and the people. Oh, and THE FOOD. That was pretty great, too. Genki Ya, baby!
Ahem.
On Saturday of PAX we got together as a team and discussed our favorite games of the show. After much debate, we finally got the list down to a respectable 40 games — but then we realized that couldn’t give all of them the same award. And so we were able to get that down even further to the TEN games that stuck out the most to us. These were games that we kept coming back to, were telling each other to play, or just had an effect on us that remained memorable. The lists of our personal favorites could possibly take up several pages, so we felt this collaborative effort was the best way to show off the games that we jointly agreed on.
And so, here we are: The SideQuesting PAX East 2015 Team Choice Awards. These are the gaming experiences we believe stole the show, the ones we highly recommend keeping an eye on as they get closer to launch.
And yes, we named them after the Teen Choice Awards.
Congrats to all the winners!
Just Shapes and Beats
I don’t know if we followed this game everywhere at PAX, or it followed us, but we kept bumping into it and loving it even more each time!
Catlateral Damage
The purrrfect game about feline mischief felt both satisfying AND cute. I’m so sorry for that pun.
Game 4
The Behemoth translates their signature flair and character design into a new, fast-paced RPG. Hexes!
Read Robyn’s hands-on with the demo!
Gigantic
Take a little bit of Team Fortress, a little Shadow of the Colossus, and a very cool art style and you have the beginnings of Gigantic! This multiplayer game had a lot of eyes on it at the show, and even employed members of its community to work the booth!
Check back soon for our write-up!
20XX
20XX has been to two PAX Easts now, and this latest appearance shows just how much the rogue-like Mega Man inspired game has come!
Dali enjoyed it. Read his write-up here!
Dreadnought
We’ve been following Dreadnought since it arrived at E3 last year bringing epic space battles along with it, but this was the first time that other members of the SideQuesting team had a chance to play it. If the hour-long lines at the booth were any indication, space may be the du jour place to be soon!
Our hands-on with the PAX demo is coming soon! Stay tuned.
Runbow
Runbow is the kind of game that validates the Wii U’s Gamepad, and its ingenious multiplayer might make the console a party powerhouse again!
Our write-up of the demo focuses on the game’s lovely chaos. Read up!
Twelve Minutes
“It’s like the movie Groundhog Day.” Those were the only words that Ryan needed to hear to become intrigued by the game. It was one of the most creative uses of time manipulation and the tied-in puzzle-solving that we’ve come across in a long while.
VA-11 HALL-A
The name may be spelled uniquely, but that’s only reflective of the actual game behind it. VA-11 HALL-A is “equal parts visual novel and bartender simulator,” proving that independent developers push the limits of what a game can be, often achieving things that surprise and astound us.
Robyn really enjoyed it, so take a peep at her piece on the demo here.
SteamWorld Heist
Taking the SteamWorld IP into a new HD world is great in and of itself, but throw in a description like “2D X-Com with robots” and I’m sold!
Check out why we’re excited about the game here!
No Comments