With the Penny Arcade Expo well on it’s way for 2008, the PAX 10 this year is a unique mix of intelligent and interesting games that prove you don’t need to be funded by a multi-million dollar company to make a good game. Over 80 independent game submissions were entered into the contest, originally announced in March, which were then narrowed down to a “ten best” list (The PAX 10) by a panel of industry experts including Penny Arcade’s own Gabe and Tycho.
The PAX 10 Includes:
The Amazing Brain Train by Grubby Games (puzzle/strategy)
Description: All aboard! Power up your intellect and embark on an epic quest aboard The Amazing Brain Train! Fueled by your mental energy, Professor Fizzwizzle’s Brain Train will take you on a brain-boosting adventure! Put your mighty mind to the test and see how far you can go!
The Amazing Brain Train is an interesting brand of puzzle game similar to the style of “Big Brain Academy”. Don’t let it’s likeness fool you, it may look like a few other games on the market, but it’s far from ordinary. With a good combination of unique puzzles and entertaining characters it’s fun for both kid and adult gamers.
You can download a demo at the Grubby Games Website.
Audio Surfby Dylan Fitterer (rhythm/action)
Description: Audiosurf is an IGF Award winning puzzle/rhythm hybrid game created by Invisible Handlebar. Its track-like stages visually mimic the music the player chooses, while the player races across several lanes collecting colored blocks that appear in sync with the music. Audiosurfis the first game to use Valve’s Steamworks technology.
Audio Surf has to be one of the most interesting and innovative games I have ever seen. You can take music from your own personal library and Audio Surf will integrate it into the game. It’s a cross between Guitar Hero, Tetris, and any other music based game, only better and more unique!
Find out more about Audio Surf on it’s official website.
Chronotronby Scarybug Games (puzzle/platformer)
Description: It’s about a robot that goes back in time for some reason. (His best friend is a talking pie!) Use your time machine to interact with past versions of yourself in this puzzle/platformer!
I’m not much for Flash based applications, they slow down my poor computer and in my opinion are far more trouble than they are worth. I will say however, that Chronotron is an exception to this rule of mine. It is the only flash based game in the PAX 10 and it’s charming to say the least. It runs quite smoothly and is a very addicting platformer/puzzle game that will keep you busy for hours. Best of all, it’s free!
You can play Chronotron right now on kongregate.com
Impulse by a team of Rochester Institute of Technology students (puzzle)
Description: Impulse is a student created action and puzzle game with an emphasis on magnetic and explosive forces. The player takes command of a ball and uses direct and indirect means of control to navigate around the environments. Throughout the levels, the player will encounter explosions, black holes, and magnetic platforms that have been combined to create an entertaining experience.
Impulse reminds me of a futuristic Pong styled game with huge amounts of color and light tossed in to simulate your brains cells. I wish I could find more information on this title, but alas… I cannot.
For a wee bit of info on this game visit the creators website.
The Maw by Twisted Pixel Games (action/adventure)
Description: In this full featured 3D action adventure, players take control of Frank, a simple alien that must partner up with The Maw, a cute little blob with an insatiable hunger that makes him the most dangerous creature in the galaxy. Players will need to harness The Maw’s unstoppable growth and the incredible powers he earns, in order to help Frank find his way home.
This game looks indescribably cute, it is one of the few indy games that will be featured on Xbox live’s Arcade in the very immediate future. The Maw features a lengthy, full scope, single-player experience filled with hundreds of 3D character animations, intense cinemas, cutting-edge graphics technology, a professionally composed soundtrack, and much more.
The Maw’s official website.
Polarityby a team of Carnegie Mellon University students (platformer/puzzle)
Description: Polarity is a 2D platforming/puzzle game based on the concept of magnetic forces. The goal of the game is to navigate environments and solve puzzles by using your suit’s magnetic properties in interesting ways. You can attract to and repel from objects, instantly switch magnetic polarity or even boost the strength of your magnetic field for added abilities.
The game design doesn’t look like much and it’s really short, but the unique puzzles make for a great indy. Players push and pull themselves to and from the many magnetic surfaces that each level is made up of. Later stages involve using your polarity to manipulate balls through the physics-based environments, opening doors and providing new objects to repel yourself from to launch and reach new heights.
The full game can be dowloaded at the Polarity website.
Project Aftermath by Games Faction (tactical/action)
Description: a tactical action game where you command up to four squads of soldiers in exciting battles over 12 missions set in a retro sci-fi universe. Setup your squads to suit your playing style, choosing from 100 different weapons, armour, power-up augmentations and spell-like special weapons. Engage in hectic, massed battles against hordes of enemies. Explore the landscape to locate hidden treasures and uncover the secrets of both your enemy and the barren planet you find yourselves on. Replay missions using fewer soldiers and items to earn greater rewards.
In the aftermath of a great war, when your enemy has wiped out everything you hold dear, the time has come to regroup and strike back. Enlist in the Morphid army and use all the weapons and genetic powers at your disposal to eradicate the New Order menace!
More on Project Aftermath is located on Gamesfation.com
Schizoidby Torpex Games (action/strategy)
Description: Schizoid is a cooperative game in which you and your partner (be it a bot or another human) control a ship, one orange and one blue, and must eliminate all enemy ships within each top-down, two dimensional level. To fight your way through the 100 levels, each partner must do their part in both protecting their ally and avoid oncoming enemies.
Right now Schizoid is exclusive to the Xbox Live arcade for 800 points. It’s easy to see why this game is called Schizoid, just look at the styling of it. Playing cooperatively is the key to success in Schizoid by both protecting your partner and avoiding enemies yourself through over 100 unique, fast paced levels.
More details about the game are at GiantBomb.com
Strange Attractors 2 by Ominous Development (puzzle/strategy)
Description: Strange Attractors 2 is an evolution of its original one switch predecessor. In it you use your ships gravity drive to navigate and escape from complex labyrinths full of secrets, hazards, and antagonizing screaming spacemen.While the game’s controls have grown to include an ‘Anti-Gravity’ button, and a ‘Shockwave’ attack (bringing the number of inputs to a staggering three!), the game is still completely playable (including menu navigation) with a single switch.
Polarity and Anti-Gravity seems to be the theme of this years PAX 10. Ominous Development has been hard at work (on the weekends =) creating the next iteration of Strange Attractors, taking the acclaimed successes of the previous IGF nominated version and dropping it in an all new in house 3D engine and giving it a lot more juice. SA2 is larger, smarter and more intricate, enemies are more imposing and aggressive; a whole new experience.
A demo and the full game download can be found at Ominous Development’s website.
and last, but not least…
Sushi Bar Samurai by Molly Rocket (exploratory puzzle)
Description: When a baking mishap disrupts the traditionally balanced diet of the spirit world, a young samurai must learn to master the art of sushi preparation to bring flavor and nutrition back to the afterlife. That samurai is you. In Sushi Bar Samurai, you’ll explore dozens of beautiful locations, solve tricky cooking puzzles, perfect furiously fast sushi moves, befriend a secretive recipe spirit, engage in fierce cook-offs with a demon pastry chef, and help return the matron of Sushi to her rightful place.
This is a weird one. After death, spirits need a good meal before they can pass on. Players are tasked with combing ingredients in specific orders to create a number of different sushi plates. As players progress they collect more and more ingredients, each with particular rules about their use–just like real sushi. It’s part cooking mama, and part puzzler, Sushi Bar Samurai, will be available in spring 2009. Be on the lookout for Sushi Bar Samurai screenshots and videos later this summer!
More information can be found at the Molly Rocket Website.
Keep an eye out when GEN releases the PAX 10 award winners.
August 30th, 2008 at 7:03 pm
Impulse looks pretty… and kind of like geometry wars.
August 31st, 2008 at 7:53 am
A lot of them look vaguely like geometry wars
I like the idea behind PAX - it’s still sort of a new thing but I hope they keep it going, especially since it’s pretty impressive some of the stuff the inde developers can come up with
August 31st, 2008 at 11:50 pm
I sooooo wish I could have made it to PAX this year! Gotta say, Sushi Bar Samurai sounds like my kind of puzzle game!! I mean, my opinion is based mostly on the title of the game… but I mean… come on… Sushi and Samurai are two of my favorite things evar.
September 1st, 2008 at 1:08 pm
I went to PAX on Saturday and it was so much fun! It was just an amazing event! I wish taht GEN could of made it to PAX too! NEXT YEAR GIRLS
September 14th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
We’re working on getting more updates for Impulse. It was a student developed game at RIT over 10 weeks, so we didn’t have time to polish it for a demo release. We’ll be updating the graphics and adding a lot more game content in the coming months.
Our website http://www.impulse-game.com will be the best place to get updates on what will happen with the game.