We had a lot of fun at PAX East this year. In fact, we think we may simply love PAX after the long weekend, and long week, putting this content together. It was a very long, exhausting, and very very very cold weekend, and every moment worthwhile. We’re going to use this article as a landing page for the coverage over the course of last weekend, so everything we did, everything we thought, and the great great people we met, can all be found right here. We have five volumes of video coverage with game makers big and small, written demos and gameplay musings and a gallery to top everything off, all amassed from a garnering of over 20 interviews, which is a lot for only the two of us part time journalists, (and Ally) so we appreciate your patience. Keep an eye on TheYoungFolks.com and our social media for more content on these very games you see below.
Happy playing,
Evan Griffin, Video Games Editor
PAX East 2017 vol. 1: Friday The 13th, Conan Exiles, Ticket to Earth, Earthfall
Friday the 13th The Game – Available for Pre-Order
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As someone who Kickstarted this game the morning it was announced in October of 2015, of course I’m going to include it in a list of games I’m most excited about from PAX two years in a row. After so much effort that went into their multiplayer beta on PC, this lovingly recreated map of Camp Crystal Lake will come to life even further with an absolute blast of a trailer showing off several of Jason Vorhees’ killing moves, and the results are just as excessive and ridiculous as you would ever hope (or fear) for them to be! Can’t wait to re-purchase this and also purchase it for my friends to force them to play it with me. – Evan G
Conan Exiles – in Early Access Now
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Conan Exiles was shown off at this year’s PAX East convention. The game was created by Funcom and is based on the lore of the Conan the Barbarian universe. We got the chance to try out the game on PC and see just how massive and beautiful this open world is. The game revolves around three main objectives: Survive, Build and Dominate. From the gameplay and the trailers we’ve seen, Conan Exiles seems to take the action and adventure of the films and comic series along with the extensive culture and lore and wrap them up into one hell of a game. The game is currently in Early Access on Steam and will be released for PS4 and Xbox One in the future.– Tyler C
Ticket to Earth – Episode 1 available now! (Wed. March 15)
Ticket to Earth is an exciting new tactical RPG from developer Robert Circus. When a civilization is pushed to their limit after a mining boom wipes out their natural resources, one Earthbound ship and its rebellious survivors aboard begin their quest to fight a corrupt criminal conspiracy. We got to play this game at PAX East in the PAX Rising booth and quickly discovered what all the hype was about. The gameplay was very fast paced and the art was visually stunning for a mobile game. With options to expand and enhance your characters and build up a resistance, Ticket to Earth proved to be one of the best RPG’s we played this year. And lucky for all you gamers out there, the game launched on iOS App Store on March 15th! Go play it! – Tyler C
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Earthfall – Coming Soon
Earthfall was one of the many games that we stumbled upon while trying to move through the waves of people on the convention floor. From the trailer that was playing on the display, the game looked to be your run-of-the-mill first person shooter. When we were given the chance to play it, however, this game proved to be way more fun than we expected. We played the multiplayer option where we teamed up with other players to survive an alien invasion in some sort of warehouse. The visuals were stunning and the gameplay was very easy to pick up quickly. The one thing I loved the most was that when you are in need of a new weapon, there are 3D printers in the game that create you whatever weapon you choose from the list provided. This made the game feel unique and not like the usual Call of Duty or Halo games we’re all used to. Earthfall is made by developer Holospark and will be launching on PS4 (and PS4 Pro), Xbox One and PC in the first half of this year. – Tyler C
PAX East 2017 Vol. 2: Transformers, Distance, Battlesloths 2025, Tumbleseed
Transformers: Forged to Fight – April 2017
Having great success with Marvel Contest of Champions, mobile developer Kabam is back with Transformers: Forged to Fight. This game looks to be what every fan of the Transformers franchise is craving, or even just fans of good mobile fighting games in general. From the gameplay we saw at PAX East, this game seems to take the controls of Kabam’s other fighting games and amp up the experience by adding side stepping to create a more three-dimensional effect. The trailer was released during PAX and oh boy did it get me excited for this game! If it’s even half as good as Marvel Contest of Champions, this is going to be a home run for Kabam. The game will be released in spring of this year on iOS and Android. – Tyler C
Distance – In Early Access Now
One of our favorite games we got to try out at PAX East this year was Distance, the latest game from Refract Studios. It’s hard to classify this game or compare it to any other games, but I’m going to try. Picture yourself playing one of the classic Tony Hawk video games where you free skate all over a skate park. Now, replace the skater with a super fast, futuristic, flying car and a environment that looks like it could be a Tron film. That is what Distance feels like and it’s freaking awesome! The controls are simple and the gameplay is addicting. Maneuvering a car that precisely is something that even the professional racing games don’t come close to. As for a release date, I think their website says it all: “Available on Steam Early Access, Coming to PS4 Whenever It’s Ready.” – Tyler C
TumbleSeed – Spring 2017
“Tumbleseed is a rolly roguelike about a small seed with big dreams.” and I couldn’t have put it any better myself. Tumbleseed, which will be available across most platforms when it comes out this spring, is a feat in graphic design but also in combining classic puzzle games like Ice Climbers with the complexity of modern RPGs. It’s not unlike the mobile game Downwell last year, but very vertical and very very vibrant in such a way that it charms the hell out of you, all the while unscrewing your hand eye coordination as you attempt to roll your little seed up to the top of the stage out of the way of danger and collecting skills while you go. I can easily see myself playing this in quick busts on the Nintendo Switch when it releases on their eShop. – Evan G
Battlesloths 2025 – Coming Soon
Battlesloths 2025 is so dope, it feels like a kids imagination shot into the stratosphere and landed in 1999. Rooster Teeth Games is publishing this 8-bit shooter as a small revival of the couch co-op/multiplayer that has so quickly been phased out by those top performing online shooters. The premise is kind of a 90’s fever dream version of Hungry Hungry Hippos, except you play as murderous sloths with automatics, and you’re seeking to bring slices of pizza pie back to your home base to win. It’s quick, quirky and really addictive. – Evan G
PAX East 2017 Vol. 3: Hello Neighbor, EarthNight, Reservoir Dogs Bloody Days
Hello Neighbor – Summer 2017
As advertised, Hello Neighbor presents the creepy thrills expected to be found in the likes of Resident Evil VII, but uniquely spins it by eliminating the gore, and building the suspense so much that it doesn’t even matter that it looks like a PIXAR film. If you’re a fan of stealth games, puzzle solving, and breaking into people’s homes when you know they’re trouble, this is most definitely the game for you. If you’re seeking the thrills, don’t be fooled by this one and be sure to give it a try. This is exactly what the horror genre in gaming needs right now. – Evan G
EarthNight – Coming Soon
As my one real gaming experience at PAX EAST (I was mainly on behind the scenes camera holding/charm duty) EarthNight managed to fit right into my non-gamer sensibilities. A runner where the main objective was seemingly get as far as you can without hurting yourself, the game defies expectations with it’s beautifully constructed world building. Hand designed and sporting some dreamy and all-encompassing mood music, you won’t be able to put the controller down. As the developers let us know, this isn’t a game that’s supposed to be a one and done deal, rather, one where you’re continually playing against the permadeath by clicking start again and again in order to beat your past personal best. For the casual and expert gamer alike, keep an eye out on PS4 and Steam for this upcoming game. – Ally J.
Reservoir Dogs Bloody Days – Summer 2017
@BigStarGames reservoirdogsvideogame.com
For any of you movie fans out there, Reservoir Dogs: Bloody Days is going to please you to no end. Big Star Games, based out of beautiful Barcelona, took up the challenge of making a top-down shooter take on this Quentin Tarintino classic. Just from meeting with the developers we could tell that their team poured their hearts into making this game and they are very proud of it. The game has a Hotline Miami vibe to it but with a great twist, time manipulation. I know what you’re thinking, what does time manipulation have to do with Reservoir Dogs? Well, if one of your three playable characters is taken down by the police or enemies during gameplay you have the ability to rewind time and play as that doomed character and change their fate by allowing your first character to carry out the path you already created for them. It’s hard to explain the game without confusing you and myself, but believe me when I say this game is amazing! Big Star Games worked closely with Lionsgate Studios, the current holder of the rights to the film, to ensure that every last detail was accounted for and accurate. The game is slated to launch on PC this Spring with an Xbox One version sometime in the future. – Evan G
PAX East 2017 Vol. 4: INDIE MINIBOOTH ft. Semispheres, Emily Is Away Too and Semblance
Semisperes – Available now on PS4 & PC, coming soon to Xbox One
The creator of this game himself says he based the concept on a challenge he faced while playing the game Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, in which a single player controls two brothers, each with a single stick on either side of their controller, and so Radu created Semispheres, a brain teaser that puts both the left and the right sides of your brain to work as you puzzle how to properly move your thumbs between two organisms separated by a wall but couldn’t be any more connected with each other. Semispheres is a brain wracking puzzle game experience that I could see myself getting lost in for hours trying to master. – Evan G
Emily Is Away Too – May 2017
Kyle Seeley, local Boston creator, has built this spiritual successor to his first version of Emily Is Away as a throwback (I can’t believe I’m saying that here) to 2006 where the things that ran the internet at the time were flash games, Guitar Hero, Panic! at the Disco and, of course, AIM. This entire game is a simulation of a windows XP desktop, that actually interacts with your own current desktop mind you, where you play a kid trying to win the heart of a girl named Emily. Here you experience the life of a senior in high school in the dawn of YouTube and FaceBook, and those invigorating feelings of having a high school crush that you can only manage somehow behind a keyboard and a messaging system. Ahh, those were the days. – Evan G
Semblance – Coming in 2017
Developer Ben Myres (who flew all the way from South Africa to demo this game by the way) understands wholeheartedly that innovation is key when making games, and the way he and Cukia Kimani have built this Play-Dough made world into a challenging, but fun, platformer really shines in it’s presentation. The world clearly distinguishes what is pliable and what is not as your little blob of an avatar attempts to collect vital squishy pieces to reach it’s final destination per level. This game is responsive, lively, colorful and a pure joy to play. – Evan G
PAX East 2017 Vol. 5: Pit People, Nidhogg II, Sundered
Pit People – On Steam Early Access and Xbox Game Preview Now
We’ve interviewed Ian at Behemoth last year (our first major interview in gaming, too!) but now that we’ve got our own hands on the game, and a review published by our own Travis Hymas, we wanted to check in with our friends at The Behemoth to talk about multiplayer, and lo and behold they were doing a tournament at this year’s PAX East. The Real Time Strategy game blends the Satruday morning cartoon style The Behemoth is already known for with games akin to Fire Emblem as you manage teams across an over world and command your legion of 18 playable characters across a desolated kingdom. This year we specifically went over the Player vs Player mode in The Pit, and the unfair challenge in which you tackle the most beastly AI. – Evan G
Nidhogg II – Summer 2017
I love video games, but I’m also very terrible at them. So I truly appreciate Mark Essen going easy on me when I challenged him to a game of Nidhogg II, a sequel to an Atari looking indie game that I already loved, and this improves on it in nearly every way. We get a larger team working on Nidhogg II so we get a massive visual overhaul, amazing music, a collection of weapons, the while nine yards. Still no answers on the worm-unicorn-dragon things though. We’ll get back to you on that. – Evan G
Sundered – Summer 2017
@Thunderlotus, thunderlotusgames.com
This game performs beautifully, and I already love it considering it is a constantly changing map with Metroid-style gameplay that also encourages you to die in order to get good. Mostly because I die a lot in games anyway, but the guys over at ThunderLotus have developed something that, even in Alpha Build, feels so fresh and innovative. The world feels so rich, the skill trees rewarding, and enemies as enjoyably challenging as in MegaMan X. I can’t wait to get my hands on Sundered and continue to explore its world. – Evan G
TYF Previews
Crash Bandicoot: N.Sane Trilogy – PlayStation 4
For all you PlayStation fans out there who are looking for some nostalgia to brighten your day, you’re in luck! Crash Bandicoot: N. Sane Trilogy is bringing everyone’s favorite bandicoot to the powerful PS4 console. This new trilogy contains the first three games created by Naughty Dog studios back in the 1990’s. These three titles (Crash Bandicoot, Cortex Strikes Back and Warped) are also completely remastered for the gorgeous graphics on the PS4. We got to test out this new and improved Crash Bandicoot game and see if it’s worth picking up. From the first time you take control of Crash, the high quality of the characters and the environment hits you across the face hard. This is not the quaint PlayStation game you remember, this is a beautiful and awesome version that returning players and new younger gamers will enjoy. Crash Bandicoot: N. Sane Trilogy will launch on June 30th of this year for the PS4. -Tyler C
Our friends over at NewEgg took the time out of their weekend to show members of the press technological advancements by way of demoing them for the future of gaming, and the vast majority of it can awe you into wondering if it can all be even capable outside of the normal realm of entertainment.
Obviously you have your new product for entertainment housing, like Nvidia’s new version of the Shield, capable of native 4K and High Dynamic Range picture and also fast internet game play, but is even more efficient than before with its upgrade to the Pascal architecture of its processor.
They also showed off the HTC Vive, the premiere virtual reality platform from a strictly hardware standpoint. The device, co-developed by games retailer Steam, is typically available to play at Windows Stores on Dell’s premiere horsepower machine the Alienware Area 51, here we got to run the same software types you’d see in that environment, but with more free space allowing for movement. One of the most intriguing things about the changing of shooter games in a VR experience can be seen here, as you are required to be spatially aware of what is entirely around you, and instead of moving a stick to get to that spot, you have to physically turn, or blind shoot a weapon with a wireless controller, and nothing feels more intuitive right now.
The series of Arctis headsets from Steelseries are a type that are unique to themselves, as evidenced by their introduction of accessory bands designed by local LA street artists that are able to be sold with or separate from each of the Artis 3, 5 and 7 series headphones. The bands don’t just give your headset that personalized color scheme but also comfortably, and extended use. The bands themselves can be removed from the headset and washed if they’re ever dirty, but even if they break, the entire headset 
TYF @ PAX East Photo Gallery
Check out our photo gallery of random shenanigans throughout the expo weekend
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