Zack’s Top 5 Games From PAX East 2025

This past weekend, I was able to attend PAX East in Boston, just as I did in 2024. With last year being my first experience at the convention, I didn’t know what to expect, and heading in with a media badge was an especially overwhelming time. Luckily, this year, not only did I go in as a more experienced veteran of the show, but I also had my pal and Punished Backlog Founder David Silbert there to show me the ropes. 

We had a chance to spend all of Saturday together exploring the expo floor and taking in countless great games along the way. He’s got his own list of PAX East 2025 favorites you can check out on the site, but I wanted to give my picks for some hidden gems as well. 

Here’s a list of my top five favorite games from PAX East 2025:

Among Us 3D

Our first appointment of the day was to play Among Us 3D, and it really set the tone for what ended up being a great experience all around. If you’ve played the original, this version won’t be unfamiliar. As you and your friends try to complete tasks on your spacecraft, one or two imposters secretly go around killing crew members until there aren’t any left. It’s always a brilliant loop and one that’s sure to hook gamers for a long time, but with Among Us losing some steam overall, this new version could be just the boost that the franchise needs to stay relevant.

The two main changes we saw were of course the first-person 3D view and a new mode called Tag. Now, for me, playing in full 3D was a slam dunk. The developers from Schell Games shared that this version was created essentially by accident, as the team was working on a VR game (which released in 2022) and used the assets to test and refine the functionality. Instead of focusing only on a VR vehicle, the team realized they could repurpose the new models into a version accessible to anyone. What a happy accident! 

Pleasant surprise aside, the new gameplay is deeply affected by this shift in perspective. Not having the overhead view that includes other character avatars means that the only time you can see anyone else is when they wander through your narrow field of vision. This adds an even more tense element to an already nerve-wracking game, but in the best way possible. The limitations here feel like a massive win for the style of the game, where every move you make is critical to your survival.

Speaking of survival, Tag mode introduces a new twist that I think could end up being the default way to play. Instead of having an imposter kill people during a run, some players start as “infected” with a sort of zombie-like affliction they’re trying to spread as fast as they can. As soon as they infect another player, that person has to pay it forward to be successful. There’s no death this time around; either everyone gets infected or the safe team completes their tasks before falling ill. In every game we played, the infected side won pretty handily, but I won’t hold that against the fact that it seems like it should be the new best way to play. I fully expect Among Us 3D to be the quintessential version in no time.

Gigasword

As someone still relatively new to the convention experience, I’ve been slightly disappointed with the lack of big names at PAX the past two years. I thought events like these were supposed to be the kind of places gamers converge for special reveals and early access to things like the Switch 2. Though I’m told that might’ve been the case way back, these days the main floor is packed with indie titles and the developers working hard to make their dreams a reality. I quickly realized by talking with these small studios just how meaningful the games they’re working on are to them and what a massive impact being at a showcase like PAX can have for their future. 

Enter Jack Breen, the solo dev behind Studio Hybrid and creator of Gigasword. In a sea of games and booths and people looking for the next big thing, it amazed me how something so impressive could be so under the radar. There were people lined up to play, no doubt, but I’m shocked no one was shouting from the rooftops about this game. Gigasword was flat-out fantastic, and if I could’ve been allowed to play all day I wouldn’t have moved.

The pitch is an easy one to give. A pixel art Metroidvania-style hack-and-slash action-platformer? You’ve got my attention. Giant badass sword that crushes enemies into oblivion with a simple slash? Keep going. 

It turns out the titular GigaSword isn’t meant for human use and it’s actually too big to effectively traverse the terrain with. The twist comes in the form of environmental puzzles where main character Ezra must plant the sword in the ground to free himself from the weight and restriction of carrying his weapon around at all times. The changes in ability like an immediate jump boost and ledge grab aid in exploration, but leave you entirely exposed to enemy attacks without any way to defend yourself. The balance of risk and reward is perfect, immediately easy to understand, but with nuance that slowly reveals itself as you progress.

When confined to a demo that only lasts 15 minutes or so, things don’t always click, but boy was I hooked on Gigasword immediately. I hesitate to call the mechanics “simple,” but sometimes that can be the highest compliment to give. Jack figured out a fresh way to get my brain thinking about a massively popular genre like Metroidvanias that doesn’t overcomplicate anything or purposely obscure the intentions. Instead, he added one twist so genius in its adaptability, it made me wonder how I hadn’t ever seen it before. 

Having just picked up a publisher in Akupara, Gigasword is well on its way to a 2025 release. You can rest assured I’ll be at the front of the line to get back in on this adventure. I can’t wait to hold the GigaSword again! 

Editor’s note: You can play the same demo Zack and David enjoyed over on Gigasword’s Steam page.

Cat Secretary

A theme for all these great games this year was a clear passion for the project from each creator we talked to. Cat Secretary caught my eye for the obvious cute-factor and cozy game vibes, but once I dug in and learned more from the team behind the title, this became an absolute must-play for me. This is the first game from Good Story Guild, an indie studio consisting of actors and writers who are venturing into uncharted territory. Instead of just playing games on the side, this ambitious group decided it was time to get into the business themselves, and I for one am glad they did.

Cat Secretary starts out innocently enough, with your main character meeting the office’s “onboarding bot,” or Obbo for short, and learning how to do basic office tasks like refill the coffee machine or reset the wireless router. The mini-games are fun and feel worthy of your time, but clearly they aren’t the star of the show. It doesn’t take long for the real plot to take center stage, though not in the way I expected!

Your employer’s name is DOX, and they appear to produce movies among other sources of entertainment. However, in extremely true to life fashion, they’re starting to replace human workers with robots, and unsurprisingly those machines don’t take kindly to a cat gallivanting around their turf. The representative we talked to said that the story was a very autobiographical one for many of his colleagues. While Cat Secretary draws you in with its cute ears and fluffy tail, Good Story Guild has more to say about the state of the industry than meets the eye.

I appreciated the hidden depth to the game that I didn’t anticipate, and the solid story definitely kept me hooked even after I got over the initial cuteness overload. There’s real potential for a meaty game with Cat Secretary and I certainly plan to check it out once it releases. I recommend you do the same!

Tire Boy

Tire Boy is simultaneously incredibly difficult to explain, yet beautifully simple in its design. When I first received the marketing materials via email, I didn’t think it would be a game for me. A boy is half human, half… car tire? And sure, the world looks like a Zelda game, but what can I really accomplish with two arms, two legs, and a tire for a head?

Well, shoutout to the fine gentlemen working at the Tire Boy booth because despite my initial skepticism, they were able to sell me within just a matter of minutes. Of course, the gameplay helped too. It turns out the pitch was easy: “What if traversing the world of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was, well, fun?” Instead of walking around on two feet (boring!), you get to zoom anywhere like a motorized unicycle. In fact, I would most directly compare this project to the part in Majora’s Mask where Link puts on the Goron mask and rolls around Termina with spikes coming out of his back. And considering I probably have spent the equivalent of years of my life just doing laps around that big open field, how could I possibly ignore the closest reasonable facsimile that we have in today’s gaming world?

I’m still not sure I totally “get it,” after only having played a few minutes of a demo, but the movement and even the combat were so enjoyable that I’ve decided that it doesn’t matter. I encountered a tribe of fish people who reminded me of the main character from the film The Shape of Water, rolled by some 12-foot-tall rabbits, and even got to mess around with weapons like a bass guitar that I smashed over the heads of some creepy looking crabs. 

Ultimately, Tire Boy was a blast to mess around with and despite the bizarre nature, the actual gameplay has me dying to try more. The only question is, does Tire Boy live in the tire or is he the tire? The world may never know.

Bytebond

Billed as a mix between Split Fiction and Portal, it’s clear why a game like Bytebond could be a hot commodity at a show like PAX. Considering the success and legacy of those two games, I had high expectations going into my demo with Bytebond, but I’m happy to say that it mostly delivered. Now, I don’t want to get too carried away; the theme and scope didn’t quite match the inspirations, but the game deserves a lot of credit for delivering a challenging yet approachable couch co-op puzzler that requires plenty of communication to be successful. 

You and a friend (like David Silbert for example), team up as adorable robots who enter a computer mainframe to stop a virus from spreading. In our brief playthrough, puzzles consisted mostly of storing electrical charges, navigating changing environments, and using an interesting spark mechanic to defeat enemies who found themselves caught between us. 

I’m always on the hunt for a good couch co-op title to play with my wife and I have no doubt Bytebond will be right up our alley. It helps too that the focus here is much more on puzzles and brainy challenges than platforming or combat. In games where real-life communication is key to your success, I always prefer a slower-paced adventure that doesn’t require as much frantic discussion that can lead to frustration. Every roadblock was intriguing and rewarding to parse out even when they took more than a few minutes to perfect. 

In that way, I’m most reminded of a game like Unravel 2 which my wife and I had a blast with. There’s plenty of platforming in that game, but I remember being wholly consumed with the idea of being connected and having to plan moves a few steps in advance to make sure we got where we needed to be. I’ll always take the opportunity to say there’s not enough co-op games like this, so any excuse to buddy up is always welcome. More, please!

Final Thoughts

Narrowing a list like this down to five wasn’t easy, but ultimately these games felt like a notch above the rest at PAX East 2025. Each one brings something different to the table, and even though they aren’t all finished yet, I have no doubt we’re going to have some hits on our hands. 

It was a true treat to be able to talk with the people behind each production as well, something that wouldn’t be possible without the platform PAX presents. Though we’re all itching for the new Switch 2 and Mario Kart World, getting a chance to see solo devs, passionate creators, and regular people just trying to make a living doing what they love made this convention one to remember. It was a great reminder that talent can be found anywhere and that in an industry with titans soaking up massive market shares, the little guy can still come out on top thanks to their creativity and, at the end of the day, kickass video games.