I am scheduled to attend PAX East as press this year, but unfortunately mother’s health situation is not one where I can arrange aide coverage so close to my Vegas trip in April (as arranging that coverage itself was not easy and had to be approved). I am still staying on top of the event from home though and am going to go through my invites to share games on the floor I would’ve definitely made plans to cover further and that I felt may get missed by many attendees but need to be on their radar. You should check all these games, brands, products, companies, and more out. Also, enjoy Boston if you have time for that too.
Limited Run Games
Limited Run Games will have all kinds of retro magic on their gorgeously designed booth for your viewing pleasure at PAX EAST, and will be welcoming some key members of staff at the booth to meet with you and discuss all things retro gaming.
As well as demos for He-Man and the Masters of the Universe™️: Dragon Pearl of Destruction and MARVEL MaXimum Collection, there will be exclusive cover variants on offer for some exciting Limited Run Games titles such as Star Ocean: First Departure R (Switch/PS4), Earthion (Switch) and Tomba! 2 (Switch)
CRKD
CRKD has been hotting up this past year with a whole host of controller announcements that have set the gaming world on fire (did you SEE the Nitro Deck 2!?), and they’ll be at PAX EAST to show off many of these new creations, as well as some classics. Need to find them? They’ll be teaming up with the Limited Run Games team at Booth #15031.
Some of the exciting things on offer will be:
- CRKD Guitar Controller Lineup – featuring their officially licensed Gibson guitar controllers, plus hands-on demos. There will also be some brand-new editions on show.
- Nitro Deck 2 – a first look and hands-on experience with CRKD’s next generation handheld gaming deck, crafted specifically for the Nintendo Switch 2.
- ULT Pro Controller – A first look and hands-on with the team’s upcoming pro-style controller for Switch and PC.
- ATOM+ Controller – A chance to be one of the first to check out and get hands on with the next evolution of CRKD’s collectible keychain controller for Switch, PC, mobile, and Smart TV gaming.
One of the world’s most popular trading card games is back at PAX East, and this year Magic: The Gathering is bringing something truly spellbinding with Secrets of Strixhaven.
Strixhaven University is the Multiverse’s most prestigious school for mages—where five powerful colleges study the arcane arts and compete in spellcraft. Now’s your chance to step onto campus before the set’s prerelease and experience it firsthand in Boston!
Roam the mystical halls of Strixhaven University at Booth #16031 and immerse yourself in the world of Secrets of Strixhaven before it releases April 24. Capture the moment at photo ops and dive into retail offerings featuring your Magic: The Gathering favorites.
Looking to uncover even more secrets? Take the Mana Alignment Quiz to discover which Strixhaven College matches your personality and playstyle. At the end of the quiz, you’ll reveal a never-before-seen card from the new set and receive an iron-on patch representing your chosen school to take home!
You can also preview the new Secrets of Strixhaven novel, Strixhaven: Omens of Chaos, pre-order your copy, and walk away with a postcard featuring official cover art.
Valor Mortis
Developed by One More Level (the creators of Ghostrunner), Valor Mortis is a first-person action Soulslike coming to PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X in 2026. Check the game out in Booth 15078 [Games From Poland].
What to Expect:
- A Corrupted Continent: Explore a dark, alternate history where Napoleon conquered Europe, but a supernatural plague now warps the landscape and its people.
- Soulslike in First-Person: Master a brutal combat system of precision parries, rapid dashes, and visceral finishers.
- Supernatural Arsenal: Channel the plague pulsing through your resurrected veins to grow stronger, augment your weapons, and unlock devastating abilities.
Promoting their Universus card series, they have some amazing franchises including Godzilla with this killer art:
Alpine Trainer
Alpine Trainer is an immersive exergaming machine that can be connected to any standard PC video game to enhance the realism of player experience. It is designed to get gamers physically engaged while delivering a fun, responsive action. The machine is built to naturally draw players in, get them moving, and keep spectators watching. You can see a few examples of the gameplay here:
- Steep: https://youtu.be/UQpm1xcvagY
- Virtual Surfing: https://youtube.com/shorts/45xcDCHta40
- Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2: https://youtube.com/shorts/p_LP-8jj6eE
- Show experience: https://youtu.be/Tafiil5U60U
The experience is immediate and highly shareable—players jump in quickly, react physically, and the gameplay translates well to short-form video, and social clips or even streaming.
Omara Scent Display
Imagine playing EA Sports FC 24 and smelling the grass or the leather of the soccer ball. That’s the future OVR Tech aims to deliver.
OVR Technology, a gaming tech startup based in VT is working to bring real-time scent to video games. This year, OVR Tech is demoing this technology through their Omara Scent Display – on the PAX show floor for the first time, and they’d like to show it off to you. Are you interested in checking out a new sensory dimension in gaming – one that heightens emotion? The playable scent-enabled content library includes:
- Minecraft: Distinct scents for every biome, whether stopping to sniff the roses or visiting the zoo.
- Akiiwan: Survival: “Chill survival adventure” will use digital scent for deeper immersion and emotional storytelling.
- Lemony Fresh: Literally Scented Edition A standout from the 2026 Global Game Jam, this platformer-simulation hybrid showcases scent as a core gameplay mechanic.
- Battle Suit Aces: High-octane action where the heat of battle and environment cues are delivered directly to your senses.
- 13Z Zodiac Trials: Fight through shifting realms in this solo and co-op roguelike hack-and-slash with detailed and dynamic scented environments throughout.
You can check out the game details here.
They’re located at booth #15055, front and center as you come off the escalator
MEMORIA WAKE
I experienced Mermoria Wake at PAX West 2025 and loved everything about it. They’re bringing a new demo to PAX East and you should definitely check out the game from Team Crescendo.
Awakening in a dream world with only an umbrella and tenacity, Nilo fends off hostile creatures to find a long-lost friend. Attack enemies when they show an opening, and chain successful parries to release healing energy. Execute mighty counterattacks to claim victory against the hordes.
GNAW
GNAW, a pre-apocalyptic dino metroidvania from Redstart Interactive, will stomp through the mean streets of PAX East 2026 as part of the PAX Rising Showcase. Take a bite out of the brand new Crab Boss at the show!
Venture onto (under, and above) the bustling New Dino City as the enterprising young raptor Ripley. Investigate the source of a calamitous MEAT-e-or shower that has thrown dinosaur civilization into utter chaos. Scour the sewers, dash across rooftops, and devour enemies to gain stat buffs and currency! Chomp, blast, and dodge through massive boss fights that will put all of Ripley’s skills to the test.
Stop by Booth #19055 to explore cutting‑edge gaming technology and see firsthand how PNY and NVIDIA are shaping the future of immersive gameplay with hands‑on access to the latest and most advanced NVIDIA GeForce RTX™ technologies including DLSS 4.5 and full path tracing with NVIDIA Blackwell architecture.
- Play new games and compete head-to-head across our 4 high-end gaming rigs, equipped with PNY GeForce RTX™ 50 Series cards
- Stunning demo and showcase PCs from our Partners iBuyPower and CyberPower PC
- Exclusive PNY swag and PC Giveaway with Digital Storm you won’t find anywhere else
- The latest NVIDIA RTX 50 Series hardware on display, including new Slim models
- Our team of experts on-site to answer questions and dive deeper into GeForce and PNY technologies
Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon – Sanctuary of Sarras Expansion
The first full-fledged expansion for , Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon, with a completely new storyline, a new underwater zone to explore and 10-15 hours’ worth of new content!
Additionally, the base game has just recently been updated to version 1.20, featuring a lot of new content, QoL upgrades, and other general fixes! We’re nearly 1 year after the full release, but we’re still trying our best to improve the Tainted Grail experience!
A dark fantasy, card-driven RPG with dungeon crawling mechanics that replaces turn-based combat with a dynamic Time system (instead of regular mana) and world-altering progression. In this world nothing stays dead, and the eternal order of laws has been shattered.
The two above games are from Awaken Realms and are also available in the aforementioned Games From Poland booth, so do NOT miss out. These Polish devs are putting out amazing experiences and games.
RECLAIM! Azhe-giiwewining
Reclaim! Azhe-giiwewining(pronounced: uh zhay – gee-way-wining) is a point-and-click adventure game rooted in Ojibwe culture, language and tradition. Players follow Miskwaa, an Obijwe girl who awakens in a living forest where language is the key to returning home. Players will experience intricate puzzles, colorful citizens, and stories inspired by Anishinaabe tales and traditions.
Reclaim! Azhe-giiwewining is developed by non-profit studio, Grassroots Indigenous Multimedia and is designed collaboratively with Ojibwe community members and language activists, the game seeks to contribute to a growing language revitalization movement and present Ojibwemowin an accessible language that is still relevant today. This game can be found at booth #15111.
Yangyang Mobile
Showcasing their games High Times (releasing Q2 2026) and Spirit Rancher (releasing 2028) at Booth 10050. You can find more information about the games on their Steam pages:
High Times
There is going to be so much to see, experience, demo, discuss from all worlds of games, not just video games but board games, card games, TTRPG and when it comes to video games all genres but also all things too. Controllers, physical media, shirts, music albums, everything you can think of. I do not know what PAX East is like in comparison to PAX West, This year was to be the one I discovered, but alas, any regular follower of this site knows my current circumstances. Please enjoy PAX East and have an amazing time.
NOTE: At press time of Wednesday the day before PAX I am recieveing new notices of things to not miss at the show, this article may see additions past this note, after posting, so return to it during the event.
“Throwback! Jai-Alai Heroes”
Throwback! Jai-Alai Heroes is a fun, all-ages, competitive game with an arcade feel similar to classic games like NBA Jam and NFL Blitz. The game is targeted towards players of “casual competitive” games like Rocket League, Super Smash Bros, and Windjammers. The game blends simple 3D environments with hand-drawn 2D pixel animations for a colorful, retro vibe. The arcade machine will be available in a two-player “Standard” model, or a four-player “Deluxe” model, for 1v1 or 2v2 matches. With Throwback! Jai-Alai Heroes, Astro Crow is aiming to create a fun, competitive game while introducing gamers to a new, unique sport. You can experience the arcade machine yourself at PAX Rising (Booth #13097)
Buckle up, Boston, because Choose Your Own Adventure is coming to PAX East! Stop by Booth #12079 to browse the new releases, shop exclusive CYOA merch, and more.