PAX West 2026 Day 1: Indie Games Take the Spotlight

PAX feels different, but that isn’t a bad thing

Back at PAX West for the first time since 2017, I found a show that feels different, with indie developers and smaller games taking up much more of my day.

Day one of PAX West 2026 is off to a great start, as the games on the exhibit floor have been a blast to play.

This isn’t my first PAX, but it is my first PAX in a long time. The last time I went was back in 2017, and many things have changed since then.

It feels rude to say, but PAX doesn’t feel as big as it did when I last attended. Major companies have changed how they reach their communities, and to me, PAX doesn’t hold quite the same weight in the wider industry that it once did.

This isn’t a bad thing. Not at all.

Companies like Konami were still represented at the show, but PAX has also become a strong place for local developers and indie teams, which is exactly what I was there for. It is also why Fix Gaming Channel came to PAX West in the first place.

The games on display were amazing. From local developers in Washington to indie publishers and teams coming from overseas, the main thing I felt at PAX was a surge of smaller studios trying to make their mark on the gaming landscape.

It reminded me of something Xbox CEO Asha Sharma wrote in Resetting Xbox, where she said Xbox now finds itself competing with “smaller independent studios.”

That doesn’t mean indies are destroying the AAA space. I think it is a much more positive sign of how these smaller teams are being seen by more and more people.

That’s the kind of thing I kept seeing throughout the day, and exactly why indie games are such a big part of our coverage at Fix Gaming Channel.

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PAX Rising: WOLFHOUND

The start of the day for me was immediately heading over to the PAX Rising section of the exhibit, a curated space for selected indie titles such as Creature Kitchen, Dungeon Lurker, and WOLFHOUND.

This is exactly the sort of smaller-game discovery we want to keep following through our Indie Game Showcase.

At WOLFHOUND, I was able to meet and talk with lead developer James Petruzzi.

WOLFHOUND is an upcoming Metroidvania where you infiltrate a secret Axis island and try to put a stop to its experiments.

It’s a beautiful game with a vibrant visual style and great music. So far, what I played feels great. The platforming was thoughtfully made to be rewarding while remaining challenging, and the enemies had an old-school arcade feel to them. They killed me a few times before I learned how to outrun them.

It was a great demo, and I’m excited to see the full release in the future.

What was more illuminating to me was talking to Petruzzi about the current state of indie games. Conversations like this are also why our developer interviews are such an important part of what we do.

“It’s a good time for indie games, people are more accepting of different styles. When I first started doing pixel art games, people thought it looked cheap.”

It was interesting to remember that period when pixel art was considered cheap or low-poly art was considered ugly. Now, everywhere you turn, there is a variety of different styles and designs. Even around the PAX Rising booths, you could see that variety everywhere.

Petruzzi continued:

“In the past, it was hard for development because it was hard to get a contract, now so many good games are coming out, its hard to break through the noise.”

It was a good note to end our meeting on, especially while being surrounded by all those good games. I can only hope that with PAX, some of them can break through that noise a little easier.

The many exhibits of PAX

I wish I had more time to check out every little booth.

There were some great setups, like The Behemoth having its booth surrounded by arcade machines showing off Castle Crashers and BattleBlock Theater, with booth attendants in full costume. One was even dressed as Hatty Hattington.

But the booth I was drawn to was the physical arcade version of No, I’m Not a Human, taking the psychological horror game and putting you right in front of the door, choosing who gets to live and who gets to die.

This was an incredibly popular booth, and I had already seen it making the rounds on social media as people tried to figure out whether they could survive the events of No, I’m Not a Human.

But for me, I was also drawn to the pins you could get if you won.

After waiting in line for a long time, I grabbed the light gun next to the door and peeked through the looking glass, inspecting the visitors for any sign that they might be Visitors.

Sadly, I lost, and I didn’t get my pin.

But I’ll be back for it before PAX is done.

Besides that small obsession, there was also an amazing row called the Indie Incubator, where I was able to meet some local developers, including people from Seattle Indies whom I’ve spoken with in the past.

Despite some cramped booths being packed closely together, developers created small dioramas with posters and artwork promoting their games.

I’m sure I’ll go back there in more depth another day, but at that point I was being called to the other side of the Arch building for more.

Indie games from Poland

I was invited to the Indie Games From Poland booth, a large collection of indie games from, you guessed it, Poland.

It was a wonderful booth. As I learned more, it became clear just how active Polish indie development has become, especially as publishers and organizations help bring projects to wider international audiences.

When they invited me over, I chose a few games to try.

Crop

First was Crop, developed by Carbonara Games.

The best way I could describe it while playing was a blend of Twin Peaks and Stardew Valley. It is a horror farming game that nailed an unsettling atmosphere almost instantly.

You clean up and work your plot of land while making sure you can contribute your fair share of food to the town.

Despite it being a short demo, it showed a lot of promise. I would need to play more before giving it a proper judgment, but the vibes alone were enough to hook me.

Trainwatch was my favorite of the day

The next game I got my hands on was the absolutely wonderful Trainwatch, another psychological horror game about working as a railway gatekeeper while trying to manage your time, stay sane, stay sober, and keep your marriage together.

Despite being horror, this game was also kind of cozy.

Yes, I was going insane at one point because I was starving, but the fog outside and the trains passing by somehow calmed me while my character completely lost it.

Out of everything I saw today, this one was hands down my favorite.

Valor Mortis

I was then able to try a game many of you may already know about and be excited for: Valor Mortis.

It is a first-person soulslike set in a strange, supernatural version of the Napoleonic era.

The game has been talked about online a lot, and it is easy to see why. The combat felt snappy, the art direction was strong, and the strange alternate-history setting gets weird very quickly.

Napoleon was talking to me telepathically, some dude turned into a dog, and I was using fire magic to hold enemies back just long enough to regain my stamina.

This is definitely one I’ll be watching.

The games on display at the Polish booth were great, and I’ll have to go back to see what else Poland has to offer.

The MIX: the non-PAX showcase

After PAX started winding down, I had the chance to head over to The MIX, a different indie showcase with another collection of games and developers I hadn’t even met at PAX.

I first met with some people from publisher Vendetta, who were showing off several games, including The Mailroom.

It was described to me as a cozy horror game where you have the scariest job of all in Hell: being a mail clerk.

Sorting mail, dissecting frogs, and dealing with breaking machinery somehow makes for a fun and simple simulator that still manages to feel cozy despite literally being a mail clerk.

I mean, being a mail clerk in Hell.

Surfpunk

They also had Surfpunk, a “Surf ’n Slash” roguelite where you head to islands, battle enemies, and grab their loot.

It felt a little like Hades in a way. Roguelites are not normally my forte, but it felt solid enough that I can easily see a lot of people enjoying it, especially with friends.

Night Machine

Also around The MIX, I was able to check out even more indie games, including a really fun deckbuilder mixed with FTL called Night Machine.

You learn that the Moon is basically an evil alien machine, so you drive your rust bucket of a ship inside it and try to stop it from killing the planet.

I got sucked into this one easily. Its real-time strategy kept me on my feet and made me completely forget about the line of people waiting behind me.

For a team of two developers, it was a blast to play.

GRAVHOUNDS, or “Deep Dog Galactic”

My final game of the night was GRAVHOUNDS, which I heard jokingly called “Deep Dog Galactic.”

It mixes co-op shooting, building, extraction, and tower-defense elements and could probably be compared to a hundred different games. For me, it felt like a mix of Helldivers and Deep Rock Galactic.

It is still early days for GRAVHOUNDS, but playing it with random people at The MIX was already fun.

With friends, or even random people like I played with, it is a solid cooperative game that could become something really good with more work.

Day one is done

I was busy at PAX.

I hope that with the games I was able to highlight here, you check some of them out. All of these developers were great to meet, and there are still so many games and developers I didn’t get the chance to see during my first day.

It feels like a great time for indie gaming, a period where teams and ideas can fill an entire day with completely different experiences.

And somehow, after all of that, The MIX gave me even more.

I’m excited for Day 2.

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