PAX West 2026 Day 2: Indie Incubator Delivers More Surprises.

Day two was smoother, busier, and somehow even harder on my feet

From Ascent: Rivals and T.W.I.R.L. to God Save Birmingham and Fugue Shot, Day 2 kept finding new ways to pull me into another demo.

Day two of PAX West 2026 has come and gone, and it was another wonderful day of running between booths and checking out indies big and small. The only problem now is that my feet are starting to hurt from walking for so long. Of course, I’m glad for the cardio, but I never knew the kind of foot strength I needed just to play games.

In all seriousness, it was a great second day. Booth staff I spoke with said that despite there being more people around, things seemed to run more smoothly as both attendees and exhibitors settled into the rhythm of PAX. Finding these games and meeting the people behind them is exactly why Fix Gaming Channel came to PAX West.

The compact nature of the main expo space in Arch makes it great for walking around and spotting games, but as soon as you start stopping to play them, there are simply too many indie games to get through in just two days.

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Back into the Indie Incubator

Highlighting just how packed PAX can feel were the small rows of games in the fittingly named Indie Incubator. People crowded around small booths stacked shoulder to shoulder to play and watch new and upcoming releases.

Everyone I met there was great, with developers excitedly guiding people like me toward games I had never even heard of before.

Ascent: Rivals

The first surprise of my trip through the Incubator caught my attention because it felt like a mix of Star Wars podracing and Mario Kart.

Ascent: Rivals is a combat racing game where you can stand your character up out of the cockpit to shoot at other drivers, all while trying to keep enough control of your vehicle to avoid careening into a rock wall or getting shot yourself.

What really got me was the last fight at the end of each heat. Once the first four pilots finish, an Ascension Zone appears, and the remaining racers have 24 seconds to reach it and stay alive. Missing those first finishing positions doesn’t mean the action is over.

I was floored by how easy it was to jump in and immediately get swept up by everything happening around me.

The Box is Alive

Another favorite of mine was The Box is Alive, a physics platformer in the spirit of Bennett Foddy’s games that reminded me a little of Egging On.

You play as a sentient package after the once-dominant shipping service Boreal has disappeared and the humans are gone. With nobody left to deliver you, you simply decide to deliver yourself.

The game is already available in Steam Early Access. Its deliberately awkward movement makes you roll a rectangular box through challenging platforming sections while using your flaps to jump through windows and cross precarious obstacles.

I was laughing the whole time I played. Awkwardly rotating a box and timing my jumps just to get over a chair, onto a ledge, onto a table, and eventually onto the back of a pickup truck is difficult even to describe, but that struggle is exactly what made finally succeeding feel worth it.

Madjack Vs Magic

Finally, from this part of the Indie Incubator, I played something I honestly didn’t think would fit together as well as it did.

Madjack Vs Magic combines the roguelite deckbuilding of something like Slay the Spire with the bullet-hell dodging of Undertale and Deltarune.

You build up crazy cards and combinations, but you also choose the enemy attack cards that determine what is about to be thrown back at you when your turn ends. Those attacks change the bullet patterns you face and can inflict different effects, so repeatedly choosing something because it benefits your build can also make things increasingly dangerous.

In the build I played, choosing the same attack repeatedly leveled it up. It made even the enemy’s turn feel like something I was helping to build, for better or worse.

The game also uses a grazing mechanic where moving close to enemy projectiles helps build the resources you use to play cards. It adds another layer of risk to something that already asks you to think carefully about both your own deck and what the enemy will do next.

The developers told me the game is still early in development, but it is already one of the deckbuilders I’m most interested in following after PAX. The Indie Incubator is full of games like these. There were so many that I couldn’t play them all, and I already knew I would need to come back.

T.W.I.R.L. from Genie Boy Games

One reason I headed into the Indie Incubator was to meet Ben Escobar, founder of Genie Boy Games, the developer of T.W.I.R.L.. It is a psychological horror game I ended up playing through in full.

T.W.I.R.L. released on August 19, but this was my first time playing it. Despite being surrounded by the noise and narrow halls of the Indie Incubator, I was immediately pulled in by the game’s beautiful low-poly PSX-style presentation and the soft light of the night sky coming through the windows of the childhood home.

The story can become very sad. You play from the perspective of a young child, with the game exploring identity, growing up, and a secret that follows the character through their life. Inspired by P.T., you repeatedly move through the same hallway as the environment and story change around you.

I read a lot of the story through the character’s struggle with identity and the religious imagery around them. There is also a ghostly figure that I interpreted as another version of the character, appearing in mirrors and following them through increasingly frightening sequences.

It is somber and sometimes incredibly scary, especially when you hear something behind you and turn to find the ghost inches away. I even managed to get the secret ending.

Escobar told me it was a New Year’s resolution to get a game out with his team, and that the project came together in just a few months. For me, it is an easy recommendation and a solid 8/10.

Genie Boy Games is also working on Sweetheart, another psychological horror game, this time built around a breakup. After how much I enjoyed T.W.I.R.L., I’m excited to see what the studio does next.

God Save Birmingham

Leaving the Indie Incubator, I met another team of passionate developers, this time for God Save Birmingham. Maybe you’ve already heard of it. It is a medieval zombie survival game that looks impressive, and after finally getting my hands on it, I can say it also feels great to play.

I was told the gameplay was inspired by Project Zomboid, and you can feel that survival pressure almost immediately, especially when you get grabbed by a zombie and have to patch up the part of your body it scratched.

After one did that to me, I ran away, grabbed an axe off a table, and swung at the shambler’s head. The game includes physically driven attacks where moving your view helps aim your swing. I could hack at arms, legs, and heads using the different attacks available to me.

Weapon length matters too. My axe forced me to get dangerously close, but once I found a pitchfork I could comfortably poke at the undead from farther away. With the weapon’s edge blunting and its durability falling, you can’t just keep swinging forever.

God Save Birmingham also makes its physics matter outside combat. Almost every object can be moved or manipulated. You can use tables to barricade doors, throw chairs at zombies to knock them over, and move ladders around before climbing them where you need them. That freedom adds enormously to the chaos.

The developers talked about wanting the pressure of Project Zomboid, with that The Walking Dead grittiness of being trapped by a slow-moving horde, without being quite as punishing. From what I played, they succeeded.

At one point I ran into a building searching for straw to make a bed and wasn’t careful enough. Zombies started breaking through the doors, forcing me against the back wall until I threw a table at them, kicked down another door, and ran.

When I turned around, the horde was still slowly following me. That creeping, unstoppable pressure is exactly what I want from a zombie survival game. It forces you to think on your feet and use whatever is around you.

The developers also talked to me about longer-term crafting and progression, making high-end armor and weapons and improving abilities through use so that you can take back Birmingham from the zombie hordes. Or, more realistically, die trying.

Springs, Eternal

On a completely different note, I was also able to meet with Serenity Forge, publisher of the upcoming Springs, Eternal from Fullbright.

You arrive at a secluded hot-springs retreat in the mountains at night, with memories of a relationship hanging over the character. Something horrific appears to be hiding in the woods, and there is an obvious sense that something is wrong, but that wasn’t what I loved most about it.

The game has a strange atmosphere. You’re in the mountains, in the middle of the night, surrounded by woods, but somehow it can also feel relaxing. Walking into the cozy cabin to change into spa clothes, stopping at the indoor springs to talk with the old men there, and moving through memories of the main character’s relationship all make the place feel immersive.

Even when creepy music starts echoing through a room or something with glowing eyes roars at you from the darkness, I still wanted to keep walking through the retreat to find out what was around the next corner.

Moonlight cuts through the trees, wind moves through the woods, and everything gives off this sense that there is something more going on. That is why I was so disappointed when the demo ended.

I wanted more. I wanted to know why these obviously ominous woods were connected to this guy’s breakup. It feels unfair to hook me that well and then just say, “Thanks for playing.”

Serenity Forge lists a November 2026 release window, so hopefully the wait won’t be too long.

Back to PAX Rising

To end my day, I went back with a few friends to PAX Rising, where I tried a few more of the indie games selected for the showcase.

Don’t Wake the Beast

The first was Don’t Wake the Beast, a stealth roguelite that made me feel a little like a 2D Sam Fisher.

With your grappling hook, you sneak past deadly creatures, swing over pits, grapple stone pillars to solve puzzles, and try to stay as quiet as possible while stealing treasure. First off, grappling hooks are always awesome.

Making one the main tool for moving through these levels was a great idea, especially when my friend panicked after getting caught. While trying to grapple away, he caught an enemy with the hook and pulled it into a bottomless pit.

There are a lot of ways to use the hook beyond basic platforming. It really feels like a multitool for getting through the dungeon.

You also have to watch how greedy you get. Every item you collect adds weight and makes noise, so loading yourself with treasure makes escaping harder and increases the chances of attracting unwanted attention. Getting the ultimate prize is one thing. Making it back out is another.

Another absolute banger at PAX Rising.

Fugue Shot: Minigame Roguelike

The last game I played was Fugue Shot: Minigame Roguelike, and if that description makes you scratch your head, playing it isn’t much easier to explain.

It is a roguelite, but instead of working your way through a normal dungeon or spire, each run takes place across a collection of dreamlike minigames that become more difficult as you continue.

The PAX build I played had six different minigames, including a teleporting bullet hell, swarm-survival encounters, blowing bubbles, bouncing balls, and racing through rooms to collect essence. I genuinely struggled to think of a direct comparison while playing it.

As the game became harder and I collected more Memories to upgrade my run, it started to feel like a personal challenge to get good at every minigame. The upgrades can also change how the individual games behave, which keeps encounters from feeling static from one run to another.

It’s great. I want more.

The developers told me there will be more minigames in the full release, and the Steam page advertises ten different Omens in total.

A Mario Party-style roguelite was absolutely not on my list of things I expected to find at PAX, but Fugue Shot ended up being one of the most thought-provoking games I played that day.

Another day of indie games I didn’t want to leave

This was another great day at PAX. Things seemed to run smoothly, and I had an absolute blast going from game to game. It felt nonstop as I kept finding something new that made me forget I was standing in the middle of a convention center.

There is still more of PAX West left to see, and somehow I still have games I haven’t played. After two days of banger after banger, I can only hope that momentum keeps going through the rest of the show.

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