PAX Australia and PAX West had to undergo some changes this year. Due to COVID-19 (man I am getting tired of typing that) both conventions had to be canceled to in-person participation. Much like other conventions, PAX decided to combine the two conventions in one and put it online for everyone to attend and extending from 4 to 12 days (September 12th to the 20th) for free!
panels and game coverage
You can find a list of the panels that will be running this time and will be running on their 3 twitch channels (PAX 1, PAX 2, PAX 3). You will also be able to find game coverage on these channels too. Definitely make sure to check out the calendar online. The panels at PAX are always great to watch. From Q & A’s to helpful tips to running tabletop games or podcasts, PAX really covers a lot of ground and there is something for everyone.
The show floor at conventions is definitely hard to recreate but I will say not standing in line for 40 minutes while you wait to play a 10-minute demo is quite nice! This year you can jump onto Steam and see all of the demos that would have been gracing the 2 floors at PAX West. Download and play to your heart’s content without worry of taking too long for the people behind you. Don’t forget while you’re checking out the two digital expo floors to head on over to the Indie Showcase, which picks 20 indies that are must-see games! This year they had the most submissions for this honor than any other pax! 350 games were submitted for their chance to be in the spotlight. Check out the 20 here. For all the exhibitors check out their exhibitor page and the indie dev section too!
not just video games
PAX isn’t just about video games, board games and tabletop RPGs also take the stage here! When things are all normal there are plenty of new board games to test out and PAX Online has made sure you can do that too! Check out the PAX Collaboratory for a list of fledgling board games just waiting for you to test out!
I miss being at PAX this year, I really do. But I love that this has been put together and is free to everyone. I hope the days of conventions aren’t gone but I do hope that in the future broader access will come to everyone that wishes to participate in these events.
