Several debaucherous nights out in Boston took me out of commission in previous years. 2019 was the worst of it, when a night out with some Stevens folks left me so hungover the next morning that I had to leave the opening line and go sleep in the mobile gaming lounge or risk puking all over the con floor.
This year it was not the drink that got me, but the intoxicating power of games journalism. Seriously, I stayed up until about 4 am polishing last night’s write-up and didn’t even leave my bed until noon today.
I make it onto the con floor at around 1:30 pm, which isn’t terrible considering three hours is about how long your energy levels peak at these things before fatigue sets in.
And look at that! It’s a full house today. None of the tickets sold out this year (which might actually be a first for PAX East), but Andrew mentioned that Saturday tickets were low last time he checked. Today might even be a sold out crowd.
Speaking of crowds, the first thing I do is head straight to the Goblin Games booth to try out Ozymandias, which only has a single station open. The balding asshole ahead of me has been playing for 30 minutes straight (I even start a timer on my phone). I tap him on the shoulder and ask if I can give the game a shot.
“Yeah sure, I’m almost done here,” he says, which is the second time he’s mentioned this out loud. Social awareness is not a core skill of this crowd.
The developer has been quietly noticing what’s been going on. Just as I’m about to poke the guy for a second time, the developer pulls up a new stool and laptop just to let me play. Hot damn, now that’s fucking hospitality.
“You must make some very addicting games!” I shout to the developer, loud enough so the guy hogging the station next to me can overhear.
Ozymandias is not quite as similar to Civilization V as I suspected, but it definitely has its template. You take charge of a bronze age civilization in the fertile crescent and build up an empire on a hex grid with resources and terrain. However, each turn you spend your accumulated science, money, and food on technology, armies, and land to reap the rewards instantaneously.
It’s Civilization V, limited to the “Buy Now” mechanics. This is significantly quicker than a game of Civ V, where research and production often takes several turns on even the fastest setting.
This is great. This game is fun.
Look at that! It’s the Super Marxist Twins starring Mikhail and Ludmil! Classic gaming icons!
I stop by just as the devs are asking if anyone wants to play. A seat is free, so I give it a shot. Its Super Mario Bros. with a satirical post-communist twist. Mario can throw hammers to destroy bricks while Luigi throws sickles to break hay blocks.
I compliment the devs and suggest some quick control fixes. They offer me some free swag in return.
I should hit the Devolver Booth sooner or later. To my surprise, the Terra Nil station is completely open. It’s a puzzle game where you need to terraform a wasteland, rebuild its biomes using various buildings, and then clean up all traces of your existence once the ecological cycle has been kick-started.
I get tingly feelings playing this game. This is such a cool concept – how to terraform a planet without leaving behind a trace. This is a cool take on both environmentalism and isometric city builders. The first level was moderately challenging, but I’m willing to bet things get pretty crazy in the later levels.
This game rocks.
Wow, my energy is already dropping and its only 4pm.
I pass by the Ysbryd Games booth and see there’s a line for World of Horrors. Alfred loves this game and asks me to pick up some swag. Can do! Yet another game that’s out already, although Alfred says there might have been a content patch recently?
Randall read my first day post. <3
This is, quite literally, the worst hot dog I have ever bought at a convention. Heh, wurst.
Firefly Studios is next to Finji and is showing off their new game Stronghold: Warlords. It’s an old RTS series, but I never got my hands on it.
“What sort of RTS’s are you into?”, one of the devs asks me.
I’m primarily into the Age of Empires and Total War series, I say. What catches my eye, though, is their trailer for Romans: Age of Caesar. It looks a lot like Caesar III, one of my favorite childhood games.
“Oh yeah,” says one of the devs, “some of our team worked on Caesar III.”
Well, fuck me sideways.
I launch into a spirited conversation about the series, plus other retro PC games like Roller Coaster Tycoon, The Sims, and Myst.
I tell the dev I still listen to the Caesar III soundtrack from time to time, and he says one of his team mates might have even worked on it back then. I implore the dev to give my compliments to the composer next time he sees him. Fuck, this is what makes PAX East feel magical. I love this shit.
A chair for Stronghold: Warlords frees up, so I decide to take a seat and try it. The economics of RTS’s has evolved a lot since AoE II. Furthermore, I quickly dash my troops against some unwinnable fights right out of the gate. I’m feeling under-prepared for a modern RTS.
But fuck it, I think. I learn the mechanics as I play. Pretty soon, I’m turning the tide against the computer opponent. His two watch towers are down, and I’m going in for the final assault against his fortress.
Then, I hear some muffled voices: The con floor is closing, the loudspeaker announces as I lift a headphone from my ear.
“Victory is imminent!” I yell to the devs.
“Keep going, you have time!” they yell back.
The outer walls of my enemy’s keep falls. The reinforcements I ordered from my allies arrives. We storm the inner wall, and it too falls. All that’s left is the enemy warlord in his stronghold, and he is quickly taken down almost as soon as I breach his inner bailey. Victory is snatched from the jaws of defeat.
“I can’t believe I managed to do that!”, I yell to the devs as I lift the headphones off my ears.
“That’s pretty impressive how quickly you picked that up,” they reply. They were watching my triumph.
I gush about the mechanics with the devs. What a way to end the day. I leave the Firefly Studios booth, and enforcers quickly point me the way to exit. The day is over.
It was a productive day in the end, despite how late I arrived. I saw fewer games but spent more time with the ones I tried out. It felt more like traditional PAX today, in spite of all that was missing.
Now fuck off, I’m going to bed.
