This week, we share our boots-on-the-ground takeaways about some of the best games we saw at PAX East, bid the great Star Wars Andor a fond farewell, and talk about just how much it’s possible to get attached to a particular type of keyboard, even years after it stops being manufactured.
This year’s PAX East felt small. There were a few big names on the show floor, like Bandai Namco which was there showing off Elden Ring: Nightreign and Larian Studios making its annual appearance with a Baldur’s Gate 3 booth, but many of the big industry movers and shakers who’ve appeared at the Boston games convention in years past were absent. Perhaps this was because many companies are gearing up for Summer Game Fest next month and this show got bitten in the ass by its move from March to May, or it’s just an extension of the tailspin the video game industry is dealing with right now. Whatever the reason, the result is the same: PAX East was a weird show for heavy hitters, but for those interested in seeing indie teams with small games and big ideas, being there felt like running around in a candy shop. Here are a handful of the coolest games we played and saw on the show floor. - Kenneth Shepard Read More
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 came out of nowhere. Yes, it made waves at Microsoft’s Xbox showcase last summer. And true, it continued to look exceptional as it revealed its star-studded cast. But I don’t know that anyone expected it to get quite so much love as it has, and not just from diehard RPG fans. It’s currently the highest-rated game of 2025 on Metacritic and a possible frontrunner for Game of the Year at the Game Awards. No one could have predicted this. Except someone did: the director of Baldur’s Gate 3. - Ethan Gach Read More
I just threw half a pint of Cherry Pepsi Max across my keyboard. It was the penultimate keyboard I’ll ever be able to use. I’m down to my last one.
I am very aware that I’m entirely wrong about keyboards. I am told, by just about every single person in my life, that I should be using a mechanical keyboard, with removable switches, clickity-clackity sounds, and probably enough neon lighting to open a nightclub. I do not. I use a Microsoft MultiMedia Keyboard 1.0A, with a blob of Blu-Tac over the Num Lock LED, and I have done so for as long as I can remember. And as of today, I’m down to my last one. When this one goes, that’s it. I’m done. - John Walker Read More
Well, we’ve reached the end of the road. Andor’s second and final season brought us 12 episodes of (mostly) exceptional Star Wars drama released in three-episode chunks, a format which served the structure of the show brilliantly, with each chunk representing one year in the four years leading up to Rogue One, but also meant that we didn’t get to savor the show for nearly as long. - Zack Zwiezen Read More
Imagine a modest No Man’s Sky set in Proteus. That gets you a long way toward understanding the splendid Miro, both in style and substance. This is a vast game of exploring planets, combined with a solid sci-fi storyline told to you as you progress, all presented in super-lo-fi graphics that allow everything to feel significantly more organic. - John Walker Read More
