PAX Report 2026 - Geek@Arms

Another PAX has come and gone. Even if I haven’t finished sorting my pins and trinkets or sharing my photos, I miss it already. PAX is the place for gamers. Whether you love board games, tabletop games, TCGs, or just vibing with those who do, PAX East has something for everyone.

Nintendo and Magic The Gathering had a real presence on the show floor this year, but the hall was absolutely packed with tons of indie developers showing off their stuff. I spent four days, up to 12 hours a day at the show, and there was still more I wanted to see and do. I can’t possibly fit every incredible experience of every community event, demo, and panel into one report, so let’s take a look at just a few highlights.

Incredible innovation

I don’t go to PAX looking for the hard-core hardware pushing every boundary. What boundary is there to push but just… more? Higher processing. Better graphics. Faster frame rate. Then you see something that makes you think, “I can’t have read that right.” But you’re reading this right. The Omara Scent adds the sense of smell to your games.

I sat down for the demo in front of a small device that looks like a flattened webcam, flipped through the game selections, and started up Akiiwan Relaxing Survival, a chill survivor game. The title screen loaded and I get a faint whiff of cozy campfire, and I could feel my face light up and my mouth fall agape.

This was without qualification the biggest wow factor I’ve ever experienced in a game. Ever. And I’ve been here since before the polygons.

I started the survival demo and ventured into the woods. As I explored I got the earthy, woodsy smell of dense tree cover. I wandered over to the bushes and I could smell the sweet fruity scent of the berries I’m foraging. The game isn’t full of non-stop olfactory overload, it’s like a well-thought soundtrack. Sometimes the music wanes, and when the moment comes the track swells. (You also control your “master volume” running in the background to tweak the intensity.) Akiiwan Relaxing Survival nailed it with just the right puffs of scent at just the right time to make the experience unforgettable. And so far there are 15 other titles that use the hardware.

OVA’s Omara Scent works by a small fan gently wafting air and a cartridge that carries 16 scents. Think of it like a set of mini perfume bottles, but instead of a spritz you get a millisecond timed release of scent controlled by a microvalve.

They’ve thought this through. In addition to offering support to devs incorporating this into their games, they’re offering tools for modders to do their own work. To that point, I played through a bit of Minecraft they’d modded to let you explore a world of smells.

The Omara scent isn’t just a piece of hardware, it’s opening a whole new dimension of sensory experience into gameplay.

Omara scent opened and scent cartridge shown

Title on the horizon

Cat Secretary an absolute indie gem that’s a delight to find in the expo hall. You play a cat that exploits a hiring portal and gets a job as a secretary. It’s a cozy office sim by day where you’re making coffee, optimizing routers, and sorting files. It’s got enough goofy interaction to feel tongue in cheek, but this game also has chops.

Sure, it’s cute and cozy, but it’s also witty and smartly absurdist. The in-game writing makes it clear that clever people are at the wheel. It’s also got a deliciously cutesy-coated cynicism toward the corporate world, and a real distaste for AI.

Did I mention that there’s a sinister AI plot to take over the company? And you’re not going to take that lying down. So, the cozy sim by day turns to stealth game by night as you fight to keep the company’s soul.

It’s coming to Steam and Switch this summer, and it’s a must-have for me.

That’s my jam!

While my wife was demoing a game I heard a familiar beat from the next row. My ears perked. It was a song from one of my playlists and I had to investigate. What I found was Just Shapes & Beats.

Imagine a world of high-energy chiptune-inspired EDM music in living color, and it’s weaponized. You’re controlling a simple shape navigating a world of light and sound that’s pulsing, flashing, and spinning, in time with the music. But every contact with the light slowly kills you. It’s like you’re not just playing a game, you’re playing against the music.

This is not a beat game, it’s more like Asteroids, but dodging what the music throws at you. You can’t shoot, but you can dash, granting you brief invincibility from the flashing magenta onslaught. The goal: survive the song.

This one speaks to me. Not just because several of these tracks are my workout or mental motivation beats, but it promotes a nail-biting, high-energy play. The chiptune inspired music makes every choice feel right for the level. Plus, you get the artist and track title before each level, just in case you want to create a playlist like mine.

This one’s out, so you can grab it now on Steam and Switch for $20. And if you’re not sure, grab the demo for free.

Tabletop treasures

PAX was absolutely loaded with dice makers, map artists, and purveyors of every kind of TTRPG accessory for your favorite game. If you don’t have a favorite RPG yet, then there’s plenty of people ready to get you hooked on one.

This year my wife was on the hunt for a dice vault. Not just any dice vault. The vault. There were plenty to choose from. Large ones, small ones, ones with laser engraved pirate-y images, but she wanted one that fit her aesthetic. Oh, and it also had to have a top that doubled as a dice tray. That made it harder. But Dice Dungeons had just the thing for her. It’s a beautifully crafted wooden vault with a foam insert to keep the dice snug and cozy during travel. The top magnetically snaps into place and has a soft velvet inlay. It’s small enough to not dominate space at the table, but large enough to let you feel like the dice have a chance to roll.

The unexpected jewel was a dice tower from Triforge Laser Design. They had dozens of these marvelous dice towers that fold up into a wooden book-shaped case. Bonus style points to them. The cover has a legally distinct “not the Master Sword” made of dice engraved on the front. But the grand thing is, they customized the tower inside on the spot. We spent a few minutes looking at swatches for the colors of the front and back acrylic panels and then colors for the slats inside the tower. The result was a personalized look for the table that tucks away into a discreet but stylish accessory on the desk. The fact that it came with a snappy-looking mechanical pencil means that someone won’t be borrowing mine anymore.

2026 PAX highlight

There are so many things that make PAX my favorite con. There’s the splendor of the expo hall floor, the top-notch panels, the meetups, concerts, speed runs, the list goes on.

But what I really love is the curated sense of community at PAX. Everyone is welcome here. And there’s the feeling of being with your people. It feels safe to ask anyone what their favorite game is and listen to them gush just a bit, or make a passing remark when you see someone carrying a game you love.

And I did exactly that.

I had been there for eleven hours on Thursday and thought I was ready to leave, but I saw someone carrying two Unmatched sets. One, Tales to Amaze, is a favorite of mine because it’s co-op. The other was his favorite, Houdini vs. the Genie. I said how great Unmatched was. I gushed. He gushed. But he’d never played it co-op. He was actually hoping to find someone to play with at the tabletop freeplay. Needless to say he found two players before he made it to the tables. An hour and change later Mothman was defeated, and we were high-fiving each other on a super close game.

A place to call home

I say this every year, but it rings true, PAX feels like being with your people. They message every show with “Welcome Home.” And that feels right. While waiting for the doors to open on the first day I made a line-friend. He said something that I say every year. It’s a place where you can just be with people who understand your passions. You can talk to people, share stories, and just enjoy each other’s love of a common thing.

PAX calls us together. The common bond is real, and it shows.