Sunday was the fourth and final day of PAX East. The crowd was noticeably thinner, and the media room was missing its usual vigor. Many of us wandered the expo hall like a weary zombie, hanging onto every last shred of stamina to play just one more demo. The last day of PAX is usually a bittersweet one as we wrestle with saying goodbye to our friends, new and established.

The Boss Rush Network team attendance at PAX East 2025: Ed (Vice President), Stephanie (VP Media Relations), Pat (Chief Gaming Officer), Courtney (Social Media Manager), and Block (Senior Writer). Each day, we’ll share our highlights from all the action at PAX East.

Ed (Vice President)

The final day has arrived, and with all the excitement I had for PAX East 2025 coming to a close, I finally got some game time in. I conducted the last of my interviews, and I wished a lot of people safe travels.

I got to talk to some of the members making Nocturne, which is a story RPG with a rhythm base combat. I also got to try Fretless and interview their lead artist. I got my hands on all the games at Marvelous/XSEED, where I also finally got to meet my friend, Derrick, which was a crazy coincidence. 

I finally got some merch, met Joe from Guardians Mental Health, who was such an exquisite person and just gave me the best dad-vibes ever. I finally said my goodbyes to the team who love and cherish so much. Then, I packed some extra goodies that I purchased and had some chocolate ice cream in a waffle cone. 

To everyone who read the articles on this website from those talented and passionate writers, thank you. You are the reason we love doing this and sharing these with you all. As I look forward to PAX West, I just wanted to say that supporting us, these developers, and creators mean so much. To next time everyone, this has been PAX EAST 2025!!!

Stephanie (VP Media Relations, Copy Editor)

I took it easy on the last day, but that didn’t stop me from discovering new games. After “locking it in” at the Media Room, I headed to the Expo Hall to meet with YouTuber friend, Danomak. We looked at Tanuki: Pon’s Summer and Swap Meat while shopping in between. Go figure, Dan was interesting in looking at desk mats, and I ended up purchasing one (and given a massive wall art for free).

Tanuki: Pon’s Summer is a lovely indie game where you ride your bike, deliver mail, grind and perform tricks for points. Check off various objects while enjoying the colorful and lush environment. The developer said he lived in Kyoto, Japan, which was a huge inspiration to the setting. Swap Meat is a completely different kind of game where you blast your way through objectives…and swap body parts. Swapping parts will grant different abilities. While Dan played solo (I watched), this game makes for a great co-op! Finally, I swung by the lovely devs of A Corgi’s Cozy Hike. We caught up on their progress, and I am eagerly waiting on a release date!

I said my goodbyes and packed all my goods. Reflecting on my experience at PAX East on the train ride home, I felt every year just gets better and better. I’m honored to be able to bring news and commentary to the community at large–all surrounded by some of the most wonderful and inspiring people in the world.

If you are a developer or publisher, keep it up. You’re doing well! If you are media, don’t stop producing content. You stuff matters. If you’re a gamer, I hope you walked away with some new titles to play.

Courtney (Social Media Manager)

Oh, sweet, sweet, final day! This was my favorite day by far. I got to see some colleagues, whose energy was drained from their karaoke night and still pulled through bright and early at 9am. This was also a slow day for PAX, which I think was way better for me. I experienced games I didn’t get to see the entire event. One I’m excited to see or play again is Tire Boy, where you control a boy in a tire and you get tasks from an owl. This had such a comedic twist to it; I was smiling ear to ear the entire time. There were plenty of games just like this, and it has motivated me to keep pushing through my own work–even to try something new if I feel burnt out. I hope whatever you do you can go all in full swing, and keep dreaming big!

Pat (Chief Gaming Officer)

Today I mostly gave the showfloor one last look-around.  I played an indie horror game called Nedra by indie.io. It takes place at a Soviet station in Antarctica where Lovecraftian horrors await.  Not only do you have to avoid those to survive, but you also have to keep your temperature steady.

I also caught the last of the Natural Six panels, and I finally got to meet Ben Starr.  I had a cameo from him where he said that if ever ran into him at PAX East, we would take a selfie posing like bodybuilders.  We did just that.  Overall, I would consider this an amazing PAX in the books, and I’m looking forward to what West brings.

Block (Senior Writer)

Despite taking some medication and trying to rest as much as possible the previous day, my illness persisted today, and as such I wasn’t able to enjoy nearly as many of the day’s festivities as I wanted to. 

Nevertheless, I did make it to the expo hall for a couple of hours. I visited the Limited Run booth, but i informed them that I wasn’t feeling my best. They let me try a few of the games that they had on display, such as the Gex Trilogy, Earthion, and Double Shake. I’ve oddly looked forward to Gex, if only for the novelty of it. I never thought they were great games, but they’re enjoyable enough in small doses. It’s reliance on pop culture-based gags means that it has aged worse than a season 1 episode of Family Guy, but from a gaming preservation perspective, I’m glad the gecko is still slinging around the absurd references.

Earthion was your standard space shooter. I’ve never been a huge fan of these, only because I suck at them. It looked good, played smoothly, and had fantastic music. For me though, these kinds of games always run together, and if you’ve played one, you’ve played them all. Please, put the pitchforks down.

I walked away more impressed with than I expected with Double Shake. It is definitely a throwback to the late nineties 2D platformers such as Tomba!, Klonoa, and Mischief Makers. It had a charming, retro art style, and a familiar, pick-up-and-play gameplay that I think will deliver loads of enjoyment for gamers looking for a piece of nostalgia.

I wish I could’ve pressed Limited Run on some of their more recent controversies, though. The exorbitant price for some of their special editions, the quality of many of their releases, and the “limited” nature of their releases, have all drawn the ire of many gamers. If I was feeling up to chatting, I would have seen if I could get a response from them, even if it would have resulted in your standard canned response.

I don’t regret my time at PAX East. I wish I would’ve been well enough to partake in more of the festivities. I wish I could’ve networked more and gotten my brand out there. But what I have been able to accomplish I believe is invaluable. Here’s hoping I’ll have this opportunity again soon.

We at Boss Rush Network were happy to participate in PAX East and are looking forward to covering more live events. Please continue to follow us for news in gaming!

The Boss Rush Podcast – A Podcast About Video Games

The Boss Rush Podcast is the flagship podcast of Boss Rush Media and The Boss Rush Network. Each week, hosts Corey Dirrig, LeRon Dawkins, Stephanie Klimov, and Pat Klein, as well as their friends, fellow content creators, developers, and industry veterans come together to discuss their week in gaming, including what they’ve been playing, a randomly chosen rotating weekly segment, the Boss Rush Banter of the week, answer community write-ins, and more. New episodes are released every Thursday. Members of The Boss Rush Network’s Patreon will receive the exclusive Pre-Show at any tier along with other perks.

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