When you go to a convention, even if you plan out your day fully, you might not get to see everything on your list. When you go to a gaming convention, you will need to find the booths, wait in lines, and then try out the demo.

If everything goes according to plan, you most likely will still not get to see everything you wanted. When speaking with attendees from PAX West, most stated that there was not enough time in the day to check out everything they wanted. After hearing this enough, we have compiled a list of 10 Games You Might Have Missed at PAX West 2025.

When we were at PAX West, we weren’t expecting to see a new title from Akabaka. In April 2024, Sucker for Love: Date to Die For was released; the game had more of a horror feel compared to Sucker for Love: First Date, which had a more dating sim feel with jump scare elements. The newest game we got to preview in the series is titled Sucker for Love: Crush Landing.

Sucker for Love: Crush Landing had more of a mysterious feeling and goes back to its dating sim roots, versus that of a suspenseful murder. When a mysterious asteroid hits the main character’s apartment, he goes to investigate and thinks he has just hit the motherload. After interacting with the space rock, a mysterious individual appears in his apartment and starts to suck the color out of his life.

What is the secret behind this mysterious being? We will just have to wait until Sucker for Love: Crush Landing launches in 2026.

When we first got asked to check out Crystal of Atlan at PAX West, the game looked like it had an interesting concept and beautiful artwork. Combine that artwork with the Digimon crossover event, and I was willing to give it a shot, despite the game giving Genshin Impact vibes. 

When we sat down to play the game, we were given the option to explore the world or jump into a boss raid. For the meeting, we chose to take on a boss with our partner Digimon. The demo gave us the option to have cross-play between mobile and PC.

This boss fight seemed like it would be epic if we truly understood what we were doing, but instead, we kept dying and using the revival serums to get back in the fight. This mechanic felt like it was more of a gacha mechanic vs something that enriches the boss fight. 

We will revisit the game when it releases on October 30th, 2025.

At PAX East 2025, we met with Seismic Squirrel to preview their upcoming game Aether & Iron. Prior to meeting with them at PAX West, we were assured that there would be a new demo to check out. Despite the demo being the same, we did get to see some new aspects of the game. This version of the demo featured more voice acting than the one we played at East. Additionally, there was a bug after our writer drank the booze that caused the text to slur; it’s not a bug, it’s a feature.

Watching someone else play the game, I saw that there is no correct way to play as long as the mission is complete. Rather than dragging out the fight, our writer just slammed into a nearby vehicle, causing it to explode and taking out the enemy’s vehicle. 

Although the game still looks good, it would have been nice to see new gameplay or story elements. Hopefully, we will get to try out a new portion of the game in the near future. 

Alright, guys, this next one is a juicy one. If you are like me, you like to season your meat. At PAX West, we met with One More Game to check the latest update to Swap Meat. Watching the game played by our staff member, we noticed that there have been improvements made to the game. 

Swapping meat in the game looked like it was faster and easier to tell what changes occurred from each body part. Sadly, the PAX West demo did not have its co-op capability, but the game does have ongoing testing. The core gameplay still looks like it will be a ton of fun, whether solo or multiplayer, so long as you realize that you need to extract before the big bad comes.

Swap Meat is scheduled to be released this October, but a definitive date has not been announced. 

At PAX West 2023, Daedalic Entertainment and Octofox Games showcased Wild Woods, highlighting the game’s four-player co-op gameplay. Since then, they have continued to fine-tune the game to create a fun, memorable experience. For this demo, we had two staff members join a group to try out the game and see what new updates had been made. 

Although I had played the game before, I still felt like there were potential surprises around every corner. The merchants’ shop worked differently, allowing us to trade resources for gold. Then we could trade gold for upgrades to the vehicle, or improve our stats.

Each run would show us what the path had in store for us. Although the game ran smoother than last time and had fewer bugs, we would have liked to see some kind of variance rather than a standard run. 

After we had the chance to check out Wild Woods, I moved to the other side of the booth to check out The Occultist demo. The demo threw us into a corn field, and we had to uncover the mystery behind the ominous presence.

As you explore the house and the surrounding field, you will find clues to what dark event went down in the house. Not all clues are easy to discover, and you will need to double back sometimes.

The game had an interesting setting, and it will be exciting to see where the developers take the game. The glass lens to see hidden objects was an interesting take to have things hidden in plain sight. Due to limited time, we did not get to explore the whole demo, but what we did play left us on the edge of our seats. The atmosphere was eerie and had an ominous undertone. 

Fading of Nicole Wilson was a game I was excited for when we received invitations to demo games at PAX West. The artwork looked beautiful, and the idea of taking photos out in the wilderness sounded fun. Suspense games that involve paranormal activity and potential jump scares are great, especially during Halloween time. 

Sadly, when we were playing the demo, we encountered a bug that caused the game to break. Hopefully, a demo of the game will be available during Steam Next Fest so that we can try it again 

Were you a fan of the Hitman games in the early 2000s? Did you laugh when the bodies would ragdoll in weird ways and the AI would let out weird noises? At PAX West, we had the chance to check out the newest secret agent in VARSAV Game Studios’ upcoming game, BARKOUR. The demo gave players the chance to check out the early stages of the game, starting at the tutorial and moving on to the first level. 

The tutorial showed the basic platforming mechanics and how to take down enemies. The combat and stealth elements were fairly straightforward, with the dog’s small nature made it easier to sneak around enemies. Once the tutorial was done, we could progress to our first actual mission. The level design was interesting, but due to time constraints, we were not able to fully check out the first level. 

If what we saw from the beginning of the first level and tutorial is anything to go by, the gameplay of Barkour should captivate players with its cute design but fun combat.

When we first watched the trailer for Drowned Lake, it seemed like it would be an exciting survival game similar to Silent Hill or Resident Evil. When on land or getting close to land, you play in first person to explore, however, whenever moving the boat the game switches to third person.

Although this makes it easier to move around, in our personal opinion, the third-person camera change detracts from the overall experience. With the time we got to try out this game, moving the boat around felt tiresome. 

At the moment, there is a playtest currently ongoing, but hopefully a full demo will be released during Steam Next Fest. 

The final game you might have missed at PAX West 2025 is the Kingsisle booth. Unless you went to the back of the Summit building behind Capcom, Nintendo, Borderlands, and others, you probably missed the KingsIsle Entertainment next to the Just Shapes and Beats booth.

At the KingsIsle Entertainment booth, attendees could check out FATE: Reawakened 4-in-1 RPG remaster of the dungeon-crawling classic. Additionally, they could check out what is next for Wizard 101, both its console debut and its sequel, prequel, Ravenwood Academy: A Wizard 101 Story. 

Rather than playing the demos, we had the chance to sit down with some of the team and discuss what’s next for Wizard 101. You can read that interview soon.