I Could Have Gone to GDC, but I Went to PAX East Instead!

One of my goals this year was to go to more conventions. I thought I'd share with you my experience at the first one I went to, which was PAX East 2024!

Intro

As someone who is both fighting through some inner demons and wants to find a new direction in life, I decided that this year would be the year to go back to more conventions. I remember going to coding conventions years ago while I was still in college, and those were some of the best times of my life. Ever since I graduated college and became a full-time software engineer, I lost sight of a lot of those experiences. Now that I have left my job and have some time before I need to return, I have time to rekindle some of that lost energy again.

Also, as someone whose passion is gaming and dreams of making a game of his own, I would like to go to conventions to learn more about the industry. Naturally, the convention that would suit me best is none other than the Game Developers Conference, or GDC. GDC is a conference hosted every year where professional game developers of any kind get together to discuss the latest and greatest in the gaming sphere. I’ve always wanted to go to GDC, not only to get exposure on my own work, but to make connections with the industry’s best.

But I didn’t go to GDC.

As someone in my position should be, I wanted to be careful with the budget for my trip. I’m fortunate enough that I don’t have to be too skimpy with the funds, but regardless, I still have my limits. Flying to San Francisco by itself would have cost me 800 dollars or so, with the rest adding up to somewhere around 2500 dollars. Not only this, I’m still very much in flux with my own life, and I don’t really have anything to show for myself quite yet. I thought about starting my own IT business, but I realized that I just don’t really want to deal with clients anymore if I can help it, and I’d rather just go all in on my game and content creation with the time I have.

With insufficient funds and insufficient materials to show, another option popped up that seemed promising. That was instead, going to PAX East 2024 in Boston, Massachusetts. I’m within driving distance of Boston, so I don’t need plane tickets? Sweet. PAX has discounts on hotel stays? Radical. A four day pass is only $250 bucks? All of a sudden, PAX felt like the way to go.

PAX, or the Penny Arcade eXpo, is a convention held annually in four different flavors, PAX West in Seattle, PAX Australia in Melbourne, PAX Unplugged in Philly, and PAX East in Boston. PAX is centered around everything gaming, such as video games and tabletop games. It’s common to see up and coming games, publishers, merchants and talks. The good thing is that if you want to go to PAX, there’s still a chance this year even if you missed PAX East with the others coming up.

With my sights on going to PAX East, I bought my tickets, booked my hotel, and waited for that fateful day to arrive!

Planning the Travel

Earlier in the year when I decided to go to more conventions, I found this convenient website called videogamecons.com that listed a variety of video game-centric conventions. I went through the list and picked some candidates based on location and date. I noted PAX as a contender, amongst some others, and got a link to the website from here.

The PAX website made it really easy to get the tickets. Since I’m a procrastinator, I didn’t know for sure I was going until roughly the end of February, and by that time Saturday only tickets were sold out. This wasn’t a big deal for me though because I had the whole weekend to spare and I was happy to take my time with a four day pass. I selected the four day pass, and then proceeded to purchase it like anything else on the internet.

The hotel booking was the next thing on my plate to take care of. At first, I was thinking - I’m a Costco member, so why don’t I look at Costco Travel to see if there’s any good hotel deals. Sadly, the selection on the site was disappointing at best. However, going back to the PAX website, I noticed I glossed over a nice little section saying “we also negotiated discounts on nearby hotels for you”. Sick! I clicked the link and was given a set of options to choose from, with the prices per night clearly marked. I settled on the Hilton in Boston Park Plaza, not only because it was one of the cheaper options, but also because I remember staying at a Hilton in Boston when I went there for a bachelor party two years ago. All that was left was selecting how long I would be staying and booking it. Easy peasy.

With the tickets purchased and the hotel booked, all that was left was making sure my sweet little kitty cats were accounted for. Luckily, my sister lives nearby and was more than happy to check up on them while I was gone.

And with all that done, the day finally came where I would be heading up to PAX East!

Thursday

Thursday was the day I decided to drive up to Boston, which would be a solid seven hour drive. Of course, that means that I would miss a lot of the convention in the morning, but that didn’t bother me because I would be staying for a few days. Therefore, my plan was to arrive just in time so I could get my badge and walk around the venue to see what’s up.

I arrived around 5 PM and checked into the hotel. Because I showed up at this time, my room was already prepared, so I dropped off my bags and got going. I love to walk, so I wanted to make sure I would be walking to get to and from the convention. Thankfully, the venue was thirty minutes straight from the hotel and I had my phone GPS to help me.

Once I got to the Boston Convention Center, I picked up my badge, activated it and made my way to the expo hall. However, I did not realize that the expo hall closes at 6, so I was kicked out not too long after I got there. Not to worry though, the rest of the venue was open, and I walked around some more to check it out. At that time, I was also quite hungry after the long drive, and bought myself a blue raspberry water ice for $8.

One interesting thing about PAX that immediately stuck out to me was the structure. Of course, there’s the main expo hall, which is open from 10 AM to 6 PM on convention days, but there’s also panels, PC freeplay and tabletop sections that are open until midnight. As I was walking around the convention center, I encountered this really cute doggo, who also happened to be part robot. Then I remembered this was Boston, so no wonder the Boston Dynamics doggo would be here.

Later, I found myself stumbling across a panel discussing whether 2D or 3D Zelda games were better. I didn’t stay the whole time, but it ended up being a debate about both types of games and how each of the styles appealed to different people. For those wondering, I much prefer 3D Zelda, as Wind Waker and Breath of the Wild are amongst my favorites in the series. But don’t sleep on A Link Between Worlds!

At this point, it was getting late and I was a bit exhausted from the drive, so I decided to do one last thing before turning in for the night. I stumbled upon the PC Freeplay section and gave it a try. The PC Freeplay area has a bunch of pre-built PCs with pre-installed Steam games, where anyone could walk up and play for 30 minutes at a time. I looked at the game list and saw that my favorite roguelite, Risk of Rain 2 was featured, so I thought I’d get a run in. I ended up instead giving Brawlhalla a try since I never played it before and I tend to like platform fighters. I had some time left so I did a Risk of Rain run and immediately died.

After that I made it back to the hotel to cap off the first night at PAX East 2024!

Friday

I arrived at the Boston Convention Center a little after 10 AM on Friday morning and immediately headed toward the expo hall. The first thing I did when arriving was getting this picture taken with the mascot of AFK Journey, a game that I never played. I was drawn to the game’s beautiful art style, but I’m not sure I’ll play it myself since I’m not huge on mobile games. I’m also a bit shy about showing myself on camera because I’m not quite where I want to be with managing my weight. I’m hoping one day I’ll figure it out. Life’s a journey after all, one you can’t just be AFK for.

Shortly after, I made a journey to the other side of the convention hall where the board games and card games were. I’m not much of a tabletop game person, but my friends enjoy them and I was keeping my eyes open for the next game we could play together. The first one that caught my eye was this one called Game of Ham, which markets itself as a combination of Cards Against Humanity and Sorry. I wasn’t super sold on it just yet, but I had to appreciate the cynicism the devs had while discussing their game. I figured I’d come back here later in the trip when there’s less people going ham at the booth to get a second look.

Later on, I found myself around the indie games section of the expo hall. I was immediately greeted by this gentleman who asked me, “Do you like RPGs? Wanna try one out?“. Not only are RPGs my favorite genre of game, I am also making one of my own, so naturally I obliged. It turns out this gentleman was the programmer for three separate games including the one I tried at the booth called Quartet. Quartet is a cute little sprite based RPG that features four different character stories Octopath Traveler style. While I didn’t find the artwork to be unique in any way, I could tell there was plenty of love put into it. The music was lovely and the dialogue was quite witty. There was also a unique interaction in one of the combats where the character I was playing just learned he can use lightning magic, and the game made you use it several times before he could land a hit properly. It was quite charming. I’m interested to see what the future holds for this studio!

Lunch time quickly approached and it was time for me to find a bite to eat. After walking around the food court in the venue, I settled on a bowl of orange chicken and fried rice, which was not too bad at all. Combined with a bepis, that set me back another 20 bucks. Funnily while I was eating, I must have triggered the Missingno glitch.

Once I finished my lunch, I headed for the Dragonfly theater to catch the “What Does ‘Own Voice’ Mean’ ’ panel. Earlier in the day, I made a trip around the venue, noting down the time and place of talks I thought may be interesting. The venue had labeled the theaters with unique names such as Albatross, Bumblebee, Condor and Dragonfly. To be honest, I have no clue what the name theme is based on, but it did at least make it easy to identify. Regarding the panels in general, there are four to six people who are knowledgeable about the subject at hand who have questions and answers prepared ahead of time. Some panels even had time left for Q and A from the audience, but this particular one ran out of time before then.

This panel featured six people from very different backgrounds talking about how video games helped them find a place in the world thanks to the varying representation they have. It was nice to hear how video game stories and characters could make a large impact on someone’s life, especially someone who feels they do not belong in the world. Many of the panelists are creators of their own in some way, and their experiences have lent them to experiment with diversity in their own settings, such as in DnD campaigns. One comment that resonated with me is that “if there are people who look like you making things, it tells them they can too”. As someone on the spectrum, this hits home in many ways, and it’s one thing I hope to give to others using my platform one day. In addition, another great point made by the panel is that there’s no reason to try to force a character in your story for diversity’s sake. If you are unable to relate to the character you’re making, it’s going to be much harder to understand the struggles a person like that has. Instead, if you want to address diversity, it’s safe to use NPCs with minor roles. The most important thing, in the panel’s eyes, is that you should be true to yourself when writing your story, and it will be authentic. This was reassuring to hear because I would like to reflect on my own experiences being on the spectrum and living with emotional abuse when telling the story in my game.

After a fulfilling panel, it was time to get a snack. This time, I chose to get a soft pretzel and a diet bepis, which set me back 13 buckaroos. It was then I realized that food was freakin’ expensive here.

Around 3 PM, I made a stop into the grand ballroom to check out the Warframe developer’s panel. I don’t play Warframe myself, but I wanted to stop in because one of my friends does. Immediately, I noticed that the Warframe devs know how to spend their money because one of the upcoming updates was realistic fur on some bunny ears of one of the frames, along with a special dance. I ultimately didn’t stay long for this one as I don’t have much attachment to Warframe, but I was able to at least remind my friend that they were streaming it, and I got a chance to see what it was about.

I made my way back to the expo hall right after, and happened to spot a game called Sonic Roll while I was snooping as usual. The gentleman there was kind enough to explain the game to me, and it was surprisingly very faithful to how Sonic works. If it didn’t cost 45 dollars, I probably would have bought it, because it seemed like good fun.

As I walked around the expo hall more, I was starting to plan on what kind of souvenirs I wanted to get. I wanted to get some stuff for my friends, as well as my sister for thanks for watching the cats. I saw a lot of merch for various indie games such as Undertale and Stardew valley, and immediately thought about how there was a lack of merch for my second favorite roguelite, Slay the Spire. Spire is a game I got into a couple months ago because my friends wouldn’t stop talking about it. It’s a roguelite that works like a card game, which didn’t appeal to me at first. However, I tried a few runs on my own and got addicted to it pretty fast. Fate has it though, that right after I thought of this, I found a booth with the game Fraymakers, featuring one of the characters from Slay the Spire as a playable fighter. Think of Fraymakers as Super Smash bros, but with indie characters. It differs from the other platform fighters though because you can choose between various assist characters which you can summon on a whim to aid you in the fight. I ended up picking up The Watcher in a game and schooled the crowd with her WRATH. I was pretty impressed with how polished the movement felt in the game, but it still seems far from completion. Regardless, this was a nice little moment.

Before ending the day, I caught one last panel, this time on neurodivergence in gaming. Just like the previous panel, I found this one to be pretty enlightening and enjoyed it quite a bit. The panelists discussed a variety of topics, such as how neurodivergence affected how we interpreted games, as well as the impact it has on accessibility. I found that I could relate on many levels, including how it was mentioned that it was easy to talk hours on end about one’s favorite games. From a game developer’s point of view, the panel emphasized how accessibility is important, even to those without physical conditions. Being neurodivergent makes maps harder to process, for example, or certain quick events too difficult for the player who needs more time to process information. I found it endearing that one of the panelists enjoyed a feature in a recent game that you could just skip quick time events entirely, not because they were difficult, but that part of the game was boring and just wasn’t worth the time. The talk gave me some insight into how I can improve my own game down the line, so everyone can enjoy it how they please.

After the panel, the panelists stepped outside the room to talk to the viewers that had additional questions. I reached out to one panelist because I was curious myself on how I could make more connections with like minded people. After ten minutes of standing there awkwardly, I met with Eileen, who was very friendly. I explained to her about my own situation, how I left my job to go into game development and content creation, and she reassured me that she was in a similar position, and that content creation was how she was able to speak on the panel that day. I got to go back to the hotel for the night with a small ray of hope that maybe I picked the right path for myself after all. Thanks, Eileen! I linked her relevant info in the description if you want to check out her content!

I finished the night by grabbing a bite to eat at the Boston Kitchen Pizza, which happened to be right on the path back to the hotel. I ordered a slice of pepperoni pizza, some chicken tendies and a Mug Zero, which set me back another 22 dollars. I will say though, I wish a pizza joint like this existed where I live because the food was excellent. There’s nothing better than a good slice of pizza to end a great first full day.

Saturday

I got a bit of a late start on Saturday morning, but that was all right with me. I walked around 27 thousand steps the day before and I didn’t mind resting up a bit because I was absolutely pooped. Once I got ready, it was five before 11 when I left the hotel room, and I happened to catch the shuttle to the convention center just in time. I was disappointed I couldn’t walk over, but it was raining all day in Boston so I thought the shuttle was appropriate this one time.

It was near lunchtime when I got to the convention center, but I wasn’t hungry because I ate some leftover tendies right before I left. However, I was feeling a bit clumsy and sleepy as I was almost bumping into people, so some caffeine was prudent. I bought myself another bepis for 4 dollars, which was overpriced.

Nothing really caught my fancy panel-wise at the moment, so I decided to make this day the day I did some gift shopping. I wanted to get something for my friends, as well as for my sister and her husband. There was no guarantee I would have time on Sunday to do gift shopping because I’d have to drive home, so I thought now was a good time to get it done.

The first thing I bought was this 10 dollar velvet dice tray, but in blue for my DnD dungeon master at home. He and his wife were gracious enough to make a homemade beanie for me for Christmas and I didn’t get them anything then, so I wanted to get something for him. I asked the vendor at the booth if I could film the booth for a YouTube video and he had no issue with it. Thanks, man!

The next thing I stumbled on were these cute stress ball D20 dice at a booth called “Geek Therapeutics”. Each of these dice were five dollars, and they had a variety of colors so I was sold. I bought four of them, which totaled up to 22 dollars factoring tax. Just like before, the vendor let me take a quick video of the booth.

Earlier, I noted down a potential panel that would be interesting about games for therapy, and it was now time to go to that panel. The panel was not quite what I expected - it was more about how to help children with physical disabilities play games, but it was still pretty cool. It’s pretty amazing what a little technology and some compassion can accomplish. The panelists noted scenarios where children have had their surgery recovery time drastically reduced because they were able to play video games to help them fight through their pain. There was another story involving a kid who did not speak very much, but chose to say “steak” after a game of Overcooked. Now that’s a dude I can get behind.

After some deliberation, I finally decided to settle on picking up “Game of Ham” as a game that I could play with my friends. So I headed back to the convention hall and dropped 50 bucks to grab it. I feel like I can’t go too wrong with this one.

The last panel I would go to on this trip would be the Cyberpunk 2077 panel in the grand ballroom at 3:30. I have not played Cyberpunk myself, but at least one of my friends has, and this was also a panel with the lead developers so it naturally interested me. I was also interested in learning more about how AAA game developers operate, so it felt like a good idea to drop in on the panel. Even as AAA devs, the devs mentioned being nervous about the reception of the release of the Phantom Liberty expansion, just like any of us would. However, what struck me as interesting was the level of deliberation the team went through on such minute details. The example they used was the casino scene, where the team spent a large amount of effort deciding whether the champagne should be offered above the stairs or below the stairs. It was quite fascinating. The one other major takeaway I had was that it’s important to make sure your creatives feel empowered on your team to share any and all ideas, even incomplete ones. As someone who has been rejected many times with my own ideas, I can not agree with this more, and I want to make sure I keep this in mind whenever I build a team to make my RPG one day. All and all, I left the Cyberpunk panel with some great information.

To cap off the day at the convention, I made it back down to the expo hall one last time to grab an ice cream and watch the end of the Tekken 8 tournament for the day. I got this really tasty Cookie Monster ice cream, which appears to be blue dyed ice cream with cookie crumbs, which set me back 11 more dollars. The Tekken set was a pretty legitimate back and forth, and was the perfect set to end the day on.

At this point I was ready to head back, but I made the questionable decision to walk back instead of waiting for a shuttle. I thought, how bad could it be to walk in some rain this time? To put it in perspective, I walked back into the Boston Kitchen pizza shop twenty minutes later completely soaked, and I had to stand by the door for a few minutes to drip off before I could order food. Oh, and I decided just to go back to Boston Kitchen Pizza because I enjoyed it that much the day before, and it was conveniently on the way back to the hotel. This time, I ordered another pepperoni slice and a chicken parm sandwich with a Starry zero, costing me another 22 dollars. Just like before, the food was delicious.

Sunday

Ultimately, I decided not to go to the convection on Sunday because I got up around 10 AM and I needed to check out of the hotel by noon. In addition, I was satisfied with everything I had already done, so there was no need to return in my eyes. With the seven hour drive home ahead of me, that concludes this trip to PAX East.

Closing Thoughts

Overall, PAX East 2024 was a great time through and through, and I’m glad I went. It was nice to go on a solo trip and do something different, even if it wasn’t my first choice of convention. Truth be told though, I don’t think I regret skipping GDC for this. Not only was it cheaper and more accessible, PAX had less stakes and it was just the right thing for me to do given my current situation. Even so, I got to see a lot of cool booths, learned a ton from panels, and got to eat some tasty food. As a game developer, PAX was still a valuable convention, because at the end of the day, getting in touch with your inner gamer helps us make great games. Plus, it opened my mind on accessibility and diversity in games, which will prove to be valuable in my own endeavor. I will tackle GDC one year once I’m ready and have some more experience under my belt, but I’m more than happy to go back to PAX any time I can.

Thanks for watching! Let me know if I should do more content like this in the future. I tend to focus on educational content based on what I learn on my own game development journey, but I enjoyed making this day in the life type video too. Otherwise, I hope you have a great day!

BONUS: A Breakdown of Total Costs

Necessary Costs

• $200 per night at the hotel, $600 total
• $65 per day for valet parking at the hotel, $195 total
• $250 for four day pass
• $40 for gas (I drive a hybrid)
• TOTAL: $1,085

Food

• $8 for water ice
• $10 at Dunkin (donut, muffin, hot chocolate)
• $20 for orange chicken and soda
• $20 for pretzel and soda
• $25 for dinner at Boston Kitchen Pizza (one slice pepperoni, chicken tenders and fries, mug zero sugar)
• $4 for pepsi
• $12 for ice cream
• $22 for the second Boston Kitchen meal (one slice pepperoni, chicken parm sandwich, starry zero)
• TOTAL: $121

Gifts

• $10 for dice tray
• $50 for Game of Ham
• $22 for soft dice ($5 each plus tax)
• $80 for the teeturtle T shirts
• TOTAL: $162

TOTAL

I spent a total of $1,368 on this trip. It’s over 1K, but it’s not too bad otherwise. You can certainly cut down on food and gift costs as well (I eat a lot). Plus, you may be able to save on valet parking potentially depending on your choice of hotel.