If you’ve been sleeping on the PAX Rising Showcase, PAX East 2026 is the wake-up call you didn’t know you needed. Every year, PAX sifts through hundreds of indie game submissions, puts them through a serious gauntlet of judges, and crowns the very best with a free booth on the expo hall floor. This isn’t a participation trophy situation. Only the cream of the crop makes it through. And this year the lineup is looking seriously impressive.
PAX East 2026 is running March 26 through 29 at the Thomas M. Menino Convention and Exhibition Center in Boston, MA. If you’re there, the PAX Rising Showcase is one stop you absolutely cannot skip.
What Is the PAX Rising Showcase?
Here’s the deal. Not every indie developer has the budget or resources to snag a booth at a massive gaming convention. PAX Rising was created specifically to level that playing field. It gives small studios a real shot to stand shoulder to shoulder with AAA publishers and show off what they’ve been building.
The PAX Rising Showcase is an intensely curated collection of games selected by the PAX Team and highlighted on the show floor. If a game makes it in, it’s because it genuinely stands out from the crowd in gameplay, entertainment, or inventiveness. Genre and platform don’t matter. If it’s got something special, PAX wants it there.
And this isn’t just a feel-good story. Past PAX Rising winners include games like Celeste and Slay the Princess, titles that went on to become legitimate legends in the indie space. That’s the kind of track record that makes this showcase worth paying attention to.
Here’s every game featured in the 2026 PAX Rising Showcase.
Jigrift
Developer: White Thorn Games /Empty Castle
Platform: PC (Steam)
Genre: Adventure, Puzzle, 3D Platformer
The world itself is a jigsaw puzzle and you’re the one putting it back together. Jigrift follows a character named Bert who discovers a lost island home to three-headed voodoo frogs that can literally move the land. When the island breaks apart on arrival, it’s on Bert to fix things. It sounds wild because it is, and that’s exactly why it made the list.
GNAW
Developer: Redstart Interactive
Platform: Xbox, PlayStation, Switch, PC (Steam)
Genre: Metroidvania
A Metroidvania set in the world of dinosaurs. That sentence alone should have your attention. GNAW brings the classic explore, gain new powers, and backtrack loop to a prehistoric setting that genuinely feels fresh. Multi-platform support means this one has a wide reach, and it’s one of the more highly anticipated demos at the show this year.
Fishbowl
Developer: imissmyfriends.studio
Platform: PlayStation, PC (Steam)
Genre: Visual Novel RPG
Fishbowl already got attention at Wholesome Direct 2025 and it’s back here for a reason. This visual novel digs into themes of dreams, grief, and hope in a way that sounds genuinely affecting. If you’re a fan of narrative-driven games that actually make you feel something, Fishbowl is going on your radar right now.
Throwback! Jai-Alai Heroes
Developer: Astro Crow
Platform: Arcade-Exclusive
Genre: Casual Competitive Sports
This one is genuinely unique. Throwback! Jai-Alai Heroes is launching exclusively in an arcade cabinet format, which might be the first time that’s happened at a PAX Rising showcase. A jai-alai sports game in a full arcade case is the kind of swing you respect, even if arcades are a rarity these days. Seek this one out at the show.
ShantyTown
Developer: Erik Rempen
Platform: PC (Steam)
Genre: Casual Sim
ShantyTown is pitched as a relaxing diorama-building game about finding beauty in everyday chaos. Players fill every corner and nook of their town with personal details and design choices to make it their own. If you’ve ever needed a game that just lets you breathe and build something cozy, this might be it.
Canvas City
Developer: Disc 2 Games
Platform: Switch, PC (Steam)
Genre: Turn-Based Tactics RPG
Canvas City is a turn-based tactics RPG set in a world of rebellion on rollerblades. Fire Emblem fans are going to want to pay attention here because this one brings something fresh to a genre that usually defaults to swords and fantasy settings. Urban aesthetics, tactical gameplay, and a setting unlike anything else on this list.
HeartLinks: A Puzzle Called Love
Developer: Flip Alive Games
Platform: PC (Steam)
Genre: Anime Social-Sim, Puzzle
HeartLinks follows Ai, a girl so deeply in love that she bends the fabric of reality around her. That emotional intensity translates into time-manipulation mechanics and physics-based puzzles throughout the game. It’s an anime social-sim crossed with a brain-teasing puzzle game and the combination sounds genuinely interesting.
Away From Home
Developer: Cameron Smith-Randick
Platform: PC (Steam)
Genre: Rhythm RPG
Away From Home had a showing at PAX East 2025 and it’s back. You play as an entity that has jumped into a video game and taken control of the main character against their will. The rhythm mechanic shows up in combat and it takes some getting used to, but the concept is genuinely original. This one has been building a quiet following and PAX Rising is a big moment for it.
Mad MOJO
Developer: Ceed Studio
Platform: PC (Steam)
Genre: Card Battler, Deckbuilder, Psychological Horror, RPG
The pitch for Mad MOJO is Inscryption meets Pokemon and that alone earns it a spot in your attention span. Players capture monsters using decks, but the psychological horror tag signals this goes deeper than a simple creature collector. This is one of the most intriguing unknowns in the lineup and honestly that makes it one of the most exciting.
Super Blowfish Castle
Developer: T-LANDER STUDIOS
Platform: PC (Steam)
Genre: Puzzle Platformer
Super Blowfish Castle is a Rube Goldberg style puzzle platformer with 100 levels of varying difficulty. Think Mousetrap but as a video game with a little blowfish trying to get home to his castle. It sounds charming, it sounds ridiculous, and it sounds like exactly the kind of game that ends up being way more addictive than you expected.
Project Lexa
Developer: Ward Games
Platform: PC (Steam)
Genre: Puzzle
Project Lexa is a sci-fi puzzle game centered around language and communication. After crashing on an alien planet, players use a translator to decode alien glyphs and figure out what is actually going on. Details are still light on this one but the premise is compelling for anyone who loves puzzles that make you actually think differently.
Why PAX Rising Matters for Indie Gaming
The gaming industry can feel overwhelming at times. Big-budget trailers, major publisher announcements, flashy celebrity cameos. It’s a lot. But PAX Rising cuts through all of that noise and asks a simple question: is this game actually good?
Each year, PAX receives over a hundred game submissions from worthy indie devs eager to show off what they’ve been working on. Those games get analyzed, critiqued, poked, prodded, and judged until only a few remain. That selection process means that when a game earns that PAX Rising badge, it genuinely earned it.
For attendees, that translates to a curated discovery experience. You’re not wandering the expo floor hoping to stumble onto something cool. You’re walking into a hand-picked collection of games that someone has already vouched for