Bishop On The Road: PAX South 2017 Recap

Hey guys, we hope you are all doing fine! Today, we’re introducing a new blog series that will touch on our day-to-day lives on the road.

Attending conventions around the world like PAX or GDC is an amazing experience, it’s something quite unique in fact. We get questioned a lot on what it is like to have a booth and show our game to the world, so we figured it would be great idea to share what we go through as exhibitors. PAX South 2017 was our third time in the beautiful San Antonio, and we loved it just the same as the first time!

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Once again, the public’s reception was outstanding!

Texan Winter Ain’t So Bad

The first thing that we enjoy about San Antonio is that it’s a nice break from our cold Canadian winter. Sure, Texas in winter isn’t that warm, but it’s nothing compared to what we go through up north. At least there isn’t a couple feet of snow everywhere! It’s a welcomed change and it usually feels like we are splitting our own winter season in two!

Snow break for a week? Count us in!
Snow break for a week? Count us in!

We even managed to buy swimsuits once we arrived, as there was a nice pool on the roof of our hotel. That’s dedication right there!

Day 1: A Bumpy Start

We setup our booth on Thursday, one day prior to the beginning of PAX. Everything went fine and we didn’t run into any major problems. Our equipment was working fine, our Light Fall demo was tight… but you know how it goes right? When we arrived Friday morning, none of our three stations worked properly. Even worse, they all had a different problem!

One had a sound issue with the headset, the second one wouldn’t open our demo and the third one would display that damned ‘Activate Windows’ message on top of our game. Thankfully, we managed to get everything fixed by 10:15 AM. So only 15 minutes late… not too bad! The rest of the day went fine, but that was a stressful morning for sure.

We then finished our day at The Original Mexican Restaurant on the beautiful Riverwalk of San Antonio. This is ”our spot” whenever we attend PAX South. The drinks are quite something…

On the menu, it is said that under the Texan law only one of those is allowed per night...
On the menu, it is said that under the Texan law only one of those is allowed per night…

Day 2: Packed All Day Long

Saturday is always the biggest day of any expo and this time was no different. Time flies by and you realize at one point that the show is over! On a personal level, this was my ”big day” as well. I am the one who handles the press and, at one point, I had five meetings in a row. I remember looking at my phone only to see it was almost 3:00 pm… It was time for my lunch break. All in all, Saturday was great but exhausting. I think we all went back at the hotel pretty early in the night and just watched some TV before falling asleep.

We might have needed more than two playing stations on Saturday.
We might have needed more than two playing stations on Saturday.

Day 3: Time to Play Around!

I won’t lie, Sunday is definitely my favorite day. Why? Because it’s gaming day of course! It’s on Sunday that we usually rotate at the booth, allowing us to finally explore the convention and try out all the amazing games. I had my eyes on a couple of them since the beginning, and it was finally time to get ”my hands dirty”. Dauntless was one of them. Our booth was nearby, so I could check them out all weekend long! I really enjoyed playing their alpha battle demo. From all the games I’ve tried, it was my #1.

Math and David also had the chance to try out the much anticipated Nintendo Switch, and let me tell you they weren’t disappointed!

It will be a long wait for Dauntless, but I'm very excited for the game!
It will be a long wait for Dauntless, but I’m very excited for the game!

The budget of some of these booths never cease to amaze me. I can only dream that one day we will have a similar one for one of our games!

Earthfall went all out with this beauty!
Earthfall went all out with this beauty!

Finally, Sunday is my favorite because it usually presents a different crowd. By the end of the afternoon, it’s not rare to see parents with their kids walking through the now less-populated convention. We had a few of them hop in and try the game, and despite their young age, they were very talented!

A father and son duo exploring the world of Numbra.
A father and son duo exploring the world of Numbra.

PAX South: Indie-Friendly

To conclude, we really enjoyed our time at this third edition of PAX South. Every time we’ve been here, we have felt welcomed by the community. It truly feels like the crowd of PAX South enjoys indie games and we always feel extremely motivated after such an event. We had a blast chatting with you all this weekend and it will only make us work harder to release the best Light Fall possible.

Thanks for the support and the love, we greatly appreciate it! Stay tuned for more Light Fall in the upcoming weeks :)

-BEN