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Teenage rollerblading and Iron Chef point the way to the future of gaming at PAX Rising Showcase at PAX West 2025

Arcane Eats and Rollergirl are two indie games getting the spotlight at the leading games show in the US as part of PAX Rising Showcase

It’s not only the biggest games that fans can find at PAX West 2025. As is the case with every PAX, the expo floor doesn’t just feature big name players like Nintendo, Alienware, and Gearbox — there’s also the PAX Rising Showcase, a specially curated collection of independent games selected by the PAX team due to their innovative nature.

One of the games in this year’s PAX Rising Showcase is Arcane Eats — a crossover between cooking games and card games that, according to Bob Roberts of publisher Wonderbelly Games, is “similar to Slay the Spire and games like that, except that instead of killing monsters, you are cooking fantasy food in your restaurant to serve the orcs and goblins and elves and dwarves who come in and just make them happy.” The inspiration behind the game, he explained, comes from some favorite TV viewing.

“We love shows like Iron Chef or Top Chef, the kinds of shows where you get a creative master and then a weird complication is thrown at them. Here's the secret ingredient. And then they improvise and do something amazing with it. That's basically what we love about roguelikes: you learn the systems, you become a master of the craft of the thing, and then the game throws random stuff at you and you improvise and you make the best of it. And so we're like, well, let's make a cooking game that actually is about the Masterchef fantasy! It’s Bob Roberts a Masterchef improvisational experience that's more deep strategic thinking, but in the cooking space.”

By contrast, Pushing Vertices’ Rollergirl is a chance for players to lose themselves in a more emotional, adventure narrative game that harkens back to childhood — and specifically the childhood of creator Indigo Doyle.

“It's set in a small town in Canada, and it's very much based off of my childhood,” Doyle told Popverse. “Growing up in a small town in Canada, I rollerbladed a lot and I had an iPod and I was like, let me put all these curated playlists on it for different moods and stuff like that. I would be like, ‘Oh, I'm having a good day. Let me get this happy mood going,’ or, ‘I’m having a bad teen drama day. I must listen to my sad music’ I was like, ‘Let's put that in the game.’ And so when you listen to sad music, it starts raining, it gets a little bit desaturated, and it's very moody in that way. And then, we also have an upbeat mood as well, which is very happy and dance-y. There's colorful streamers going by and everything. There’s a moral dilemma in this coming of age energy for the game, as well, and there's also a slight love interest that I just want to hint at. It's just a fun, nice little experience, four to six hours of gameplay so you can just lose yourself in.”

Both Roberts and Doyle talked about the opportunity PAX Rising provides — not just to fans discovering their games for the first time, but to developers and indie publishers looking to make connections with their audience and peers after working so long on the game in relative solitude.

“We're local, we come to PAX every year. We love this place,” Roberts said. “Actually, our last game, Roundguard, we were in the PAX 10 in 2018. We've always kind of kept our eye on next time we make a game, we should submit to that. It seems like such a cool space. It's so great to get to meet other indie developers who are also on this journey too, and just a great opportunity to get some eyeballs on the game that otherwise very hard to come by in this market.”

“When we applied for the PAX Rising application, we were like, ‘Hopefully we get it,’ and then I just put it out of my mind,” remembered Doyle. “I was like, ‘I don't want to be excited for no reason.’ And so then when we got the confirmation, I was nerve-wracking to be like, ‘Oh, we're going to show it to people,’ but it's also very exciting as well. It's been really helpful to get eyes-on, hands-on and get that feedback at that direct reaction. The best moment is when people switch to a different mood [in the game] and they see the transition. Their expressions is the best moment! It makes all the late nights worth it, for sure.”

Roberts also talked about enjoying fan feedback at the show. Bob Roberts: ”Getting to see people who love deckbuilders, but are excited that it's a different take, it's a different theme [is great, because] we weren't sure how much kind of complicated deep strategy deckbuilder would appeal to people who don't love card games but are into cozy cooking vibe. I've been really pleasantly surprised by how many people come up and are like, ‘I don't know any of these card games, but I like the vibe and now that I play it, this is great, specifically because a lot of the other cooking games are so high stress and high pressure.’ They're like, ‘Even though it's complicated, I get all the time I need to think about it and take my turns.’ So it works!”

You can find out more about Rollergirl right here, and more about Arcane Eats here. You can also find the full list of 2025 PAX West Rising showcase games right here.

PAX West 2025 continues at the Seattle Convention Center through September 1.


The gaming industry has come a long way since Pong blew all our minds in the 70s. We've got everything you need to know about the next big thing in games. Of course, Grand Theft Auto VI is going to be the big game of 2026, but there are plenty of other games coming out between now and then. Here is our starter guide for every gamer:

And be sure to check Popverse regularly for the latest gaming news.

About PAX West 2025

PAX West is a celebration of gaming and gaming culture featuring thought-provoking panels, a massive expo hall filled with the best publishers and studios, new game demos, musical performances, tournaments, and a community experience unlike any other.

Dates

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Location

Seattle
United States

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Graeme McMillan

Graeme McMillan: Popverse Editor Graeme McMillan (he/him) has been writing about comics, culture, and comics culture on the internet for close to two decades at this point, which is terrifying to admit. He completely understands if you have problems understanding his accent.

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