The PAX 10

After sifting through over 100 submissions from a gaggle of gameplay types and a plethora of platforms, a panel of game industry experts have selected the ten best submissions to be recognized as this year's The PAX 10. In alphabetical order, they are:

• Developed by: Nimbly Games
• Platform: PC
• Genre: Cartoon Aerial Brawler
• Website: http://altitudegame.com
• Description: Jump into the fast and agile Loopy and drop your enemies from the sky with a tactical EMP blast - but hit your afterburners before your Biplane support tears them to pieces with 20mm cannons blazing! Barrel roll through the enemy minefield and arm your nuke as you enter the drop zone. There it is - the enemy base - but two Mirandas just warped in with lasers hot and an Explodet is lumbering into position over their hangar decks - will you carry your team to victory?

• Developed by: Supergiant Games
• Platform: Consoles and PC
• Genre: Action RPG
• Website: http://www.supergiantgames.com
• Description: In Bastion, you will build a new world from the ashes of a massive calamity that tore the land apart. Seek out survivors and fragments of the old world, while exploring dangerous and beautiful lands adrift in air. Battle creatures maddened by loss and unravel the darkest secrets of the past, as a mysterious narrator marks your every move.

• Developed by: Pixelante
• Platform: PC and Mac
• Genre: Run and Gun, Platformer
• Website: http://pixelante.ca
• Description: A heroic rooster sets forth on a ridiculous space adventure to DESTROY THE SUN! Unfortunately for him, a legion of lingerie-loving Vikings has turned it into their headquarters and they're big fans of fried chicken. Full of high tech weaponry, constant non sequitur, terrible gaming humour and a wanton disregard for anything wholesome; Fowl Space is a crazy journey you'll never forget... to say the least.

• Developed by: Longbow Games
• Platform: PC
• Genre: Real-Time Strategy Wargame
• Website: http://www.longbowgames.com
• Description: Conquer the ancient Greek world in "Hegemony: Philip of Macedon", a real-time strategy wargame that follows the rise to power of Philip of Macedon, father of Alexander the Great. Experience the full range of warfare from reconnaissance to raids to field battles to mountain blockades as you campaign across a continuous satellite-accurate map of ancient Greece. Siege and starve the enemy by cutting their supply lines or burning their crops, all the while building and protecting your own supply network to support your growing empire. Strike out on your own or follow 100+ historical objectives to recreate the rise of the Macedonian empire.

• Developed by: Team Plane Weaver
• Platform: PC
• Genre: Platform
• Website: http://dadiu.dk/spil/spil-2010/plane-weaver
• Description: Plane Weaver is a 3D platform game with puzzle elements. It takes place in a world where machines have taken over and lives on the energy of souls. In the game you play a character named Silke, who is a plane weaver. Silke can travel between the planes of reality and therefore take different forms that hold great power. The soul of Silkes brother has been stolen by the soulgrinders and is kept imprisoned at the mechanical fortress Itzhal. Silke has used her abilities to break into Itzhal in an attempt to free her brothers soul and destroy the colossal machine made of steel and steam. Plane Weaver is a game for people who like to explore and try new and different game solutions.

• Developed by: Wadjet Eye Games
• Platform: PC
• Genre: Adventure
• Website: http://wadjeteyegames.com/puzzlebots.htm
• Description: Puzzle Bots is a retro-style adventure game with cartoony graphics and laugh-out-loud dialog. Players take control of 5 little robots as they escape from their human inventors...and leave all kinds of chaos in their wake. Each robot has one special ability (pick up, swim, flamethrow, etc.) that they use to puzzle their way through 17 levels. Will the bots be able to thwart the evil plot that threatens Dr. Hugo's Factory for Making Robots? Find out by visiting the factory yourself!

• Developed by: Vblank Entertainment Inc.
• Platform: Wii
• Genre: Open-World Action Parody
• Website: http://www.retrocityrampage.com
• Description: A parody of the open-world action genre, Retro City Rampage takes modern game mechanics and mashes them into an authentic 8-bit experience. One half fast paced arcade game, the other half a hilarious story mode. Missions twist pages straight from classic games, surrounded by all of the driving and shooting you'd expect. When it comes to enemies, weapons are only the beginning! Jump on their heads like a true plumber! Toss 'em around to knock the rest down! Become truly unstoppable with any of the many power-ups! Through its world, characters and missions, Retro City Rampage lampoons not only games, but the TV, movies and pop culture of the NES generation. It's a loving send-up that evokes the feel of the classics with the freedom and conscience of the modern anti-hero.

• Developed by: Nevercenter
• Platform: iPhone/iPod
• Genre: Puzzle Action
• Website: http://www.nevercenter.com/shibuya
• Description: Inspired by the bright lights and old-school arcades of Tokyo, Shibuya is an atmospheric, fast-paced, challenging, and deceptively simple puzzle game. It's addictive, original design pays tribute to the past but is only possible with modern touch-based interfaces. Players match colors by tapping blocks as they fall, planning ahead for chain reactions and massive groups of color to earn maximum points. An advanced stat tracking and achievement system steadily ramps up the difficulty and rewards intelligent play. Features licensed music by Millionyoung.

• Developed by: One Man Down
• Platform: PC
• Genre: Rhythm, Shooter, Sidescroller
• Website: http://www.solacegame.com
• Description: Solace is an interactive aesthetic experience utilizing dynamic audio and bullet hell overtones to provide a unique perspective on the five stages of grief. Developed by One Man Down, a sophomore game team from the DigiPen Institute of Technology.

• Developed by: Team Meat
• Platform: XBLA, Wii, and PC
• Genre: Platformer
• Website: http://www.supermeatboy.com
• Description: Super Meat Boy is a tough as nails platformer where you play as an animated cube of meat who's trying to save his girlfriend (who happens to be made of bandages) from an evil fetus in a jar wearing a tux. Our meaty hero will leap from walls, over seas of buzz saws, through crumbling caves and pools of old needles. Sacrificing his own well being to save his damsel in distress. Super Meat Boy brings the old school difficulty of classic NES titles like Mega Man 2, Ghost and Goblins and Super Mario Bros. 2 (The Japanese one) and stream lines them down to the essential no BS straight forward twitch reflex platforming.