PAX East’s Boston Showcase Winners

Last week, PAX East announced its winners of the Boston Indie Showcase, a contest established for Boston-based indie developers as way of saying thanks to the city. The three winners are puzzle games that each revolve around a clever mechanic.

Blinding Silence

Blinding Silence is a sound-based puzzle game as viewed through the ears of a blind man.

A wave of darkness has fallen over the land, and as the light wanes, so too does free will. Using the power of sound, the player must influence mindless drones in order to progress through obstacles, complete levels, and return light to a land of darkness.

Smuggle Truck

Smuggle Truck is an over-the-top, physics-based driving game where you smuggle your passengers across the border in the least amount of time. Tilt your truck, catch newborn babies, drive over armadillos, and rocket your way over hills, through caverns, and over quicksand to save the people!

(This one actually made its way to the nightly news a few weeks ago. In short, immigration advocates think it “trivializes the seriousness of immigrants willing to risk their lives under a broken immigration system.” Personally, it looks damn fun. Look at that baby fly!)

Snapshot

What if a camera captured more than just an image? In Snapshot, that’s exactly what Pic’s camera does. It actually absorbs objects into photographs, removing them from existence! Paste one of your pictures back into the world and see all of your captured objects come tumbling out. Capture even the most unusual objects: Doors, light, even copies of yourself! Travel through five unique worlds, collect beautiful and elusive objects, and overcome the most challenging puzzles.

With tons of objects to be photographed, there’s never just one solution. Plus, objects now caught in motion continue in motion once they’re pasted. Can’t quite reach that button on the ceiling? Capture a falling rock and paste the photo upside down, sending the rock hurtling upwards!

Sometimes a picture is worth so much more than just 1,000 words.