Five panels to catch at PAX East 2020

Gamers on the East Coast are counting down the minutes until PAX East 2020 opens its doors on Thursday. If you’re heading to the event and need some exciting things to see, we’ve listed five panels that are worth your time.

While Saturday tickets are sold out, there are still Thursday, Friday, Sunday, and four-day tickets available here. More information on PAX East can be found here. The convention will take place inside the Boston Convention and Expo Center in Boston, Massachusetts from February 27 through March 1.

The EZ Baking Challenge: Recipe for Disaster
Thursday, February 27
8:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Albatross Theatre

Remember the old days of using the Easy-Bake Oven? Well, a group of video game industry personalities (Pat Baer, Trin Garritano, Kate Gray, and David Galindo) will find themselves reliving their childhood during the biggest competition of PAX East. These individuals will be baking goods while dealing with random obstacles. Their finished creation will be eaten by judges, who will declare one person the winner. Finji's Harris Foster and Rebekah Saltsman will co-host the event.

Design a Board Game Live
Thursday, February 27
9:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Condor Theatre

If you've always been interesting in creating the next big board game, this panel is for you. The design team of Lynnvander Studios (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Star Trek Alliance) will give attendees the scoop on how they made their popular games. Afterwards, you'll create a game from scratch. Later this year, Lynnvander Studios will release Divinity Original Sin: The Board Game, which gained $1.8 million through a successful Kickstarter campaign.

It's a 10/10, actually.
Friday, February 28
7:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Arachnid Theatre

Sometimes, a video game can be a perfect 10 despite harsh criticism. Evolve PR's social media manager Wout McDutch, Vlambeer co-founder Rami Ismail, Gameranx host Jake Baldino, Powerspike marketing director Reed Albers, and Ripley Improv's Jessica Lynn Verdi will discuss why their favorite games are a 10/10. After they’re done with their pitches, the audience decides if these games are actually among the best of the best.

Video Game Marketing Gone Right… and So *Very* Wrong
Saturday, February 29
8:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Bobcat Theatre

From Dead Island's spectacular video game trailer to John Romero's appalling Daikatana ad, video game marketing has seen its ups and downs over the years. The GameDev Business Handbook author Michael Futter, journalist Amanda Farough, Kitfox Games communications director Victoria Tran, and Vlambeer co-founder Rami Ismail talk about some of the worst marketing campaigns ever released.

Marvel Mystery Panel
Sunday, March 1
3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Albatross Theatre

Marvel and Netmarble have been cooking up a brand new game, and they'll ready to tell fans all about it during their PAX East panel. The two companies first joined forces in the 2015 mobile game Marvel: Future Fight, which has over 70 million players. Marvel: Future Fight’s recent update brought some Secret Empire content to the game.