The Social Side of PAX East 2025

Every year when I attend PAX East I look forward to checking out new games, watching some panels and meeting new and old friends. There is so much to see and do at a show like PAX East, but a key component you may not be aware of until you attend is all the social interactions, events, games and parties you can check out.

Some are easy to find and check out, like the Voodoo Ranger lounge or late-night concerts in the Main Theatre, but others are offsite and need some planning and possibly, for more elaborate destinations, tickets. The great thing about the community that surrounds an event like PAX East is that many things are free to attend.

Many people attend PAX East just for the games, tabletop experiences and vendors, but I would encourage anyone to check out the social side too. These events, meetups and shows come in all shapes and sizes and can be fun for literally every personality type.

Meetups, Community Rooms, and Events around the Convention Center

There is so much to see and do at PAX East it can get overwhelming. That’s why looking through the schedule is key to plan for what you are interested in. The community is massive across many genres, and across the four days there are many things going on.

Community areas like the Arcade Freeplay room, AFK lounge, Cosplay Lounge, Console Freeplay, Handheld Lounge and more open up many avenues to hang solo or with friends. Getting you cosplay repaired, taking a breather, and playing a pile of free arcade games are great ways to spend a few hours away from the loud Expo Hall floor.

Meetups of massive properties like Smash Brothers, Marvel Rivals, and Pokémon are common scheduled events in the community rooms. These give fans and cosplayers a chance to hang out, get some great pictures, and meet like-minded souls.

All around the BCEC there are pop-up events like the Voodoo Ranger Lounge, JackBox trivia sessions, and Joustmania tournaments. These are open-space areas that you can wander in and out of to refresh, have fun, or play some chill games on the floor.

Concerts and Live Roleplaying Sessions

Every year at PAX East there is a variety of musical guests and prominent roleplaying groups that put on shows. Most are in the main theater, but some show up in the smaller theaters as supplements to the main attractions.

These concerts and playthroughs are part of your PAX East pass and if you have never attended some of these I cannot suggest strongly enough that you check them out next year. Artists like Paul and Storm, Bit Brigade, and Jonathan Coulton put on world-class shows for the crowds late into the night.

These shows are full of energy, dancing, crowd-singing, and just beautiful vibes that are hard to describe. Each of the bands this year killed it and brought a level of cool to PAX East that is amazing to see and experience.

Live Play

At the other end of the spectrum are the live play sessions. Not only are there those from Penny Arcade’s own Acquisition Incorporated, but the always fun group Natural Six was doing a live D&D show. The two groups are radically different but both staged great live roleplaying experiences.

I was only able to pop into the Natural Six show for a few minutes, but guests Ben Starr, Doug Cockle, Aoife Wilson, Alex Jordan, and Hollie Bennett, with Dungeon Master Harry McEntire, seemed to be having a blast, as was the crowd. I have watched parts of their YouTube series and they are a charismatic group that likes to get crazy and have fun doing it.

A main draw of PAX East, though, is the Acquisition Incorporated session, which I did get the chance to watch, and it was perhaps their best one yet. Crazy innuendo, exploding WarForged, a pit full of boiling cheese fondue, and a new party member made this a fantastic time.

It was great to see Austin Creed, Anna Prosser, Jasmine “ThatBronzeGirl” Bhullar, Jerry Holkins, and Chris Perkins as DM together again. They have a charismatic dynamic when playing that is so compelling and enjoyable.

Industry Events and Parties

What I truly enjoy about the Boston area is its rich gamedev scene. At PAX East 2025 this was evidenced by a series of events hosted via Boston Gamedev Week. Events like Made in MA, Game Audio Boston Meetup, Make Friends Make Games, and others were great free social outings to go to to meet peers and professionals in the industry.

Boston is also well known for its alcoholic beverages and that is where the Pokecrawl comes in. This is a Pokémon-themed pub crawl that raises proceeds in the tens of thousands each year for charity, with Stackup being the benefactor this year.

The Pokecrawl is always a blast, with all the participants joining a team and challenging others as they move from bar to bar over the night. This year there was a free dinner buffet before the event, which was greatly appreciated.

Another mainstay of PAX East is the ticketed parties hosted either in the bars connected to the nearby Westin or offsite downtown. These are typically hosted by communities or some of the larger developers or vendors at PAX East.

I was able to check out the Red Bull afterparty and the TennoVIP parties hosted in the Westin bars, and they outdid themselves with fun activities, food, and themed drinks. Live DJs, trivia games, giveaways, tasty munchies and tons of fun people around made for some seriously fun times.

Other community events like the Twitch x SonicBoom and SideQuesting parties were a little more low-key but still fun to explore. Events like Gaymer Trivia and a Coffee & Marketing meetup were nice ways to meet others in the community.

All in all the amount of options for socializing at PAX East grows every year. Having so many things to choose from around and outside the conference center proper makes it fun to explore within your comfort zone. Being social at PAX East has never been so easy and inclusive and that is what makes it so special.