Every year, Seattle Indies group hosts the Seattle Indie Expo (SIX) – a one-day free event that coincides with PAX West. As the name suggests, it’s a showcase of indie games from local developers and studios (with some exceptions). This year, there were 40 titles showcased from industry creatives from Washington and Ukraine and 6 additional student showcase games. Since I am only one person, I was not able to play every single game. Unfortunate, I know. Still, I was able to play 6 games in total, and I got to have a chat with the teams behind them as well.

Desolus, developed by Mark J Mayers and published by The Quantum Astrophysicists Guild.

The first game I played at SIX was Desolus, a first-person puzzle game inspired by titles like Portal and Myst. I spoke with Ty Tailor, a representative of the game’s publisher. Desolus has been in development for 10 years, and I have to say it looks absolutely gorgeous.

Interacting with spaces by manipulating the past and the present is a fun concept to play with, but I was left largely disappointed. Perhaps it being likened to Myst primed my expectations for a satisfying fiddling experience with clear environmental communication. Unfortunately, Desolus was not very intuitive as it was hard to figure out what your manipulations were actually doing. Hopefully this is something that’s easily fixable, as the concept is intriguing!

Play Desolus‘ demo for yourself on Steam.

Release Date: Coming Soon.

Creature Kitchen, developed and published by The Rat Zone.

My next stop was The Rat Zone zone, where I talked to Will Podpecham about Creature Kitchen. He described it as part cooking sim, part creature collector, and part escape room. It sounded like a drug crafted specifically for me, so I gave it a whirl. All in all, I probably played it for half an hour, maybe 45 minutes. I made little to no progress, but I had fun the whole time. The graphics were chunky and retro, but the controls were intuitive and self-explanatory. The issues I had were operator error for the most part. The only real issue was that I couldn’t read the numbers on a combination lock that I didn’t need to worry about yet.

Release Date: 2026

Seas of Raesenia, developed and published by Holofox Software LLC.

Seas of Raesenia is a 2D open world RPG focuses on naval combat. The lead developer described it as FTL: Faster Than Light meets Spiritfarer. The characters are charming, the art is pretty, but unfortunately the gameplay was not for me. That’s not at all a dig to the quality; I am just not engaged by management style battle mechanics. However, if you are, I’d give it a try! Like with Desolus, I didn’t get very far into the game so there was not a lot of plots to be had, but the characters were charming.

Release Date: Coming Soon.

The Maze Gallery, developed and published by Cryptic Conservatory.

As I was walking around the first floor of SIX, I was ensnared by a mini art exhibition. The Maze Gallery is an interactive text adventure that is “pretending to be a horror game, but is not,” according to the curator, Paxton. The basic premise is that you, the player, have entered an art museum that will not let you leave. The concept reminded me of Ib, a game I adore, so I immediately sat down and played through the first several rooms.

While the curator said it was not a horror game, I would like to disagree. Not whole heartedly, but I do disagree. There is a persistent, low-level dread that follows you from room to room. A sense of unease that lingers. I will be playing and reviewing this game in full, so stay tuned for that.

The Maze Gallery is available to play on Itch.i.o.

Broomsweeper, developed by BandsWithLegends an published by Bandwidth Games.

Now, I have never played Minesweeper. That type of gameplay has never really been my thing – or so I thought. I was lured to the table by the adorable dust-bunnies on display. The lead developer described the game as a Minesweeper roguelike, where rather than instant death the goal is to make it as far through each level as you can. I’ve been known to enjoy roguelikes and Souls likes, so I gave it a try! And, I had an amazing time. This game was so much fun, and I am planning on playing it when it comes out.

BroomSweeper Demo on Steam

Release Date: 2025

BubbleBeast DigiDungeon, developed and published by EchoLane, in collaboration with Ken Kennedy, Sophie Martin, and Zephyr Lolbatz.

My final game of the afternoon was BubbleBeast DigiDungeon, a colorful and chill match-four rhythm game. I cannot deny that I am a diagnosed match-game enjoyer, so I’m always excited to see one without any ads. This game was an absolute delight. The main characters were delightful and vibrant, the music was bopping, and the matching mechanics were intuitive and novel. I am definitely planning on playing it more.

BubbleBeast DigiDungeon is Free-to-Play on Steam.

Worth the Time and Trip

The Seattle Indie Expo was an absolute treat that left me wanting more, even when I was exhausted. Most of the games I played, and several I didn’t are already on my wishlist. If you’re ever in the Seattle area during PAX West, I would highly recommend checking out SIX. It’s a free, fun time where you can find your next favorite indie game.

All games highlighted in the article are, or will be, available on PC. Check out the rest of the SIX lineup on their website.