One of the really unique things about the Penny Arcade Expo is the show’s dedication to showcasing independent games and their creators. While you can wait in crazy long lines for the bigger titles on the show floor, playing the indie games can be really rewarding. You’ll get more time to play each game, and usually you’ll get to talk to the game’s creators.

I try hard each year I attend PAX East to play every single one of the games featured in the Boston Indie Showcase, but this year will be a little different. Because for 2012, the six games chosen to be showcased are all mobile! Which means, not only can I play them before PAX, but so can all of you!

Four of the games featured are for iOS, two are for Android, and one is for Windows Mobile. I’ll be playing all of them before PAX East, which takes place in Boston, MA in early April, and reviewing them for you here at The Flickcast, but if you’d like to learn more about each game right now, you can check out the descriptions here.

For a taste of what the Boston Indie Showcase was like in the past, check out our coverage from PAX East 2011.

The unique thing about PAX and PAX East as compared to all other conventions is the strong presence of independent gaming on the show floor. This year, three exceptional indie titles are being featured in the Boston Indie Showcase, and I took to the floor to check out what these games were all about.

Available for iPad, iOS, Mac, and PC, Smuggle Truck was the first indie game I tried out for myself at this year’s PAX. With very simple controls, you drive a truck full of refugees through side-scrolling barren wastelands, dark caves, and terrifying forests, all in the hopes of reaching the border without losing all your passengers. The path is wrought with obstacles as well as hills and valleys that test your skills against physics.

Smuggle Truck has caused a certain amount of controversy, but don’t let that steer you away, because this game is a ton of fun. And in talking with the game’s creators, the game is less about pointing fun at illegal immigrants and instead does an incredible job of critiquing the absurdity and difficulty of entering the country and legally becoming a citizen.

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