I probably will say this every year I attend, but this year’s PAX East was my favorite one yet. The showfloor was excellent, with an amazing selection of the latest titles from both big name developers and indie up and comers. The tabletop and freeplay areas were expanded upon, the panels were enjoyable and entertaining.

Throughout the weekend, and really every PAX East, there’s a feeling of respect and community that I’ve never felt at any other convention. I’ve never made more friends at any other expo or con as I have at PAX East, and year after year I manage to reunite with old friends while making new ones. All of us who attend owe a great debt to those who dedicate their time and energy to making PAX the best it can be year in and year out, including the Penny Arcade staff and the Enforcers, the most dedicated, helpful group of volunteers I’ve ever come across.

I always get a feeling of sadness when I pack my bags, wave goodbye to the BCEC, and leave Boston, and while the PAX experience on the East coast may be over, the memories, souvenirs, beta keys, freebies, new friends, and new favorite games are all things we can connect with and experience everyday. We really bring PAX home with us. And there’s always PAX Prime in the fall.

I hope that those of you attended the convention enjoyed yourself as much as I did. Check out some photos from my time at PAX East after the jump.

Lawnmower Challenge, another selection for this year’s Boston Indie Showcase at PAX East, has done something interesting: it’s taken a chore that most consider a sweaty nuisance, and turned it into a mind-bending puzzle game.

In Lawnmower Challenge, your quest is simple: mow all the grass. However, these aren’t your average suburban lawns. There are locked gates that can only be unlocked with a key, unmowable sections that need planting, and gates that can only be opened from a certain direction. These all would be simple obstacles to overcome if you weren’t going for a perfect score, as your steps are counted and the fewer you take, the more stars you’ll earn.

Don’t let the simple controls and cute graphics fool you; it’ll take considerable planning to complete each level at three stars.

Imagine being turned into a jumping bean by an evil wizard, and on top of all that having your girlfriend kidnapped. Worst day ever, right? That’s what our hero, Emilio, is faced with in Bean’s Quest, a bouncing 16-bit platformer included in the Boston Indie Showcase, which will be shown off this weekend at PAX East.

Using the touchscreen controls of your favorite iOS device, you control Emilio as he bounds, bounces, and boings his way through each level, collecting diamonds as well as his missing pet axolotls along the way. Emilio never stops jumping, so all you have to do is move him left or right, but simple controls don’t make this game a breeze.

The difficulty in Bean’s Quest lies not in completing each level, but completing each level under the required number of bounces to obtain a perfect rating. If you’re going for all the diamonds and axolotls as well, it gets even more difficult. I found myself repeating levels over and over to try to get a better score and collect all the goodies, and with 150 levels to traverse, replay level for Bean’s Quest is pretty high.

Bean’s Quest also features an original soundtrack, as well as Game Center integration.

The game is available for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. It’s on sale right now, so jump on over to the iTunes Store and pick it up for $1.99, or check it out on the show floor this weekend at PAX.