At PAX West 2023, Pacific Northwest developers brought two strikingly different games into view: Pacific Drive, a tense driving-survival adventure built around keeping a car alive in an uncanny wilderness, and Spirit Swap: Lo-Fi Beats to Match-3 To, a colorful, musical puzzle game centered on characters and joy. They were examples—not the whole story—of a regional scene that GeekWire reported included teams from Washington, Oregon, and Vancouver, B.C.
Why these games stood out at PAX West
GeekWire’s September 15, 2023 report described PAX West as a hometown showcase for Seattle and a draw for Pacific Northwest developers, alongside international attendees. It highlighted three regional games in the PAX Rising showcase and other local teams; Pacific Drive and Spirit Swap are best understood as two distinct examples within that wider presence, not its only representatives. GeekWire’s PAX West 2023 report.
The contrast is especially clear in what each game asks players to feel and do: one turns regional wilderness into a survival problem managed from behind the wheel; the other makes supernatural social life a setting for rhythmic matching and low-stakes stories.
| Game | Play | Mood and setting | Studio context reported in 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pacific Drive | Run-based driving survival; gather materials and maintain a station wagon. | Tense, uncanny exploration in an alternate Pacific Northwest. | Ironwood Studios. |
| Spirit Swap: Lo-Fi Beats to Match-3 To | Head-to-head match-three puzzles, character spells, and music. | Colorful, character-led supernatural stories with low-stakes conflicts. | Soft Not Weak, reported as a worker-owned studio split between Washington and Oregon. |
Game and studio descriptions in this comparison reflect GeekWire’s 2023 reporting; the studio details should not be read as a confirmation of present-day corporate status. GeekWire.
#1 Best Overall
- Outrun the storm while facing strange perils in a world that shifts with every journey into the Zone
- Your car, your way – scavenge resources to craft new equipment and configure your wagon how you want. Experiment with different mods and car parts to navigate a treacherous landscape, and look good doing it
- Unravel the mystery of the Olympic Exclusion Zone, an abandoned research site in an anomaly-filled version of the Pacific Northwest
- Original score by Wilbert Roget, II and featuring 15+ licensed songs
What is Pacific Drive?
Pacific Drive is a run-based driving-survival game set in a version of the Pacific Northwest reshaped by an unexplained disaster. Game director Seth Rosen described it as “Pacific Drive is a run-based driving survival adventure, set in an alternate version of the Pacific Northwest.” Unreal Engine interview, September 5, 2023.
Survival built around a station wagon
In the PAX demo described by GeekWire, players drove an old station wagon into the Olympic Exclusion Zone. The car is central to the loop: players venture out for materials, then manage and keep the vehicle running as they confront the zone’s dangers and try to understand what happened there. The threat comes not just from getting lost in strange terrain, but from having to depend on a vulnerable machine in it. GeekWire’s report.
Rank #2
- The Pacific Drive Ritual Edition includes the base game, The Whisper in the Woods Story Expansion**, 4 Cosmetic DLC Packs**, an exclusive SteelBook and an exclusive Tuckbox.
- Outrun the storm while facing strange perils in a world that shifts with every journey into the Zone
- Your car, your way – scavenge resources to craft new equipment and configure your wagon how you want. Experiment with different mods and car parts
- Unravel the mystery of the Olympic Exclusion Zone, an abandoned research site in an anomaly-filled version of the Pacific Northwest
- Original score by Wilbert Roget, II and featuring 15+ licensed songs
Why the Pacific Northwest matters
Ironwood’s influences, as discussed in the Unreal Engine interview, included road trips, the bond between a driver and a car, surreal worlds, and the Pacific Northwest itself. That regional inspiration gives the wilderness a recognizable starting point while the disaster makes it unfamiliar. The result is not simply a scenic driving game: exploration and maintenance are joined, so the car shapes how players experience the landscape. Unreal Engine interview.
What is Spirit Swap?
Spirit Swap: Lo-Fi Beats to Match-3 To is Soft Not Weak’s musical, head-to-head match-three puzzle game. As GeekWire described it at PAX, players arrange spirits in rows of three or more and use characters’ spells. Its supernatural world is paired with a diverse cast and interpersonal conflicts that stay low stakes rather than turning into a grim crisis. GeekWire’s report.
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Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Rank #3
![Pacific Drive Standard - PC Steam [Online Game Code]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/31pSJsKStCL._SL160_.jpg)
- Pacific Drive is a first-person driving survival game with your car as your only companion. Navigate a surreal reimagining of the Pacific Northwest, and face supernatural dangers as you venture into the Olympic Exclusion Zone.
- Each excursion into the wilderness brings unique and strange challenges as you restore and upgrade your car from an abandoned garage that acts as your home base.
A different kind of regional game
Where Pacific Drive makes the player’s car a fragile tool for surviving an unsettling place, Spirit Swap foregrounds color, music, character, and connection. The distinction is not just genre—driving survival versus match-three—but emotional design: one sustains tension through exploration and upkeep, while the other makes room for warmth and joy.
GeekWire identified Soft Not Weak as a worker-owned studio split between Washington and Oregon at the time of the 2023 report. UI/UX lead Réjon Taylor-Foster explained the game’s intent: “It was important for us to show joy.” GeekWire, September 15, 2023.
Rank #4
- UK PSN account may be required for any online features
How Pacific Drive’s platform story changed after PAX
GeekWire’s 2023 coverage discussed a planned PlayStation 5 release, reflecting the information available at the time. Later, Xbox Wire announced that Pacific Drive launched on Xbox and was available through Game Pass on October 23, 2025. The Xbox announcement is a later platform milestone; it does not change what the PAX West demo represented in 2023. Xbox Wire, October 23, 2025.
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