Seattle's coming-so-soon Penny Arcade Expo can be intimidating for folks who don't dress like Princess Toadstool. For folks who don't hold onto the back handlebars while they play Dance Dance Revolution. For folks who'd never dream of binding their FPS controls to ESDF instead of WASD. Normal folks.

But you don't have to be any of those things to get a kick out of the PAX10, the fest's indie gaming competition. Just announced today are the fest's hand-picked choices: complex strategy games, twitchy puzzlers that the Bejeweled set could love, and an interactive book for kids called What Is Bothering Carl?, among others. Oh, don't forget this entirely hand-drawn point-and-click adventure:


Our local pals behind Tag: The Power Of Paint are on the list, too. Congrats, guys. The full list of nominated games with links is after the jump.

CarneyVale: Showtime by the Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Games Lab (Xbox 360)