“To read fiction means to play a game by which we give sense to the immensity of things that happened, are happening, or will happen in the actual world.” – Umberto Eco
What is LudoNarraCon 2022?
LudoNarraCon 2022 (LNC) is a FREE digital convention hosted on Steam, with a focus on celebrating narrative and storytelling in video games and the talented and dedicated people that make such titles. The initiative was started in 2019 by indie publishing label Fellow Traveller, creating a platform to showcase unique and innovative narrative-centric games. This year’s event is only the third event of its kind and will run from 5th – 9th May 2022.
Being an entirely digital event removes any geographical focus or restrictions and enables LudoNarraCon to concentrate the focus of the convention and appeal to a relatively niche market on a global scale. The overall aim is to replicate as many of the aspects and benefits of a physical convention as possible without the many drawbacks of a crowded exhibition floor.
The LudoNarraCon 2022 Festivities will include:
● 42 exhibiting teams will stream behind the scenes content on their Steam store page
● 33 demos will be available to download and play during the digital festival
● 12 hours of live panel discussions streamed on the main “theatre” page
● Over 100 hours of video content will be available to attendees during the festival
● Over 140 narrative games will be on sale in a special LudoNarraCon sale
LudoNarraCon 2022 Exhibitors
During the digital festival, the 42 exhibiting narrative games will show their games via live streams on their store pages with behind the scenes insights, couch chats, and demo gameplay. The lineup includes Goodbye World’s BAFTA-winning emotional first-person narrative adventure Before Your Eyes and Toge Production’s much-anticipated Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus and Butterfly. Fellow Traveller will also launch Citizen Sleeper on the first day of the festival, with developer Jump Over the Age on exhibit, providing a Citizen Sleeper dev commentary stream, a fireside chat, and a radio stream featuring the in-game soundtrack. This year also sees over 30 developers providing playable demos!
LudoNarraCon 2022 Live Panels
This year will see a selection of live panels streamed on the main ‘theatre’ stage on Steam and include discussions with Lucas Pope, Tanya X SHort and Daniel Mullins. A detailed list of panels is available here.
LudoNarraCon 2022 Fireside Chats
Also streaming on the main ‘theatre’ stage is a series of casual fireside chats featuring powerhouse names from the indie narrative scene including Gareth Damian Martin, Justin Keenan and Meghna Jayanth.
LudoNarraCon 2022 Schedule
The following scheduled times are in PDT. But don’t worry if you miss anything, all the panels and Fireside talks can be watched on-demand in the theatre tab.
Summary
With over 40 game exhibitors, a host of different talks and panels from industry leaders discussing game development and over 30 free, playable demos on offer over the course of the event, LudoNarraCon 2022 is sure to be both fun and informative. If previous years are anything to go by, this is sure to be a must-attend event for both fans and creators of narrative-driven games.
You might also like to take a look at our coverage of the start of LudoNarraCon in previous years:
LudoNarraCon 2019 – LudoNarraCon 2020 – LudoNarraCon 2021
