LudoNarraCon is a games convention of a different sort. Dedicated to narrative-focused games, it will feature exhibitions and discussion panels with well-known developers including Inkle, Kitfox, Failbetter, and Warm Lamp. But the whole event will be held entirely on Steam, with a "central theater stream" on a dedicated event page, livestreams and chats on store pages, and playable demos for the featured games.
"We love conventions like PAX and there are some elements of physical cons that are irreplaceable, but it’s a challenge for indie narrative games to compete on the convention circuit," said Chris Wright, managing director at indie publishing label Fellow Traveller. "Small teams can’t afford the time or money to be at all the amazing events around the world and it can be hard for narrative games to show well at a busy physical event."
"As a narrative games label we’ve been thinking a lot about this challenge. When we saw what Steam was doing with streaming we realised it provided an incredible opportunity to do something different. This is very much a first go but we expect to learn a lot and hope to build this into an ongoing platform to help narrative games punch above their weight."
More than 20 games will be showcased in store page livestreams during the event, including:
- Heaven's Vault (Inkle)
- Sunless Skies (Failbetter Games)
- Beholder (Warm Lamp Games)
- Do Not Feed the Monkeys (Fictiorama Studios)
- Neo Cab (Change Agency)
- Boyfriend Dungeon (Kitfox Games)
- Mutazione (Die Gute Fabrik)
- Cultist Simulator (Weather Factory)
- The Church in the Darkness (Paranoid Productions)
- Where the Water Tastes Like Wine (Dim Bulb Games)
- Genesis Noir (Feral Cat Den)
- The Stillness of the Wind (Memory of God)
- Hacknet (Team Fractal Alligator)
- In Other Waters (Jump Over the Age)
- Orwell: Keeping An Eye On You (Osmotic Studios)
- Orwell: Ignorance is Strength (Osmotic Studios)
- Blind (Tiny Bull Games)
More exhibitors will be announced ahead of the start of LudoNarraCon, which runs May 10-13 and will be accompanied by a Steam sale with more than 40 games marked down for the duration. Find out more at ludonarracon.com.