LudoNarraCon

LudoNarraCon is a digital festival founded by publisher Fellow Traveller to celebrate narrative indie games. The festival feature panels, game launches, developers live streaming their games, exclusive demos available on Steam, discounts on selective games, and a showcase of fifty-three story-rich games from May 9th to May 13th 2024.

Panel discussions aim to be well-thought-out and interesting, covering topics such as how narrative design shapes stories, the intersection of story and music, and defining choice in branching narratives.

The organisers have chosen an interesting mix of games to showcase, ranging from well-known indies to unknowns. 1000xResist, Citizen Sleeper 2, A Highland Song, Pacific Drive, Harold Halibut, Yes, Your Grace: Snowfall, and Lil’ Guardsman are some examples of the high-profile games on offer, plus twenty plus new demos will be launching, including ones for Nirvana Noir, Angeline Era, and Wander Stars, just to name a few. You can see the full selection in the image below. All fifty-three games should have demos available through Steam, though I am not sure if they will stay once the festival is over.

I discovered this event the day before it launched, and I am grateful to Fellow Traveller for supplying me with a press code that not only gave me early access to the demos but also to full versions of some of the featured games. With not a lot of time to prepare, it will take us a while to cover everything, but please look out for reviews of these full games over the next month or so, as May has turned into a stellar month for indies and I am expecting codes for a couple more games releasing this month in the next few days.

I’d like to highlight some of the demos available through LudoNarraCon, so let’s go through some of my favourites.

The Mermaid Mask

 The captain of the world’s strangest submarine, Magnus Murtuga, has been murdered. It’s up to you to figure out what happened and who dunnit in this intriguing cartoon 2D puzzler set in an abandoned fishing town.

This made it onto the list for its gorgeous presentation and writing. I warmed to the two main characters, and they seem to have some cool chemistry together. I enjoyed the puzzles in the demo, and I’m looking forward to seeing more.

The Mermaid Mask Steam Page

Wander Stars

 An anime-turned-based RPG that uses words as its main offensive. Ringo is aiming to be a Kai master, but one day he runs into a strange wolf character, which kicks off a series of events for Ringo to overcome.

The Dragon Ball Z graphics and Super Mario-style overworld map already hooked me, but I loved the main battling system. Combining words to create attacks works so well, and more importantly, it is just so much fun that I am excited to see where this one could go.

Wander Stars Steam Page

Duck Detective: The Secret Salami

 You play as a down-on-his-luck duck detective who’s having problems paying the bills and his marriage. To take his mind off things and earn some cash, he takes on a case that leads to a tale he never expected.

Expect plenty of duck puns in this paper Mario-style game. I was impressed with the deducing system, which was fun and simple. And I think that will make up for this short, 2-3-hour game that comes out at the end of May 2024.

Duck Detective Steam Page

The Drifter

 You take control of a drifter who has to return to his home town after five years to arrange his late mum’s funeral with his sister. But things are not entirely the same when he returns, with homeless people going missing, strange military personnel, and a mysterious green light.

I am very excited for this one, not only for the full voice acting and narration I encountered, but also for this mysterious plot and these gorgeous visuals. I fell in love with Full Void for the same reason, and I can see me doing that again over these Another World/Flashback aesthetics’, plus the strong writing and animation make this one to watch.

The Drifter Steam Page

Hauntii

 You control a ghost in the underworld who is on a mission to uncover the secrets of this mysterious world in a captivating and very unique graphical style.

I have been looking forward to Hauntii for a very long time, with its gorgeous presentation completely overwhelming me. Thankfully, it’s not just pretty, as the actual gameplay of haunting objects and people has been implemented really well. I played this demo at the last Steam Next Fest, and it didn’t disappoint. Fingers crossed, the full game lives up to the promise, and we don’t have long to find out as it releases on May 23, 2024! 

Hauntii Steam Page