The current COVID-19 situation cancelled numerous indie game conventions, which is what most publishers seek to attend as they are one of the few opportunities their titles can experience serious exposure. Steam decided to lend a helping hand to these developers and publishers, and they left the registration doors for LudoNarraCon 2020 wide open, and now it is time for the biggest iteration of the event ever to date.
LudoNarraCon 2019 was an impressive event, with more than 850,000 attendees. This time around, a lineup of over 40 exhibiting games are officially confirmed for this year's iteration, spanning from April 24th to the 27th. Some of the newly added exhibitors include Eggnut and Raw Fury's Backbone, Mipumi Games' The Flower Collectors, and Alawar's Do Not Feed the Monkeys. For convenience, the following is a split list between new titles coming into LudoNarraCon and previously confirmed participants:
New Games:
- An Airport for Aliens Currently Run by Dogs - Strange Scaffold
- Backbone - Eggnut / Raw Fury
- Beholder 2 – Alawar
- Best Friend Forever – Starcolt
- Beyond the Veil - Sun's Shadow Studios
- Coda - GoodbyeWorld Games
- Coffee Talk - Toge Productions
- Curious Expeditions 2 - Maschinen-Mensch
- Do Not Feed the Monkeys – Alawar
- Frog Detective 2 - Grace Bruxner, Thomas Bowker
- Garden Story - Picogram / Rose City Games
- Lost Words: Beyond the Page - Sketchbook Games
- N1RV Ann-A - Yrsbd / Sukeban Games
- Nowhere Prophet - Sharkbomb Studios / No More Robots
- Over the Alps - Stace Studios
- Ring of Fire - Far Few Giants
- Roki - Polygon Treehouse
- Still There - Iceberg Interactive
- Sunless Skies - Failbetter Games
- The Flower Collectors - Mipumi Games
- Wide Ocean Big Jacket – Turnfellow
Previously Confirmed Participants:
- Boyfriend Dungeon - Kitfox Games
- Chinatown Detective Agency - General Interactive Co.
- Eliza – Zachtronics
- Genesis Noir - Feral Cat Den / Fellow Traveller
- Heaven's Vault - inkle
- Hypnospace Outlaw - Tendershoot / No More Robots
- In Other Waters - Jump Over The Age / Fellow Traveller
- Mutazione - Die Gute Fabrik / Akapura Games
- Neo Cab - Chance Agency / Fellow Traveller
- Not Tonight - Panic Barn / No More Robots
- Paradise Killer - Kaizen Game Works / Fellow Traveller
- She Dreams Elsewhere - Studio Zevere
- Solace State - Vivid Foundry
- Sometimes Always Monsters - Vagabond Dog / Devolver
- Suzerain - Torpor Games / Fellow Traveller
- Tangle Tower - SFB Games
- Telling Lies - Drowning a Mermaid Productions /
- Annapurna Interactive
- The Church in the Darkness - Paranoid Productions /
- Fellow Traveller
- Wayward Strand - Ghost Pattern
- Welcome to Elk - Triple Topping
- Yes, Your Grace - Brave At Night / No More Robots
Over 20 of the aforementioned titles will have demos available for players to give them a try, while attending live panels on a central 'theatre' stream. Not only that, as per usual with Steam, a LudoNarraCon Sale will run alongside the event, discounting more than 50 indie narrative-focused games.
Managing Director at Fellow Traveller, Chris Wright, expressed his excitement towards the event, and acknowledged the gaming industry has to adapt in the current times till a solution is found for the ongoing pandemic.
With a COVID-19 vaccine 12-18 months away, we need to accept as an industry that it will be a very long time before we get back to large physical conventions and it’s almost unimaginable that any will happen this year.
With LudoNarraCon we hope to bring a convention experience to your home, wherever you are and provide an opportunity for indie developers to shine. We’re also keen to help others create similar festivals in the coming months and happy to share what we’ve learned.
LudoNarraCon 2020 takes place online between April 24th and 27th. Make sure to check out Steam's instructions on how to register for the event and set a reminder just in case you forgot when it is going to happen. Check out the trailer below for a preview of what to expect from the biggest LudoNarraCon to date.
What are the biggest indie game you are looking forward to see during Steam's upcoming LudoNarraCon 2020? Are you going to attend
