Narrative News: Winter Game Showcase + Brand New 2025 Opportunities!
A festive celebration of the talent in our community (and some manifesting for the next year).
Hey fellow narrative designers,
I hope you’ve all enjoyed some rest this holiday season! Heading into this new year, I’m plotting away on how this newsletter can improve. Expect a much more attractive product with more developed community offerings in the near future. I’m very grateful for the support of all of you kind readers, without which I would never be able to do such things. Rest assured, this will all be done while maintaining free access to all content.
In other news, in the last newsletter I asked that the community send in the narrative-driven games they’d created, and they delivered! I have to admit, I didn’t expect to see so many high-quality fun and fascinating narrative indie games submitted, and I’ve had SUCH a good time playing them all. I hope our readers will too. As the industry continues to constrict and major companies lack the bravery to produce truly original and ground-breaking content, we need to support and bolster indie production.
Without further ado, the games (in alphabetical order)!
Main Showcase Picks
Bundle of Joy
Bundle of Joy is a short minigame romp with contemplative narrative vignettes about parenthood, overcoming self-doubt, and self-care. Based on studio lead Nicholas O'Brien's personal experience, Bundle of Joy is an intimate yet playful look at the struggles of facing the unknown and doing your best even when you think that isn't enough.
Rose’s note: This game is a colorful, tactile, and vibrant adventure into parenthood. The fun and frantic mini-games are the perfect counterpoint to the story of a man entering into fatherhood. I played this first at Narrascope 2024 and since then, Nicholas O’Brien and his team have been hard at work adding more mini-games and updating the content.
Lupercalia
Rose’s note: This is a gorgeous work of interactive fiction. The author, Aren Givens, hasn’t left an introductory paragraph on itch.io, but I’ll say on their behalf: it’s a detailed mythologically themed work with quite a bit of mechanical heft behind the narrative — the perfect type of game to sink your teeth into on a cold winter’s day.
Night Owls
Serenity Scott was last seen on October 22nd, 2004. To this day, her whereabouts are unknown. No evidence suggests there was foul play.
Night Owls is a ~20 min unsettling narrative that marks the 20-year anniversary of the disappearance of a 20-year-old woman.
Rose’s note: I’m not easily scared, but this beautifully rendered narrative horror game succeeded in making me shiver. The dialogue is relatable and builds a wonderful investment in the character and her world, making the dread all the more potent. Also the visual design… brilliant! Shout out to Devinne Moses for successfully scaring me (and making a gorgeous game).
Thank You for Your Time
Thank You for Your Time is a visual novella that I made with Ren’Py as a solo dev. It’s a surreal parable about audition purgatory, and about a difficult question: how long will you wait for your once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?
Rose’s note: Another solo dev, Alex Laney, crafted this compelling and atmospheric experience. I love anything surreal, but a surreal take on auditioning is extra poignant right now, at a time when so many talented writers are feeling unheard and unappreciated. I was absorbed throughout.
The Ouroboros Express
Play as Vivienne Sanssouci, a daring journalist who has been tasked to review the Ouroboros Express. She quickly notices that this is not your regular train—and a devastating secret changes her life forever, and that of the other passengers…
Rose’s note: Trains, mystery, mind flayers, and philosophical pondering about the afterlife? Sign me up! The characters are well-rendered and easy to form interesting relationships with, while I enjoyed the main character’s Lorelai Gilmore-style quick wit. Plus, it features a great cast of talented voice actors! What a treat. Congrats to Najmah Salam, Tiago Da Cunha, Salvador Bas Folch, Kyle Smith-Laird, Andrea Saravia Pérez, and the entire team on this game.
Plus: Exciting Upcoming Projects
Take Us North
Take Us North is a narrative adventure survival game that follows the journeys of migrants and asylum seekers on their way to cross the US-Mexico border.
Inspired by real-world stories, Take Us North aims to foster greater awareness and empathy about some of the most crucial global issues of our time.
Rose’s note: This game hasn’t launched yet, but it’s certainly worth putting your name down to get notified by Kickstarter when it does. This is a subject that deserves real artistic attention, and from what I’ve seen so far, the execution looks brilliant.
Worldseekers
We're blending some of our favorite elements of location and GPS-map games and card games with a sprinkling of narrative on top!
Rose’s note: A first version of this is actually available for Android players. I’m very intrigued by the idea of adding more narrative to a Pokemon Go-type GPS-map game. I’ll be keeping an eye out for this one.
Jams
ShuffleComp 2024 is a “musical interactive fiction competition where you make games based on songs, which are submitted by other entrants.”
PunyComp 2024: “Feeling nostalgic about the golden age of text adventures? Relive those days by participating in PunyComp 2024!”
Resources
Check out this amazing resource — Lauri Donahue’s list of screenwriting opportunities, arranged by deadline throughout the upcoming year.
Kelly Bender has outlined the various phases in which narrative designers might be brought on to a project. On point, as usual!
Jobs
Games Writer at Alternate Games Remote. “Our company not only wants to support the LGBTA, POC, and disabled community, but give them opportunities in the industry.”
Writer (Contract) at PlayStation Global LA-based. “The Writer (Contract) position at PlayStation involves contributing to the development of a new, unannounced game title.”
Writer/Screenwriter at G5 Games Kazakhstan, Armenia, or Georgia-based. “G5 Games seeks a talented Writer/Screenwriter to create engaging and concise game texts, scripts, and dialogues.”
Technical Narrative Designer at Cold Symmetry Remote. “We're seeking a Junior to Mid-Level Narrative Designer to work closely with our Narrative Director, helping bring narrative events to life in Unreal Engine.”
Narrative Game Designer - Star Trek Fleet Command at Scopely Dublin-based. “Scopely is looking for a Narrative Game Designer to join our Star Trek Fleet Command team on a hybrid/remote basis.”
Narrative Systems Designer at Activision Poland-based. “Activision seeks a Narrative Systems Designer to contribute to a new AAA open-world RPG.”
Contract Senior Narrative Designer at Bungie Approved Locations. “Bungie seeks a Contract Senior Narrative Designer to join the Destiny 2 team.”
Senior Writer at Haven Studios Montreal-based. “As a multi-player GaaS game we are looking for a candidate interested in finding innovative ways to deliver narrative content.”
Senior Writer at CD PROJEKT RED Boston-based. “In this role, you will be responsible for crafting captivating narratives, compelling dialogues and innovative quests in Project Orion - the follow-up to Cyberpunk 2077.”
Senior Narrative Designer, World of Warcraft Irvine-based. “We're looking for an experienced narrative designer who loves to collaborate with peers across multiple disciplines to achieve our story goals.”
Principal Narrative Designer at Activision Santa Monica-based. “The Principal Narrative Designer will lead the development of key narrative systems and features for a new IP at Elsewhere Entertainment.”
Thanks for reading! Pass on the good vibes and share this newsletter with other narrative designers.
About the Writer:
Rose Behar is a narrative designer at Scopely working on a new IP. Her previous work is featured in Longleaf Valley and Cell to Singularity, among other projects. She puts out the free Narrative News roundup every month.