Phew, it’s been a week. Last week, I travelled all the way to Rochester, New York, to attend the NarraScope 2024 conference at The Strong National Museum of Play. I $ for three days of inspiration, connection, and storytelling innovation… and it was awesome!
The conference kicked off with a captivating keynote from Nat Clayton, fresh from their work on Inkle’s “A Highland Song.” Their talk on spatial storytelling and level design perfectly set the tone for a conference exploring the intersection of narrative and interactivity. It really was a banger. (Update: You can watch it now!)
The program thoughtfully balanced practical workshops with theoretical discussions.
One of the absolute highlights was the demo room, which ran throughout Saturday and Sunday. Being able to get hands-on time with new narrative games and tools while chatting directly with their creators was invaluable. The energy in that room, with developers and players engaged in passionate discussions about storytelling mechanics, was electric.
The hybrid format worked beautifully, making the conference accessible to remote participants while fostering intimate in-person connections. Between sessions, the “Birds-of-a-Feather” discussions in particular led to some fascinating conversations about the future of interactive storytelling.
I was especially impressed by how the conference embraced both traditional IF and emerging narrative forms. From sessions on library archive preservation to experimental works using glitch art as narrative device (that talk by nilson carroll was mind-bending!), NarraScope demonstrated how vibrant and diverse the interactive fiction community has become.
The choice of The Strong Museum as venue was inspired - what better place to explore the intersection of play and storytelling than a museum dedicated to their history? During breaks, many attendees could be spotted exploring the museum’s collections, finding inspiration in everything from vintage text adventures to modern narrative games.
If there’s one thing I took away from NarraScope 2024, it’s that interactive fiction is thriving. The creativity, technical innovation, and above all the warmth and inclusivity of this community fills me with optimism about the future of digital storytelling.
For those who couldn’t make it this year, the conference organizers will be making recordings available on the IFTF YouTube channel. And after such a successful event, I’m already looking forward to NarraScope 2025!
Special thanks to the Interactive Fiction Technology Foundation and all the volunteers who made this celebration of narrative games possible. You’ve created something truly special! I can’t wait to go back.