LudoNarraCon returned for its seventh year on May 1st to 5th, celebrating the weirdest and most interesting narrative games to grace the indie gaming space this year. Their 2025 line up featured 49 story-rich games, 15 hours of panels and fireside chats, and over 25 new and updated demos available for the first time ever during the festival.
We managed to check out some of the demos on showcase, and here are the top ten that stood out to us — in no particular order!
1. Building Relationships (Tan Ant Games)
Building Relationships is a bizarre yet relatable dating sim from Thailand-based Tan Ant Games, where you play as a building trying to find the house that makes you feel at home. That process may or may not involve fishing (except the fish are cars), furniture building (because there’s no greater relationship test than IKEA), and existentialist commentaries on life and purpose. Consider all my boxes checked. – Nathalie Tay
2. Compensation Not Guaranteed (Team Project Lunch)
Singapore-based Team Project Lunch makes their debut with Compensation Not Guaranteed, a Papers, Please styled narrative game that explores the seldom told story of post-colonial Southeast Asia. Based on the demo, it seems like we’re in for an emotionally harrowing experience filled with tough decisions that will continue to haunt us long after we leave the office. All I can say is, I’m ready to serve! – Nathalie Tay
3. inKONBINI (Nagai Industries)
inKonbini is a cozy 3D game set in early 1990s Japan. You play as Makoto Hayakawa, a college student part-timing at her aunt’s convienence store (or konbini in Japanese). With a chill playstyle, the game involves you restocking and rearranging products, taking notes of your day and of course, speaking to the customers. Every interaction provides insight into the lives of the people entering the store, and is a beautiful tribute to the mundane. – Amanda Angela Danker
Minutes into the demo, it feels as if I’ve stepped into a Makoto Shinkai anime. The mood is melancholic, the tasks are quiet and repetitive, and we have a good conversation with a customer to pass the time. The entire demo for inKONBINI is only twenty minutes, but I am left feeling hopeful, contemplative, and impatient for the full release. – Nathalie Tay
4. The Berlin Apartment (btf)
When a game gives me What Remains of Edith Finch vibes, I know I’m in for a good time. The Berlin Apartment tells a century’s worth of stories, each with their own protagonists, genres, and atmospheres, but always set in the same apartment in Berlin, Germany. The demo only gives us a short preview of the first two stories, but I’ve already fallen head over heels for its cinematic flair and gorgeous comic-book aesthetic. – Nathalie Tay
5. A Week in the Life of Asocial Giraffe (Quail Button LLC)
Are you socially anxious? Hate small talk? A Week in the Life of Asocial Giraffe is the game for you! Navigate the world of Friendly City as you avoid chatty sales people and too-friendly coworkers in this funny and endearing point-and-click. Brainstorm innovative ways to take the elevator or get off the train without speaking to anyone, or your head might just explode! – Amanda Angela Danker
6. Tiny Bookshop (neoludic games)
Tiny Bookshop has been on my wishlist since it was first announced, and the demo doesn’t disappoint. This cozy management sim has you setting up a tiny second-hand bookshop on wheels, where you manage everything from stocking up new books, decorating your shop with items, and even helping your customers find their next read. For anyone who has ever had the dream of running their own bookstore, you’re going to love poking through the nooks and crannies of this game. – Nathalie Tay
7. Psychotic Bathtub (natsha)
You. Your bathtub. A rubber duck. A bottle of wine. Psychotic Bathtub is best played with a clear mind, as you navigate the inner world of a psychotic break, all within your own bathtub. This haunting demo has 5 endings, and is best played with headphones for the full auditory experience. Innovative, unique, and all too relatable to those who have a close relationship with mental illness. Heed the trigger warnings in the beginning of the game, and watch out for the ducks. – Amanda Angela Danker
8. We Harvest Shadows (David Wehle)
We Harvest Shadows is a game about escaping from everything you know to start anew, and the personal horrors you can’t leave behind. Think Sons of the Forest meets P.T. — except with less focus on the survival elements, and more emphasis on the psychological horror. Complemented by developer David Wehle’s directorial vision and keen understanding of horror storytelling, this is my most anticipated horror game release by far. – Nathalie Tay
Added any games to your wishlist? Top up your Steam Wallet on Codashop to earn bonus rewards the next time you make a purchase!
