The inaugural Festival of Interactive Narrative and Storytelling (FINS) brought together over 100 narrative designers and writers for three-day event in Ōtepoti- Dunedin, 12 - 14 May 2023.
Melbourne-based narrative designers, Alexander Swords and Cam Rogers attend FINS 2023.
Six community and educational seminars and workshops hosted at the University of Otago and Otago Polytechnic on Friday, preceded a packed evening Opening Event with keynote presentations by Rick Stemm, Timothy Best and Zhia Zariko, launching FINS into an extraordinary weekend of festivities.
L-R: Rick Stemm and Zhia Zariko present at FINS 2023 Opening Event at Petridish Dunedin.
With over 30 unique talks and seminars spread over Saturday and Sunday, FINS packed Tūhura Otago Museum venues with over 100 narrative designers, writers, and interested community members.
Ellen Jurik, narrative director at Sydney's Blowfish Studios, presents 'From World Building to Universe Creation' at FINS 2023.
Workshops and a youth narrative jam also ran alongside the presentations to give attendees hands on narrative writing or game design experience from industry experts.
"Quality talks, quality people, and an amazing location. I would highly recommend it, 11/10!"
Narrative designers from Australasia and internationally turned out for meetings across the museum, lunch-time catch ups, and a fun and busy FINS Social Event at Maggies on the Saturday night.
Highlights from the Festival of Interactive Narrative and Storytelling 2023.
FINS 2023 offered a unique experience unlike any other in the region’s interactive media and video games landscape and brought with it a new audience for Dunedin.
"Thanks to CODE for curating such an amazing group of people, both speakers and the community as a whole."
CODE aims to continue building FINS into an internationally recognised biannual event and an unmissable part of the calendar for professional game developers, narrative designers, aligned professionals and enthusiasts.
Timothy Best and Ellen Jurik at the Festival of Interactive Narrative and Storytelling 2023.
A huge THANK YOU to all of our wonderful speakers, visitors, sponsors and volunteers for FINS 2023. We couldn’t have done it without you all!
And thank you to everyone who attended. It's safe to say... We'll be back!
Highlights from the Festival of Interactive Narrative and Storytelling 2023.