Sunday: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxF31jM0B-8

10:00 AM: Engineering Empathy Dave Gilbert, founder of Wadjet Eye Games, talks about the importance of evoking empathy by the example of the Blackwell series and his new game Unavowed. Why should the player feel invested in your game, if they don’t care for the characters? Take away useful tips to avoid this pitfall.

11:15 AM: A Riven Retrospective

“Prepare to enter a world torn asunder by timeless, unresolved conflicts—a world of incomparable beauty, intrigue, and betrayal.” Independent narrative designer and D’ni cavern explorer Jess Haskins interviews Cyan co-founder and CEO Rand Miller on developing the 1997 award-winning sequel to Myst and the collaborative work that went into crafting the newly released and highly acclaimed 2024 remake.

12:30 PM: Pixel Panel

Once upon a time, pixel art was just art, and cutting-edge art at that. But now, with all the bells and whistles of modern technology, there’s still something comfortably nostalgic about those wonderful blocky designs. So much so that they may be more popular than ever; here to tell us all about it are several of the top modern indie game developers: Meredith Gran (Perfect Tides), Tom Hardwidge (Lucy Dreaming), Julia Minamata (The Crimson Diamond), and emcee Paul Korman (The Phantom Fellows).

1:45 PM: Tex Murphy: Tesla Effect Retrospective

Join Mat Van Rhoon and Aaron Conners as they discuss stories from creating the latest Tex Murphy adventure with host Space Quest Historian. Hear insider stories about your favorite post-nuclear private investigator, and what it was like to be behind the scenes of this cyberpunk noir.

3:00 PM: Summer Daze at Hero-U

Creators Lori and Corey Cole sit down with AdventureGameGeek to discuss the process of crafting their hybrid adventure/role-playing Hero-U series, including Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption, Summer Daze: Tilly’s Tale, and more. Joining the conversation are animator Al Eufrasio, musician Paul Korman, voice actor Ben Britton, and writer Josh Mandel (remotely).

4:15 PM: Live Speedrun

This might be over quickly! Popular YouTuber and speedrunner extraordinaire OneShortEye shows us how to whiz through a game at breakneck speed without hurting ourselves. You’ll have to see it to believe it – just don’t blink or you might miss it. Cheering him on and probing for details about the secrets of successful speedrunning will be none other than Julia Minamata.

5:30 PM: Send-Off

Alas, all good things must come to an end, and this last little gathering wraps up the Adventure Game Fan Fair 2024. With drives home ahead and planes to catch, we won’t keep you long — just enough to offer our sincere thanks, shed a few tears at the parting, allow time for photos, and then kick you all out. After all, someone’s gotta clean up the place!