Here at the Hand Eye Society, we’re madly working away to come up with exciting plans for WordPlay 2018, our annual festival celebrating interactive fiction and writing in contemporary games. Last year, WordPlay was joined by Twine creator, Chris Klimas, featured a panel of AAA’s loving indie narrative games, and a variety of innovative narrative games. This year, WordPlay falls on the last day of International Games Day @ Your Library Week, so get ready to celebrate with folks all over the world and play games in your local library!!

Currently we’re looking for people to give talks or participate in panels around the subject of interactive fiction and writing in contemporary games. We want to hear about new and innovative ways to combine storytelling, digital media, interactivity, and the craft of writing into potent new forms of creative expression. What experiments are being conducted to change the face of interactive fiction? In what ways are the boundaries being pushed? We want to know!

Submit a Showcase Game!

Would you like to submit or suggest a showcase game? What we’re looking for are games with exceptional writing or one that uses writing in an integral way. Please do so via the form below before midnight on September 30. You can submit your own game, or a game you feel strongly about. No submission fee, Toronto and international games welcome. We will be selecting between 20-25 games from everything entered through the Game Submission Form. Game creators with games accepted into the showcase will receive an artist fee of $80 CAD.

Submit a Talk or Workshop!

Want to participate as a speaker? Take a look at our WordPlay page at to see what presentations we’ve put on for past WordPlay festivals. Then check out our Speaker Proposal Form and submit your idea! Don’t delay, the form is only active until September 30, 2018.

Artist fees of $80 CAD will be paid for 1-hour talks and workshops. Limited travel assistance may be provided for international speakers, depending on proposals and available funding (max $500).

Stay tuned for more announcements coming soon about the showcase jury, workshops and special guests!

About WordPlay

WordPlay is our free one-day festival celebrating the most interesting uses of writing and words in contemporary games. Now in our fifth year, we will once again host a curated game showcase, talks by creators about their craft, and ways for the public to try their hand at making games.

Sat. Nov. 10th, 2018, 12-5pm
Toronto Reference Library
789 Yonge St. (Bloor-Yonge subway)
Free