“If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.”
— Thorin Oakenshield
Envision a vineyard in a Shire-like setting. Now add gardens and waterfalls, an abbey and ale made by methodical monks. We come to the garden to find rest for souls and reflection for our upcoming quests.
This is the flagship feast. Four days for people who work in, or beside, Interactive Entertainment and call Christ Lord. Closer to a birthday at Bag End than a trade show. We care more about the right questions than a stack of answers.
The doors are open, but the seats are limited to 120 — as many as can still meet in one gathering before it becomes an audience. Ask for a chair. If the list runs longer than the hall, we will draw lots and pray over the names.
~~ Who are you calling, Lord? Who is ready, Father? Who needs this now? ~~
The next gathering
Oregon · June 21–24, 2027
Four glorious summer days and three magical nights celebrating our craft, discussing our work, and seeking the peace of the Lord. The Imladris community was born out of an event just like this where the table groans under the weight, the tankards stay full and frothy, and we sing, pray, and play until the road calls us home. We expect to meet at the Oregon Garden Resort in Silverton like we have in the past, but that may change depending on how the wind blows. Most of our guests fly into Portland (PDX) though Redmond is another option.
Rooms and the exact table are posted when they are ready. The people on our list, and in our Discord server, will hear first. See yourself checking-in in the afternoon, our first session drops before dinner, and then the time goes wobbly over days of council and unhurried talk. The official program ends before the last night, which is set aside for merriment and the celebration of all things beautiful.
Registration will open in October
What is this again?
The Imladris Retreat is not a fan convention, a trade show, or a pitch room. Designers, engineers, artists, writers, musicians, producers, professors, and other allies who have a stake in this industry and a King above it. We come together because we feel in our bones that Interactive isn’t only the place we work, but it’s where we call home. Think 'Family Reunion' and you're not far off.
We come because in person there is no neutral ground. We come with open hearts because the workers are few. We come bruised and roadworn because a brutal season is exactly when weary people need a table, not another webinar.
You will hear us discussing questions like these:
- If you were king or queen of the game industry — given only authority and favor over the world as it is — what would you do?
- How is such a kingdom measured, compared to a company or a ministry?
- What does the industry need most in order to thrive?
- What does the smaller circle of Christian game creators need?
- What does the world need from us? What does it not need?
What a few days feel like
Serious enough for a sober reckoning with the work. Light enough to heal people who have been hurried half to death. Hurry is not of the devil, it is the devil.
There is teaching. There is also music, art, a film, a game passed around, a walk in a garden. Over a 5-year cycle we keep moving along a set of intentional axes of focus:
Inward <- -> Outward
Tradition <- -> Innovation
Personal <- -> Communal
Service <- -> Vision
Striving always for Unity.
By definition, the event must be Spiritual, Mythic, and Strategic. We settle our Why before working on How. And we know, from experience, that the room is a little wounded. Extra grace is not decoration. It is the rule.
What a chair costs
The first time should not be the reason you stay home
A newcomer cannot judge this table from a rate card. So the first Imladris is meant as invitation, not invoice. Those who return help carry the real chair. The exact numbers live on the registration page, because they change with rooms and years.
If price is the only thing standing between you and June, write. Do not let a spreadsheet disciple you out of a feast.
Registration will open in October Write the hall →