Naraven Games
- Open roles
- 0
- Founded
- 2018
- Employees
- 1-10
- Offices
- 2
About Naraven Games
Naraven Games is an independent Swiss game development and creative consulting studio founded in 2018 and based in Lausanne. Its work centres on narrative adventures, combining tragicomedy, satire and existential themes with interactive storytelling. Drawing on backgrounds in filmmaking and neuroscience, the team develops games that bring humour, nostalgia and emotional tension into unusual settings.
The studio's approach connects story with player interaction through environmental puzzles, branching choices and mechanics that challenge familiar expectations. Its projects range from short narrative experiences to larger adventures, with visual approaches spanning exploratory 3D environments and hand-drawn 2D comic panels.
Original games
The studio debuted with Answer Knot, a short, free narrative game released in May 2019. The project introduced its approach to interactive storytelling before the development of its larger commercial adventure, Backfirewall_.
Released on January 30, 2023, Backfirewall_ is a first-person tragicomic adventure set inside a smartphone. Players become an update assistant and explore the device's internal world through a story built around its software and applications. The game combines environmental puzzles with the studio's interest in subverting gameplay conventions.
As of November 2026, Naraven is developing The Dropouts, a choice-driven mystery adventure set in a Swiss boarding school in 2004. The project combines 3D exploration with hand-drawn comic panels and branching interactive fiction.
Production and consulting
Alongside its original games, Naraven offers production support to other developers, covering projects from initial ideas through final build delivery. Its work includes project management, team assembly and contractor hiring, as well as writing, narrative design and narrative doctoring.
Consulting services address game design, creative direction, game feel and playtesting. The studio also provides contracting support in 2D and 3D art, cinematography, audio design, and C#/Unity programming. These services extend its storytelling and production experience into practical support for third-party game projects.
More about Naraven Games
Founders and core team
- Julia Jean, also identified as Julia Jeanneret, co-founded the studio and works as its creative director and writer.
- Co-founder Maxime Raymond works in cinematography and audio design.
- Isabelle Roesch later joined as lead programmer.
- The founders met through a game development community meetup in Lausanne.
Operating model
The studio describes an entirely remote team working across three continents, supplemented by specialist contractors during production. It has publicly stated that it does not plan to acquire an office, describing remote work as supportive of its creativity. These are the company's stated working practices.
Funding and publishing partnerships
Pre-production support included grants from Pro Helvetia and the Canton of Vaud. All in! Games S.A. partnered with the studio to publish Backfirewall_, while The Dropouts was signed with Swedish publisher and collective Spelkollektivet.
Project history
The Dropouts was previously presented under the titles Don't Be Estranger and Heist Schoolers, including during its GDC 2023 presentation.
Notable credits
3 creditsOffices
Where Naraven Games is based
- Lausanne, Vaud, Switzerland
Lausanne office
- Remote
Remote office
Registered corporate location and primary operating base of the distributed remote studio; no public walk-in office is established.
Open roles
Find your next role at Naraven Games