Good day, everyone! So, this is the fourth “Igroprom”—and it is changing venues for the third time! How could one not worry: a new location means new rules and a new venue—what if it turns out to be worse than before?! Well then, let’s take a look together, and you can decide whether “Igroprom 2026” is better than its predecessors. Let’s begin!

The previous venue was almost in central Moscow (Volgogradsky Prospekt metro station), whereas getting to the new one is rather inconvenient (at least for me), involving numerous transfers. But is that really an obstacle for a gamer? The complex looks luxurious, but the exhibition area is not compact—it stretches a long way.

To my surprise, nobody asked those arriving for Business Day to show their tickets: just show the contents of your bag or backpack, and if there is nothing prohibited, you can enter. There was, however, a small queue for press badges, making it harder for other visitors to get through.

Perhaps the barriers should have been installed farther away.

The many balconies make it impossible to appreciate the length of the hall in a photograph.

Alexander quickly found something interesting.

The traditional retro zone. (To my surprise, “old” games attracted quite a lot of young gamers.)

Aiva?!

Would you like to take on the role of a Russian cosmonaut and go out into open space? No problem!

There were, of course, plenty of vendors; I did not even bother photographing all their stalls.

If I needed a mouse mat (you can hardly call a one-meter-long product a “mat”!), I would undoubtedly buy this one.

There was a small board-game area, almost empty on the first day.

“Igromania” was offering visitors the first, year-old issue of its magazine. (When I asked, “Did the issue sell so poorly?”, the answer was: “We had to print more copies!”)

These friendly people insistently offered to sell us their books: a new, very high-quality translation! However, most of the books on offer are already in my library, and the “new translation” turned out to be rather overpriced. On top of that, I discovered another feature that would have stopped me from buying a number of the books even at an affordable price. I will explain this in more detail later, in a separate article.

As at “Igroprom 2025”, there was a voice-recording booth where visitors could try their hand at voicing characters. I stayed there for quite a while: first, my daughter voiced three different heroines, and second, I enjoyed watching the sound engineers at work. (I have always found it interesting to watch professionals who are in love with their profession; these two certainly were.)

Nearby, visitors could take part in races featuring heavy vehicles. I declined because I cannot drive using a keyboard, while my daughter took part and even won a couple of races.

The creators made this game in just three weeks: a blacksmith’s apprentice mines ore, smelts it, and forges various items to sell; the process is accompanied by mini-games.

I spent quite a while with this game, talking to its creator, because I had already seen it four years ago. It is not easy to make a strategy game about the events of the summer of 1941 on your own! However, a year ago Dmitry Agapov found an investor and was able to devote himself to the game full-time. A beta version is due out soon, and I hope to tell you more about what “Banner of Victory” is all about.

Besides getting acquainted with games, I had important goals that day: attending the talks “Modeling War” and “Historical and Patriotic Games”.

Alexander Tolkach explained how, in his opinion, young people could best be introduced to patriotic games. (According to him, fewer than 10% of young people have personal computers, so games should be made for smartphones—they are always with you. I disagree with this point of view.)

Vlad Los spoke about the finer points of creating “Kuindzhi, 93”, which is set during military operations (you know where—the site’s idiotic system blocks the post from being published!).

But the most important event for me was the talk by Vitaly Shutov, creative director of the “Playing Cats” studio. I will try to tell you more about it in a separate piece.

Mikhail Dolgoborodov announced that the game “Reconnaissance: 1944” is close to release (I wrote about it two years ago).

But let us return to the games. I described “The Crane’s Dream” in an article about KRI; this time my daughter got to try it. Some changes have taken place in the demo version since then: for example, the first boss has learned to block the hero’s revolver fire, so we had to hack at him with a saber. The guards summoned by the monster were extremely troublesome, but after numerous attempts, we finally managed to defeat it.

We spent the most time at “Strings of Fate”: Polina played while I pestered one of the game’s creators with questions.

I learned that it is a party-based game designed for five heroes, who will inevitably join the main character whether he wants them to or not. (In other words, solo play is not предусмотрено—unless you “set up” your companions or kill them yourself.) According to the creator, the game offers plenty of options: you can build a bridge; cast a spell to run across the river on the water; or jump over it. Everyone can learn to do everything: mine ore, craft items, brew potions, and so on. Dangerous monsters do not pursue the party forever—you can run away from them. The heroes cannot be seen while moving around the area; only their faces are visible at the bottom of the screen. Their appearance can be viewed when opening the backpack.

And most importantly for me: THERE IS NO THIEF in the game! There is nobody to disarm traps (which are present), pick locks (you have to search for keys), empty pockets, or deliver terrifying backstabs from the shadows… Come on, developers, how could you do this? An RPG without a thief—how is that even possible?! Sigh…

While we were busy with all this, various interviews were taking place on the main stage, attracting not too much attention.

It was much more interesting to watch the anthropomorphic robot: it ran, jumped, and danced, and did so quite confidently.

The job board remained empty on the first day; its time had not yet come.

It is a shame they did not turn on the escalator during the day; I might have managed to take a photograph from above, from the balcony.

And now it is time for us to go home: it is late, and we have a long journey ahead. See you tomorrow!