The Center for Comics and Interactive Narrative is a cultural institution that was open on the weekend of October 7-8, 2023. The opening date of the Comics Center in Łódź was coincided with the date of the 34th edition of the International Festival of Comics and Games.
The opening of the Center for Comics and Interactive Narrative confirmed the nature of Łódź as the capital of Polish modern media culture. CCIN is an educational space dedicated to the art of comics, video games, gaming and virtual reality. In cooperation with CD PROJEKT RED, an educational path inspired by the world of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was also created. The role of this path is education in the field of video game development. It clarifies the secrets of the work of the video games industry.
Comics Center is the only educational and entertainment place in Poland that is fully dedicated to the culture of comics and video games.
The part dedicated to interactive narration covers three thematic zones. The Retro Zone is a journey back in time to the 1980s and 1990s, i.e. the period of the beginning of development of the video game industry in Poland. You can visit there the arcade games room or the computer stock exchange. The zone is maintained in the climate of iconic technologies of that period: Commodore or domestic Pegasus.
The second zone - Game Lab - is an interactive educational path, which was created in cooperation with CD PROJEKT RED and that we mentioned earlier. During your visit to this zone, you can learn about the process of video games creation. Along the path you will find stands introducing an element of gamification between participants. The entire zone is based on the universe of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
The third zone, the part dedicated to interactive narration, refers to virtual reality. The escape room was created as part of it and combines real and virtual elements. The room itself is basically empty, and all the functionalities of the escape room appear only after scanning the room with a tablet. The main theme of the zone are riddles straight from the times of industrial Łódź.
The comic book permanent exhibition covers two floors. The comic book zone will clarifies the history of the development of comic books in Poland and around the world. You will also get to know the most famous comic book creators and find out what inspired their work. You will also meet the most popular Polish comic book characters: Tytus, Romek and A'Tomek, Thorgal or Kajko and Kokosz. Moreover, while visiting the exhibition you will find out what techniques are used to create a comic book and whether it always has to be in the form of a book. You will also learn the techniques used by cartoonists and their individual drawing styles.
Let us also add that CCNI has three workshop rooms where group and individual workshops for children and teenagers are held. The theme, of course, refers to the character of the Center. Classes given in educational rooms are mainly focused on video game production and comic book creation. One of the rooms is specially adapted for children aged 4 - 8 years.
