We’re the world’s first convention dedicated to English-language jubensha. Jubensha is a phenomenally popular “scripted murder” format of games originating in China, where participants roleplay as detectives and/or suspects in mystery to deduce who the culprit is. In recent years it’s broadened far beyond murders into investigations of all kinds, and is spreading internationally.
We’re organising this convention to give people a chance to try out games, spur new collaborations, and help grow the scene. It’s a deliberately lo-fi, informal, and non-profit endeavour, and we want to keep costs as low as possible so money isn’t a barrier to entry.
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The organisers
Jubensha Con 2026 is organised and produced by Adrian Hon, and co-organised by Arlo Howard, Chronic Insanity, and Suspense Studio.
Adrian Hon was co-founder and CEO of Six to Start from 2007 to 2024, where he designed Zombies, Run!, the world’s most successful mobile fitness game with over ten million players. He’s Artistic Associate at the Traverse Theatre and is currently writing a book about the history and future of immersive experience.
Arlo Howard (they/them) is an international award winning, non-binary creator working at the intersection of theatre and games. They combine play and theatricality to inspire curiosity and spark change. Their work spans full-building immersive takeovers, intimate one-on-one experiences, pop-up escape rooms, board games and city-wide adventures. Arlo has worked with clients such as Lenovo Meta, Amazon, Google, and Dropout. They recently worked on “The Burnt City” with Punchdrunk and are the director/creator of Immy Award winning “The Order of the Golden Scribe”..
Chronic Insanity is a Nottingham based immersive and interactive theatre company that creates and facilitates live events in a variety of traditional, found, and digital spaces. They make work accessibly, affordably, sustainably, and inclusively, seeking to change the definition of what theatre can be by playing with form, genre, medium, and technology. They can often be found running the UK’s first dedicated digital theatre literary department, staging at least 12 shows every 12 months, and being one of the first companies to bring multiple Jubensha to the UK.
Suspense Studio (KMS Games) is a Singapore-based creator of original English Jubensha games (剧本杀, literally “script murder”). Pick your characters, read your scripts, uncover hidden secrets, and navigate a web of lies in our murder mystery social deduction games designed for a global audience. Featured in People Make Games and the Financial Times, Suspense Studio brings the thrill of East Asia’s popular ‘Jubensha’ to players everywhere!
