This presentation explores the design, development, and user testing of Tóraíocht; and immersive narrative video game created to support Irish language acquisition among primary school pupils (ages 9–12) in Gaelscoileanna. Developed within a Celtic-futurist aesthetic inspired by Irish mythology, this pilot project game delivers a story-driven adventure experience entirely through Gaeilge na Mumhan.

This presentation investigates how narrative immersion, player agency, and environmental storytelling can reinforce dialect-specific language learning. Rather than relying on decontextualised vocabulary drills, the game embeds Gaeilge na Mumhan* organically within character dialogue, quest mechanics, and interactive problem-solving. Players must interpret linguistic cues, engage in branching conversations, and make decisions that require meaningful comprehension and production of Irish.

The presentation will outline the pedagogical framework informing the design, drawing on principles from game-based learning and communicative language teaching. It will detail how dialectal features of Gaeilge na Mumhan were integrated into scriptwriting, voice performance, and world-building to ensure linguistic authenticity. Particular attention will be given to age-appropriate user experience design, balancing cognitive challenge with accessibility and narrative engagement.

The project demonstrates how culturally grounded immersive game design can contribute to Irish language engagement by positioning Irish not only as a subject of study, but as a fun and exciting adventure.
*Gaeilge na Mumhan is the Irish dialect of the Munster region, in the south of Ireland.