Ludens

Ludens, singular - Luden (людены, люден), are a humanoid race in the Noon Universe.

They appear principally in the novel "The Time Wanderers". The name "Luden" is probably a reference to Homo Ludens, a 1938 book by Johann Huizinga, and the Russian term lyudi (люди), "people". The term "Luden" is also an anagram to "Nelud" - "inhuman" in Russian.

Background
Ludens are born human, but possess latent mental powers far beyond those of normal humans. These abilities (referred in the text only as the Third Impulse System) can be activated and developed, a process that takes several years. It is not clear from the book who initiated the first Luden. Ludens view themselves as a distinct race, and claim to have "different interests" from humanity at large, in some instances claiming to be above traditional human morality. The Ludens routinely conduct experiments on humans and alter their minds in order to further their own means, but according to Daniel Logovenko in "The Time Wanderers", over ninety percent of Ludens have no interest in humanity. The Ludens operated on Earth in secret for less than one hundred years, searching for possible recruits. Any human who possesses what the Luden call "the third impulse" has the potential to be trained. On average, this impulse occurs in less than one person out of 100,000. At the time of their discovery by Maxim Kammerer and Toyvo Glumov, the Ludens on Earth numbered 432. The discovery of the Ludens caused such a shift in human understanding that it was thereafter referred to as "The Great Revelation".

Progressors, Ludens, and Wanderers
A major theme in the Noon Universe novels is the advanced civilization that secretly influences the development of a lesser civilization. Many of the novels focus on the progressors, groups of Earth humans who live in secret among more primitive societies on other planets and influence their development. Throughout the novels, humanity is aware of its having been influenced by the supercivilization that they call the Wanderers. The morality of this type of influence is a central question posed by the series. The Ludens, too, secretly influence humanity, but they are thought to be not the Wanderers. Exposition in "The Time Wanderers" reveals that the Ludens themselves perceive two further stages of human development, and that some Ludens may have already progressed onward to some sort of super-Luden existence. Both humans and Ludens seem to believe that the Wanderers represent a civilization still greater than any that ever originated on Earth. Later Boris Strugatsky in the off-line interview to rusf.ru endorsed the version that Ludens are in fact part of Wanderer multispecies civilization, that the Wanderers are composed of "Ludens of different species".