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Welcome to the A MAZE. / Berlin 2026 program! Add sessions to your profile to get an easy overview of your own schedule!

Program is regularly updated with new sessions.
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Thursday, May 14
 

09:30 CEST

A MAZE. Exhibition
Thursday May 14, 2026 09:30 - 22:00 CEST
The main exhibition features the nominees and the honorable mentions of the 14th International A MAZE. Award including some extra gems which we showcase out of competition.

Nominees and Honorable Mentions
Extra Gems: (to be discovered)

Artistic and experimental games are often off the mainstream and allow for different experiences with forward-thinking and playful views, often not for entertainment only. Technology is used as playground for artistic expression and innovative interaction with audiences interested in critical reflection and meaningful interaction. Discover different experiences, local multiplayer games, interactive installations and many more of this versatile art-form.

For Festival Pass holders, One Night at A MAZE. Ticket holders 
Thursday May 14, 2026 09:30 - 22:00 CEST
Betonhalle [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, Berlin, Germany

09:30 CEST

A MAZE. Village
Thursday May 14, 2026 09:30 - 22:00 CEST
The A MAZE. / Village is the part of the exhibition where you can play new, and unpublished games presented by indie game studios, universities, institutions, and collectives.

This year we have the pleasure of showcasing games from:

Thursday May 14, 2026 09:30 - 22:00 CEST
Betonhalle [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, Berlin, Germany

10:00 CEST

Coffee & Croissants*
Thursday May 14, 2026 10:00 - 10:30 CEST
Start your day off right and join Zuraida (A MAZE. program curator) plus guest for Coffee and Croissants! While you sit back, blissfully nomming away your breakfast (byob)*, she’ll fill you in on the latest news about the festival program and highlight the day’s speakers and panel discussions. 

*Bring your Own Breakfast 
Artists
avatar for Zuraida Buter

Zuraida Buter

program curator, A MAZE.

Thursday May 14, 2026 10:00 - 10:30 CEST
Betonhalle Stage [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, 13347 Berlin, Germany

10:00 CEST

Start your day with energy and joy!: Smoothie & Movement Session
Thursday May 14, 2026 10:00 - 10:30 CEST
Let’s wake up together! Sophia and Nicole will welcome you with light movement to nice sounds and tasty smoothies! Start your morning with a smile!
Powered by German Dance Association/Creative Cross Collaborations Berlin

//AUDIENCE:: Everybody is welcome
//REQUIREMENTS:: None
//BRING::
Happy vibes
//SENSITIVE TOPICS::
Everyone is welcome and invited, in case of body limitations we will adjust movements

For this workshop online registration is not required to attend. The spots will be assigned on a first-come first-served basis, so make sure to be at the workshop location at least 10 minutes before the starting time.

Artists
avatar for Nicole Fiedler (she/her)

Nicole Fiedler (she/her)

project manager, https://www.creative-cross-collaborations.de/home
Nicole Fiedler is Head of Funding and Projects at the German Dance Association, responsible for funding and programmes, co-managing Creative Cross Collaborations Berlin, coordinating the Association of German Dance Archives, and also working as a ballroom dance teacher.

Creative Cross Collaborations Berlin (CCCberlin) is a cross-disciplinary programme for Berlin’s arts and creative scene. It brings together artists, creatives and producers from the performing arts, visual arts, as well as film and video art. At its core are exchange, collaboration a... Read More →
avatar for Sophia Herzog (she/her)

Sophia Herzog (she/her)

German Dance Association / Creative Cross Collaborations Berlin
Sophia Herzog is a professional contemporary dancer, educator, and producer who creates playful, accessible movement & performance experiences that connect people through dance, curiosity, and shared physical exploration. 

Creative Cross Collaborations Berlin (CCCberlin) is a cross-disciplinary programme for Berlin’s arts and creative scene. It brings together artists, creatives and producers from the performing arts, visual arts, as well as film and video art. At its core are exchange, collaborati... Read More →
Thursday May 14, 2026 10:00 - 10:30 CEST
Workshop Room 1

10:00 CEST

A MAZE. Bazaar - MeetToMatch
Thursday May 14, 2026 10:00 - 16:00 CEST

The A MAZE. Bazaar - 7th International MeetToMatch for Games and Playful Media is a business module of A MAZE. / Berlin and is the only and first market for arthouse games, independent games and playful media productions which gives authors and digital artists the opportunity to meet with publishers, funding institutions, art institutions and collaborators. Our additional goal is to bring the vibrant Berlin art scene and the games industry closer together and foster the new digital and playful culture beat. The marketplace will be open on Thursday 14th and Friday, 15th of May from 10:00-16:00 CEST at Silent Green, Mars Restaurant and Cubus.
Additional Bazaar ticket for only 45€. (Get your ticket).

Tickets for MeetToMatch Networking Platform are available until Tuesday, May 12, 23:00 CEST. Join now and in April registered participants will get access to MeetToMatch.
Thursday May 14, 2026 10:00 - 16:00 CEST
MARS | Küche & Bar Gerichtstraße 35, Seiteneingang, 13347 Berlin, Germany

10:30 CEST

Cubature: How to Make a Game from Wood
Thursday May 14, 2026 10:30 - 11:00 CEST
The talk focuses on the artistic process behind Cubature as a path from a physical experiment to a playable system. The presentation walks through the entire development process — from early concepts and the creation of the visual language, through hand-built scenography, working with wood and simple tools, and video production with actors, to music production and the implementation of these elements into the digital environment. Cubature is presented here as an IP with the potential to operate in different formats — as a digital game, a possible exhibition format, an educational tool, and a project open to collaboration with institutions, institutional partners and — importantly — also with business, with the potential to function within an international market.
Artists
avatar for Dominik Cymer (he/him)

Dominik Cymer (he/him)

Cubature
Dominik Cymer is the Designer and Art Director of Cubature, responsible for the game concept and artistic direction of Cubature: The Art Game and Cubature: The Installation.

An illustrator, designer and visual artist with over 25 years of practice at the intersection of art, design and new media. Founder of Cyber Kids on Real, he works across commercial, cultural and educational projects – with clients including Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, PZU... Read More →
avatar for Oliwia Hajn (she/her)

Oliwia Hajn (she/her)

Cubature
Oliwia Hajn is the Executive Producer of Cubature, responsible for the concept and IP development of Cubature: The Art Game and Cubature: The Installation.
She works across business, culture and social impact – designing and leading projects that bring together strategy, communication and partnerships. Creates innovative formats where art, technology and social engagement intersect... Read More →
Thursday May 14, 2026 10:30 - 11:00 CEST
Kuppelhalle [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, 13347 Berlin, Germany

10:30 CEST

The Emotional Labour of Making Games
Thursday May 14, 2026 10:30 - 11:00 CEST
Production in game development is often described through the metaphors of engineering: systems, pipelines, resources, deliverables. But beneath the spreadsheets lies another layer of work - one that is seldom named. This talk explores game production as emotional labour: the invisible cognitive and relational work that holds teams together, that facilitates psychological safety. Drawing on the concept of the “mental load” (the often-gendered work of anticipating needs, managing tensions, and carrying responsibility in the background) it questions how we might frame production as care and maintenance. Through studio experience and personal reflection I offer provocations on soft-skill matters of morale, conflict and pressure.
Artists
avatar for Anja

Anja "Nanna" Venter Rausch (she/her)

Anja "Nanna" Venter Rausch is a Cape Town–based producer, researcher, and image-maker interested in infrastructures of practice: the scaffolding, rituals, and quiet negotiations that make creativity possible. Her PhD examined how digital tools shape access to visual design; today... Read More →
Thursday May 14, 2026 10:30 - 11:00 CEST
Betonhalle Stage [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, 13347 Berlin, Germany

10:30 CEST

Thinking with your hands – How to speculate about the future of creative work with the help of LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY®
Thursday May 14, 2026 10:30 - 12:00 CEST
With the help of the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® method, the workshop will work on the central question: How to imagine the Game Studio of the Future? In the spirit of thinking with your hands, the participants will build several models with LEGO® bricks and interpret their own or shared meanings into them. No previous knowledge is needed. We will introduce the method and the question at the beginning of the workshop. To achieve a meaningful takeaway, it is mandatory to be on time and to attend the workshop from beginning to end. The facilitators are certified in the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® method.

//AUDIENCE:: This workshop invites game workers of all trades (project management, artist, designer, coder, sound, quality assurance, community management, etc.) or people who intend to work in games in the future.
//REQUIREMENTS:: No prior knowledge required.
//BRING:: We will provide the LEGO
//SENSITIVE TOPICS:: Sensitive topics may be discussed.

For this workshop online registration is not required to attend. The spots will be assigned on a first-come first-served basis, so make sure to be at the workshop location at least 10 minutes before the starting time.
Artists
avatar for Dominik Rinnhofer

Dominik Rinnhofer

Macromedia University of Applied Science
Prof. Dominik Rinnhofer is a German/Austrian game designer and media artist who has been a game design and media art professor since 2019. His work has led to numerous international exhibitions and awards. He has worked as a stage designer and video artist at many operas and theatres... Read More →
avatar for Sebastian Möring

Sebastian Möring

Macromedia University of Applied Sciences
Sebastian Möring, PhD (he/him) is Professor of Game Design at Macromedia University of Applied Sciences |Campus Berlin. His research focuses on the philosophy and aesthetics of computer games, in-game photography, green game studies, computer games in an educational context, games... Read More →
Thursday May 14, 2026 10:30 - 12:00 CEST
Workshop Room 2

11:00 CEST

Folk Games: Game Design by Passing Along
Thursday May 14, 2026 11:00 - 11:30 CEST
From ancient games like Ur and chess to more recent examples like Monopoly, games have always been passed down. Just as players have always been shaping, defining, and altering as they play. This essential culture has collided with copyright-capitalism in the 20th and 21st centuries, but cannot be stopped as we see in the mod-scene and youth-driven development on platforms like Roblox.
Artists
avatar for Joe Bain (he/him)

Joe Bain (he/him)

Hairy Heart Games
Joe Bain is director of Glasgow-based micro studio Hairy Heart Games and has been programming games for 20 years. He is interested in making games with physical artifacts, handmade processes, and real histories. Joe is also one of the founders of the Glasgow Indie Games Festival... Read More →
Thursday May 14, 2026 11:00 - 11:30 CEST
Betonhalle Stage [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, 13347 Berlin, Germany

11:00 CEST

The artist is present: Making personal games
Thursday May 14, 2026 11:00 - 11:30 CEST
Making personal games is hard. But it's also scary. What if people hate it? It of course means, they hate YOU. What if people love it? It means they have some sort of idea of what your art is about and can relate to it. But that doesn't mean they fully understand it as you intended.

How do I distance myself from my art if I've poured my heart and soul into it? How do I survive development if this is so important to me? How do I know it will ever be important to players? Is that even a good way to think of it?
A thoughtful analysis of making personal art, making commercial games, and my own journey of 7 years developing Blueberry, a game about intergenerational trauma.

Content warning
The presentation will contain mentions of trauma, family violence and suicide. It will also discuss other mental health challenges such as depression and anxiety.
Artists
avatar for Mel Taylor (she/her)

Mel Taylor (she/her)

Narrative Designer, Mellow Games
Mel is an indie game developer and has been working in the games industry for 12 years. She is an expert in the narrative game design field and is one of the co-creators of the privacy invasion thriller game Orwell.
She just finished her latest game Blueberry, which is an intimate and personal psychological narrative platformer about a woman's life, memory processing and trauma. It will be released on consoles and Steam on 28th of May... Read More →
Thursday May 14, 2026 11:00 - 11:30 CEST
Kuppelhalle [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, 13347 Berlin, Germany

11:00 CEST

125 Million Reasons to Build Games in Germany – An Introduction to the German Federal Games Funding
Thursday May 14, 2026 11:00 - 12:30 CEST
This workshop offers an introduction to German federal games funding for developers, founders, producers, and start-ups. We will look at what the funding is designed to support, who can apply, how the application process works, and what applicants should prepare before submitting a project. The session will also address common misunderstandings, typical challenges, and recurring questions from studios. The goal is to make the funding landscape easier to understand and to give participants a realistic sense of how to approach a federal funding application for their own game project.

//AUDIENCE:: Developers, entrepreneurs, producers, and start-ups or young studios interested in learning more about German federal games funding.
//REQUIREMENTS:: No formal requirements. The workshop is open to participants without prior experience in public funding. A general interest in game development, studio building, or project financing is helpful.
//BRING:: No specific equipment required. Participants should ideally bring their questions and an interest in games funding. A notebook or laptop for notes is optional.

For this workshop online registration is not required to attend. The spots will be assigned on a first-come first-served basis, so make sure to be at the workshop location at least 10 minutes before the starting time.
Artists
avatar for Paul Mathia

Paul Mathia

Deputy Project Lead / Senior Scientific Officer, DLR Projektträger
Paul Mathia is a Senior Scientific Officer and Deputy Project Lead for the German Federal Games Funding at DLR Projektträger, where he has worked for six years on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space. With a background in computer science, game development... Read More →
Thursday May 14, 2026 11:00 - 12:30 CEST
Workshop Room 1

11:00 CEST

Open Screens: Al'ulA
Thursday May 14, 2026 11:00 - 14:00 CEST
Al’ulA is a first-person non-euclidean puzzle game set in a strange fractal dimension inspired by medieval Morocco. You will use an alien artefact to solve puzzles while guided by a strange alien entity.

Thursday May 14, 2026 11:00 - 14:00 CEST
Betonhalle [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, Berlin, Germany

11:00 CEST

Open Screens: Crownbreakers
Thursday May 14, 2026 11:00 - 14:00 CEST
Crownbreakers is a fast-paced card game of revolutionary violence. This spiritpunk world is ruled by tyrants that grow fat by stealing souls just to grind them into profit. Fight against necromantic criminals and demonic billionaires. Break the soul trade and free your city. Crownbreakers combines turn-based tactics with deck-building mechanics in one snappy package.

Thursday May 14, 2026 11:00 - 14:00 CEST
Betonhalle [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, Berlin, Germany

11:00 CEST

Open Screens: Dukun
Thursday May 14, 2026 11:00 - 14:00 CEST
a relentless, psychedelic bullet-hell FPS where you harness black magic and carve a blood-soaked path through seven powerful shamans to ascend as the ultimate witch. The art style fuses acid brutalism, cybersigilism, and transcendental VFX.

Thursday May 14, 2026 11:00 - 14:00 CEST
Betonhalle [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, Berlin, Germany

11:00 CEST

Open Screens: Jump the Track
Thursday May 14, 2026 11:00 - 14:00 CEST
Jump the Track is an explosive comedy that blends visual novel with pachinko.  In this absurd adventure, you play Sam, a young dreamer struggling in the gig economy. Except tonight, everything changes. Fight your inner battles, rally your forces, and get ready to overthrow the system!  

Thursday May 14, 2026 11:00 - 14:00 CEST
Betonhalle [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, Berlin, Germany

11:00 CEST

Open Screens: Taarof: Be My Guest
Thursday May 14, 2026 11:00 - 14:00 CEST
Muhammad and Farid have met at the same restaurant every year for over twenty years. They know the waiter. They know the menu. They know each other.  What they don’t know is how to stop insisting.  Inspired by the Middle Eastern ritual of taarof, this local 2-player game turns exaggerated politeness into physical comedy. Open the door. Order the food. Take the first bite. Pay the bill. Simple moments become tense standoffs as both players try to let the other go first.  Kindness becomes competition. Politeness becomes pressure.  How far will you go to prove you care?

Thursday May 14, 2026 11:00 - 14:00 CEST
Betonhalle [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, Berlin, Germany

11:00 CEST

Open Screens
Thursday May 14, 2026 11:00 - 20:00 CEST
Open Screens are back!
Following the success of previous years, our goal remains the same: to provide a convenient platform for developers to showcase their creations to the press and their peers. These exhibits will be on display at the physical A MAZE. venue.

See for the full line up: https://2026.amaze-berlin.de/openscreens/
Individual Times exhibited projects Open Screens
Thursday May 14, 2026 11:00 - 20:00 CEST
Betonhalle [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, Berlin, Germany

11:30 CEST

Invitation to be bored
Thursday May 14, 2026 11:30 - 12:00 CEST
No quest to complete, no points to earn, no boss to fight, no health bar to refill, no loot to collect, no reward. This is a talk about boredom and why I work with it.

Content warning
Mention of discrimination within video games
Artists
avatar for Sondi (she/her)

Sondi (she/her)

Sondi (she/her) is an artist and researcher from Germany, born in Cameroon and based in the Netherlands. Her practice explores the invisible architectures of virtual worlds and technological systems, tracing the biases and power structures encoded within them, whilst creating worlds... Read More →
Thursday May 14, 2026 11:30 - 12:00 CEST
Betonhalle Stage [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, 13347 Berlin, Germany

11:30 CEST

The Empires Strike Back: Union busting and corporate backlash to worker organizing and why international collaboration of union efforts is key to fight back
Thursday May 14, 2026 11:30 - 12:30 CEST
Alongside several union members from across Europe, we want to discuss the recent cases of union-busting (or attempts thereof) and how cross-border collaboration can amplify union efforts. When Rockstar Games laid off a group of union organizers, it was a signal of how the gaming industry responds to the increased efforts of organizing game developers world-wide. Similar moves in Canada, France, Germany, Spain and the US have shown that the power-that-be of the games industry will not stand idly by while game developers finally find a voice.

Content warning
Discussion of workplace harassment, mental health challenges, and labor rights in political contexts.
Artists
avatar for Isa Spitznagel (they/them)

Isa Spitznagel (they/them)

2D Artist
Isa is a concept artist and illustrator specialising in character and costume design and co-founder of Achtung Autobahn, a Berlin-based indie studio. After working as a copywriter in marketing, they pivoted to a career in the games industry, mainly working with indie studios as a... Read More →
avatar for Jack Hoxby (he/him)

Jack Hoxby (he/him)

QA Tester in the games industry and active member of the Game Workers Branch of the IWGB Union. Former committee member of the Rockstar Games Workers Union and currently engaged in a legal battle due to alleged Union busting by the company.
avatar for Janeke (she/her)

Janeke (she/her)

Janeke Zimmermann is a freelance writer and narrative designer, as well as a part-time lecturer at Freie Universität Berlin. She has supported unionization efforts in the games industry since 2019. 
avatar for Junipeer (he/they)

Junipeer (he/they)

Junipeer (pseudonym) is a representing member of the STJV, the largest video game union in France.
avatar for Violetajpg (she/them)

Violetajpg (she/them)

Part of the CSVI (Coordinadora Sindical del Videojuego - Union Coordinator of Videogames)
Thursday May 14, 2026 11:30 - 12:30 CEST
Kuppelhalle [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, 13347 Berlin, Germany

12:00 CEST

Inside the Skate Story Project
Thursday May 14, 2026 12:00 - 12:30 CEST
Let's take a short interactive tour inside the Skate Story project! Over six years of dev time by a single developer, there's lots of proprietary technologies to be seen. How else do you make such a big game by yourself?
Artists
avatar for Sam Eng (he/him)

Sam Eng (he/him)

Sam Eng is a nyc-native game dev known for creating Skate Story.
Thursday May 14, 2026 12:00 - 12:30 CEST
Betonhalle Stage [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, 13347 Berlin, Germany

12:30 CEST

Betonhalle Stage - BREAK - (12:30 - 14:00)
Thursday May 14, 2026 12:30 - 14:00 CEST
Enjoy the sun, play some games, eat some food, catch up with other people! See you after the break!
Thursday May 14, 2026 12:30 - 14:00 CEST
Betonhalle Stage [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, 13347 Berlin, Germany

12:30 CEST

Kuppelhalle Stage - BREAK - (12:30 - 14:00)
Thursday May 14, 2026 12:30 - 14:00 CEST
Enjoy the sun, play some games, eat some food, catch up with other people! See you after the break!
Thursday May 14, 2026 12:30 - 14:00 CEST
Kuppelhalle [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, 13347 Berlin, Germany

12:30 CEST

Seeing the forest for the trees: How to think about workflows when designing tools
Thursday May 14, 2026 12:30 - 14:00 CEST
When creating plugins, publicly available tools, or in-house one off fixes, it can be easy to shoot for only exactly what the tool is supposed to achieve. However, this can have unforeseen consequences when the tool achieves exactly what it needs on its own, but does not fit within the other workflows that users are working with. The user experience as a whole is important to consider, especially for publicly available tools.
In this workshop, we will go over key things to know about when you are designing the user experience (UX) of workflows, while keeping in mind the user interface (UI) of their tools.

//AUDIENCE:: People who want to upgrade their workflow skills: How do you know what works well for you, and then how do you put into words how to build that?
//REQUIREMENTS:: Some game development experience, such as having tried to make something in Unity, Unreal, or Godot.
//BRING:: Something to write things down in. Could be a laptop, a phone, or pen & paper.

For this workshop online registration is not required to attend. The spots will be assigned on a first-come first-served basis, so make sure to be at the workshop location at least 10 minutes before the starting time.
Artists
avatar for Robin-Yann Storm

Robin-Yann Storm

RYStorm
Robin-Yann Storm is a freelance Workflow Consultant. He has worked as a full time Tool UX Designer in the AAA games industry on the Glacier editor on which the Hitman series was built, the Decima editor on which the Horizon series was built, and at Apple on AR creation tools such... Read More →
Thursday May 14, 2026 12:30 - 14:00 CEST
Workshop Room 2

13:00 CEST

Womenize! x A MAZE. meetup
Thursday May 14, 2026 13:00 - 14:00 CEST

Thursday May 14, 2026 13:00 - 14:00 CEST
The Garden [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, 13347 Berlin, Germany

13:00 CEST

Dig, Bite, Bake, Decapitate ~ Turn Folklore into Play
Thursday May 14, 2026 13:00 - 14:30 CEST
How do you turn real stories into game mechanics? The workshop begins with a short VR glimpse (approx. 5 min.) into the Real Vampires universe, where day turns to night and roles shift. From there, participants move into hands-on creation using collage. You will build small levels based on real historical beliefs: coffins opening at night, animals behaving strangely, rituals meant to control the dead. Through prototyping, participants explore reversal, transformation and absurd logic as design tools. The workshop shows how mechanics can grow directly out of lived stories — and how play activates history in the hands of the player.

 //AUDIENCE:: Game designers, artists, students and curious minds
//REQUIREMENTS:: No specific skills required
//BRING:: Optional: bring a strange story from your family or local area about real vampires, real witches, real ghosts, or?
//SENSITIVE TOPICS:: Includes references to brutal death rituals, burial practices, nudity and historical fears related to disease. Presented in a non-graphic and contextualized way

For this workshop online registration is not required to attend. The spots will be assigned on a first-come first-served basis, so make sure to be at the workshop location at least 10 minutes before the starting time.
Artists
avatar for Julia Mirny

Julia Mirny

Illustrator and graphic designer, art director of the Real Vampires. Her work includes posters, illustrations, opening titles for film and television, and music cover art. She primarily works with analogue techniques, using paper cut-outs, expressive ink drawings, and hand-drawn... Read More →
avatar for Trine Laier

Trine Laier

CEO, Those Eyes
Trine Laier is a Danish game and film director and founder of Those Eyes. She creates playful, research-based works that blend documentary, folklore and game design. Her projects, including Cosmic Top Secret and The Real Vampires, explore how mechanics can carry meaning and how play... Read More →
Thursday May 14, 2026 13:00 - 14:30 CEST
Workshop Room 1

14:00 CEST

GamesConnect AFRICA: Building the Continental Gaming Ecosystem
Thursday May 14, 2026 14:00 - 14:20 CEST
Goethe-Institut Sub-Sahara Africa has established GamesConnect AFRICA to cultivate a robust and unified video game ecosystem across the continent. This initiative addresses systemic obstacles like funding shortages, talent migration, and underdeveloped infrastructure by providing strategic support to mid-sized studios.

Through a variety of international collaborations, game jams, and networking events, the programme aims to elevate the global profile of African-developed games. The project also emphasises government advocacy and the professionalisation of the industry to ensure sustainable career pathways for local creators. Ultimately, these efforts seek to transform the continent’s youthful gaming demographic into a commercially successful and globally competitive creative force.
Artists
avatar for Meli Mansu (she/her)

Meli Mansu (she/her)

Meli Mansu has worked with the Goethe-Institut Ghana for over seven years, leading Information and Library Services. She holds a Master’s degree in Marketing and champions the library as an inclusive makerspace through STEM workshops and the recent introduction of games, an initiative... Read More →
avatar for Safurat Balogun (she/her)

Safurat Balogun (she/her)

Safurat Balogun holds a Master’s degree in Project Management from Anglia Ruskin University. She has led key cultural projects with the Goethe-Institut in Nigeria and India. Currently, as Director of Information and Library Services in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, she collaborates with... Read More →
Thursday May 14, 2026 14:00 - 14:20 CEST
Kuppelhalle [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, 13347 Berlin, Germany
  Talk
  • about <br>

14:00 CEST

The Seventh Extinction: On the Disappearance of Independent Festival Space
Thursday May 14, 2026 14:00 - 14:30 CEST
This talk frames the progressive dissolution of independent games festivals as a form of cultural extinction, and calls for urgent action to preserve a fragile ecosystem. It compares these festivals to exhausted fireflies, tracing their final journey before they are obliterated against the sterilised windscreen of an industry governed by market repetition and algorithmic visibility. Through an examination of the siloing of games journalism and the narrowing of platform discoverability, the session makes a case for the niche, the suboptimal, and the experimental. It concludes with a set of actionable steps for anyone who wants to nurture a firefly, and dodge the windscreen.
Artists
avatar for Maddalena (she/her)

Maddalena (she/her)

Maddalena Grattarola is an educator, researcher, and curator working at the intersection of games and storytelling. She is Senior Lecturer at London College of Communication (UAL) and Lecturer at Goldsmiths, University of London, where she teaches contextual and theoretical studies... Read More →
Thursday May 14, 2026 14:00 - 14:30 CEST
Betonhalle Stage [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, 13347 Berlin, Germany

14:00 CEST

Open Screens: Edelweiss Knights
Thursday May 14, 2026 14:00 - 17:00 CEST
Edelweiss Knights is a bite-sized tactical RPG, where players lead a trio of heroes against almighty creatures.

Thursday May 14, 2026 14:00 - 17:00 CEST
Betonhalle [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, Berlin, Germany

14:00 CEST

Open Screens: Gadget Gladiators
Thursday May 14, 2026 14:00 - 17:00 CEST
This is a 3D tactical turn-based odyssey where players can fully build and customize their Robot gladiators by assembling modular gadgets onto unique hulls. Every victory is etched into each robot’s personal history, turning a collection of metal and bolts into a storied veteran that grows alongside the player. It features a cell-shaded anime aesthetic and a deep focus on the physical weight of modular combat, Gadget Brothers asks: what kind of bond can you build with a machine you designed yourself?

Thursday May 14, 2026 14:00 - 17:00 CEST
Betonhalle [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, Berlin, Germany

14:00 CEST

Open Screens: LUCKY PUNK
Thursday May 14, 2026 14:00 - 17:00 CEST
Lucky Punk is a roguelike deckbuilder where every turn comes with one simple decision: DRAW another card and push your luck – or STOP and play it safe. Where most card battlers hide randomness or over-use RNG, Lucky Punk always shows you the odds. In a game where every choice matters, every decision in Lucky Punk is transparent, every risk is yours, and well, every failure? Completely deserved.

Thursday May 14, 2026 14:00 - 17:00 CEST
Betonhalle [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, Berlin, Germany

14:00 CEST

Open Screens: Qinu
Thursday May 14, 2026 14:00 - 17:00 CEST
The game Qinu answers where suppressed feelings end up and why the heck they play air hockey.

Thursday May 14, 2026 14:00 - 17:00 CEST
Betonhalle [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, Berlin, Germany

14:00 CEST

Open Screens: The importance of bean
Thursday May 14, 2026 14:00 - 17:00 CEST
A Game about being a Bean. Grow, balance, photosynthesis and be pollinated. 

Thursday May 14, 2026 14:00 - 17:00 CEST
Betonhalle [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, Berlin, Germany

14:20 CEST

A Story of Personal Iteration
Thursday May 14, 2026 14:20 - 14:50 CEST
Iteration is usually a technical process, but for some, it’s a personal one. This talk is an honest look at a journey through development, art, and new experiences.
It’s about the friction of growth, the necessity of being a student, and the quiet work of becoming the artist you need to be.
Artists
avatar for Apau Gyedu Ebenezer (he/him) aka Mhiracle

Apau Gyedu Ebenezer (he/him) aka Mhiracle

I’m Ebenezer Apau Gyedu, though I work under the name Mhiracle. I’m an artist and game developer based in Accra, working across 2D, 3D, and code. For me, the goal is always to be a better version of the creator I was yesterday. I’m deep into the craft of storytelling,not just... Read More →
Thursday May 14, 2026 14:20 - 14:50 CEST
Kuppelhalle [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, 13347 Berlin, Germany
  Talk
  • about <br>

14:30 CEST

Art Games Spaces / Festivals / Community (TBA)
Thursday May 14, 2026 14:30 - 15:30 CEST
A conversation between curators, organisers and spaces. More tba soon.
Artists
avatar for Cat Bluemke

Cat Bluemke

Cat Bluemke uses game design, performance, and expanded reality to explore the dynamic relationship of work and play. Graduating in 2018 with her MFA in Design for Emerging Technologies from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, she is interested in discussing technology's impact... Read More →
avatar for Farfama (he/they)

Farfama (he/they)

Farfama
Farfama (he/they) is an artist, games curator, and experimental game creator currently based in Japan. His work explores themes of awe, wonder, and playful joy, drawing inspiration from nature, ritual, and everyday observation. He helps run GÆMZ Tokyo, a monthly experimental games... Read More →
avatar for Joanna Lyu (she/her)

Joanna Lyu (she/her)

China, ([[rect*]]repair)
Joanna game designer, media artist and event organizer. She co-runs [[rect*]]repair, an art-game collective on public-facing experimental games, community events and playful media.
avatar for Marie Janin (she/her)

Marie Janin (she/her)

Sickhouse
Marie Janin is co-director of Sickhouse, a playful art space in Enschede and the multidisciplinary festival The Overkill, located in the Netherlands. Sickhouse and The Overkill
programs reflect on the transformation of our society through digital culture and the role playfulness... Read More →
avatar for Sarah Bashir (she/her)

Sarah Bashir (she/her)

Sarah Bashir is a games scholar, focusing on game production studies, the history of digital and interactive media and the interrelation of games, art and culture. She initiated and currently leads Circuit Lab, a game studies lab situated at the Department of Media and Communication... Read More →
Thursday May 14, 2026 14:30 - 15:30 CEST
Betonhalle Stage [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, 13347 Berlin, Germany
  Conversations
  • about <br>

14:30 CEST

Deviant Game: Ctrl+hack+feminism A queer and feminist perspective on alternative controllers through the practice of hacking -
Thursday May 14, 2026 14:30 - 16:30 CEST


We’ll start with a discussion about our guilty pleasures and favorite hacks in video gaming.
Then, drawing inspiration from various technofeminist initiatives, we will experiment together with a disassembled PlayStation controller to extract its components and functionalities, and we will attempt the collective creation of a Frankensteinian device whose desirable uses will emerge during the workshop.

10 participants max
Langage : English, Spanish, French I unfortunatly don't speak German, if you want to help for the translation it will be welcom ! 

//AUDIENCE:: Workshop open to everyone, but priority will be given to queer, gender-nonconforming, and gender-questioning individuals.
//REQUIREMENTS:: No skills needed, but any skills to share is welcome.
//BRING:: You can bring your own controller, or own wire, button, sensor to improve the possibilities but no need to come with something.
//SENSITIVE TOPICS:: We could maybe talk about sensuality or body pleasure even if it's not the principal goal of the workshop depending on what the participant wants to do with the component of the controller 

For this workshop online registration is not required to attend. The spots will be assigned on a first-come first-served basis, so make sure to be at the workshop location at least 10 minutes before the starting time.
Artists
avatar for Chloé Desmoineaux

Chloé Desmoineaux

Chloé Desmoineaux [they/them] is based in Marseille, France and works as an Alt+Ctrl artist and independent game curator with a focus on technofeminist collective practices. Inspired by tactical media and hacking practices, they create interactive installations, hijack video games... Read More →
Thursday May 14, 2026 14:30 - 16:30 CEST
Workshop Room 2

14:50 CEST

With Love From Kenya: Connecting My Culture to Games
Thursday May 14, 2026 14:50 - 15:25 CEST
What do you do when you don't see yourself, or the people around you represented in games? You make them anyway.

With Love From Kenya presents Joanna Oluoch's exploration of how to representing her culture through games in a still-developing games industry.

She draws from two of her projects: ARGO and Nyam3.
ARGO is an augmented reality game based on her childhood home in a forest, designed with accessibility in mind and built to run on low-end smartphones, prioritising a Kenyan audience first. Nyam3 was developed during the Playful Obscura residency under Games Connect Africa, and reimagines a traditional Kenyan children's game through Kinect motion capture, connected through the principle of using your body as a controller. Both games are love letters to her experiences expressed through play and interaction, founded in her practice as a game designer under Sike Studios.

She reflects on cross-cultural exchange, making games as accessible public art, and her learnings so far as an African game developer.

Please bring your questions and your competitive spirit.
Artists
avatar for Joanna Oluoch (she/her)

Joanna Oluoch (she/her)

With a career that is the epitome of "Both. Both is good." when pressed to choose between engineering and art, Joanna Oluoch is a Kenyan game designer and developer with a background in Mechatronics Engineering. By founding Sike Studios, she creates interactive experiences like ARGO... Read More →
Thursday May 14, 2026 14:50 - 15:25 CEST
Kuppelhalle [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, 13347 Berlin, Germany
  Talk
  • about <br>

15:00 CEST

Indie Games on the Platform: Building Audiences and Crowdfunding Creative Work
Thursday May 14, 2026 15:00 - 16:30 CEST
Indie games are known for their intriguing themes, experimental gameplay, unique aesthetic identity and, more often than not, their hybrid nature—blending physical objects with digital elements. Moving from early prototypes and festival showcases to a fully developed game comes with a series of important and sometimes tricky, decisions.
How do you build a community around your work? Where do you find financial support? And how do you test whether your core idea actually holds up? These are some of the challenges we’ll tackle together. In this workshop, we’ll share strategies, look at good practices, explore platform features that can work in your favour, and dig into a few Kickstarter campaigns that are worth a closer look.

//AUDIENCE:: People interested in crowdfunding, publishing their game and/or building their community
//REQUIREMENTS:: Interest
//BRING:: Something to take notes on if you want to.

For this workshop online registration is not required to attend. The spots will be assigned on a first-come first-served basis, so make sure to be at the workshop location at least 10 minutes before the starting time.


Artists
avatar for Elina Roinioti

Elina Roinioti

Games Outreach, Kickstarter
Elina Roinioti: Outreach Games Europe, Kickstarter
Elina Roinioti is an Assistant Professor of Interactive Digital Storytelling at the University of the Peloponnese in Greece, and for the past five years, she’s also been part of Kickstarter’s European Games Outreach team. She’s spent over a decade moving between indie studios, gam... Read More →
avatar for Michael Liebe

Michael Liebe

Outreach Games Europe, Kickstarter
Michael Liebe: Head of Outreach Games Europe, 
Michael Liebe is CEO and founder of Booster Space, the company that initiated gamesweekberlin, Womenize! Games and Tech or VR NOW Con. He acts as Outreach Games Europe lead for Kickstarter. During his eight years with Kickstarter, he worked with more than 1.000 projects, with a fu... Read More →
Thursday May 14, 2026 15:00 - 16:30 CEST
Workshop Room 1

15:00 CEST

Samples - An Interactive Music Installation
Thursday May 14, 2026 15:00 - Friday May 15, 2026 01:00 CEST
SAMPLES is the new interactive music installation by My name is Fuzzy. It transforms the exhibition space into a giant music creation software. The project explores a form of “analog” augmented reality, meaning without a visible digital interface. The installation consists of about ten large-format, brightly colored canvases, each representing a sound sample that activates and modulates according to the movements of people in the space. Beyond offering an immersive and collective experience, the installation questions the influence the public exerts on an artist's work: here, the artwork is only revealed through the presence of visitors, and it constantly evolves according to their interaction. After gaining recognition for his unique style and playful installations in numerous art venues and festivals in Switzerland and Europe, Bastien Bron continues his artistic approach with SAMPLES: offering pop and electronic music in innovative, hybrid, and singular forms.

https://www.mynameisfuzzy.ch/samples/
Artists
avatar for My Name is Fuzzy

My Name is Fuzzy

My Name is Fuzzy is the interdisciplinary musical project of Swiss self-taught artist Bastien Bron (b. 1984), renowned for his innovative fusion of art and music. His work explores new ways of presenting pop music outside traditional platforms, aiming to create experiences that are... Read More →

Thursday May 14, 2026 15:00 - Friday May 15, 2026 01:00 CEST
Panke Gallery

15:30 CEST

Expanding OTHERWORLDS
Thursday May 14, 2026 15:30 - 16:00 CEST
Expanding OTHERWORLDS is a talk on a completed multi-user XR performance that bridges Ukrainian seasonal rituals with immersive technology. The project synchronises participants across virtual and physical layers, where VR environments, spatial sound, choreography, and scenography directly correspond, creating a communal experience rather than an isolated one.

In this session, Sophia Bulgakova reflects on building this correlation between digital and embodied space and what it reveals about designing collective presence in immersive art. She will also discuss how this research is now extending into her ongoing Malanka continuation, which carries the same inquiry into a new ritual cycle.
Artists
avatar for Sophia Bulgakova (she/her, they/them)

Sophia Bulgakova (she/her, they/them)

Sophia Bulgakova (b. 1997, Odesa) is an ArtScientist and interdisciplinary artist based in the Netherlands. Her work spans art, technology, and contemporary social structures, exploring cultural identity, perception, and imagination through immersive installations using projection... Read More →
Thursday May 14, 2026 15:30 - 16:00 CEST
Kuppelhalle [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, 13347 Berlin, Germany
  Talk
  • about <br>

15:30 CEST

Gray-scale: the past, present and future of Pigeon: A Love Story
Thursday May 14, 2026 15:30 - 16:00 CEST
Learn pigeon facts and travel through time with a special version of Pigeon: A Love Story featuring multiplayer "coo"-op chat. While you birdwatch, game designer Alex Taylor chats with Krish Raghav ([untitled games event] Amsterdam) about durational art, gamedev reveries, and the .EXE as a sumptuous container.   
Artists
avatar for Alex Taylor (he/him)

Alex Taylor (he/him)

Wristwork
Alex Taylor runs Wristwork, a mini studio focused on making concept-driven games and interactive experiences. Past and future games include FACEMINER and Pigeon: A Love Story.
avatar for Krish Raghav (he/they)

Krish Raghav (he/they)

Krish Raghav is a comic book artist. He made a game called "Don't Get Your Hopes Up" about the Amsterdam housing crisis. He was a co-founder of the newsletter Chaoyang Trap, about everyday life on the Chinese Internet.

He now co-organizes [untitled games event], a monthly space for experimental games and playable arts in Amsterdam... Read More →
Thursday May 14, 2026 15:30 - 16:00 CEST
Betonhalle Stage [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, 13347 Berlin, Germany

16:00 CEST

Betonhalle Stage - BREAK - (16:00 - 16:30)
Thursday May 14, 2026 16:00 - 16:30 CEST
Enjoy the sun, play some games, eat some food, catch up with other people! See you after the break!
Thursday May 14, 2026 16:00 - 16:30 CEST
Betonhalle Stage [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, 13347 Berlin, Germany

16:00 CEST

Kuppelhalle Stage - BREAK - (16:00 - 16:30)
Thursday May 14, 2026 16:00 - 16:30 CEST
Enjoy the sun, play some games, eat some food, catch up with other people! See you after the break!
Thursday May 14, 2026 16:00 - 16:30 CEST
Kuppelhalle [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, 13347 Berlin, Germany

16:30 CEST

Plum Road Tea Dream - From theatermaking to game design
Thursday May 14, 2026 16:30 - 17:00 CEST
A talk on the creation of Plum Road Tea Dream: a multiformat project that takes shape as a videogame, performance and exhibition.

Content warning
Trauma, gaybashing, police violence and murder against people of color
Artists
avatar for Samuel Baidoo (they/them)

Samuel Baidoo (they/them)

Samuel Baidoo (they/them) is a theatremaker, performer, game designer, and mentor.
They studied dance at the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp and graphic design at Sint-Lucas. Samuel maintains an independent artistic practice, is a member of the Hanafubuki collective, and creates c... Read More →
Thursday May 14, 2026 16:30 - 17:00 CEST
Kuppelhalle [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, 13347 Berlin, Germany

16:30 CEST

Game Poems
Thursday May 14, 2026 16:30 - 17:30 CEST
Come experience Game Poems Magazine, a new online literary magazine dedicated to exploring the artistic and poetic potential of short-form games by publishing new work directly in a playable format. Experience personal short-form games and hear from the founding editor, as well as the magazine contributors. 

Hosted by Jordan Magnuson

With a.o.:
Tereza Kotěšovcová
Adam Pype
Isaque Sanches
Brendan Allen (remote)
Kaitlin Bonfiglio (remote)
Caitlin DeRosa (remote)
Ash Rezvani (remote)

Content warnings
No graphic content, but games shown may include difficult topics including (but not limited to) death, depression, sexual pain and medical gaslighting.
Written references to sexual trauma, pain with sex, and medical trauma. no graphic imagery will be shown.
Artists
avatar for Adam Pype (he/him)

Adam Pype (he/him)

adam pype is belgian multi-disciplinary artist and game developer primarily working on short-form experimental work through a horror lens. he's best known for creating dozens of monthly freeware games and for his commercial works SPOOKWARE and No Players Online.
avatar for Jordan Magnuson (he/they)

Jordan Magnuson (he/they)

Jordan Magnuson is a longtime creator of experimental and short-form videogames. He founded The Independent Gaming Source (aka TIGSource) once upon a time, and has a particular interest in the intersection of games and poetry. He is the author of the book, Game Poems: Videogame Design... Read More →
avatar for Kaitlin

Kaitlin "KB" Bonfiglio (she/her)

KB is an educator, writer, and designer of games about vulvas. In her creative work and research, she explores how games and play facilitate learning about relationships, intimacy, sexual health, consent, and more. KB is a proud union member and organizer, fighting for better education... Read More →
Thursday May 14, 2026 16:30 - 17:30 CEST
Betonhalle [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, Berlin, Germany

17:00 CEST

Counterfeit Games: Anti-Game Approaches to Playable Experiences
Thursday May 14, 2026 17:00 - 17:30 CEST
On games that don't want to be games. Rules that refuse to function. Mechanics borrowed and then broken. Born from the friction of working with a medium that constantly pushes toward reward loops, player satisfaction, and dopamine hits. This talk proposes counterfeit games as a framework: works that sit on the spectrum of playable experiences, using the language of games while refusing to play by their rules, and finding a creative practice in that refusal.
Artists
avatar for Jade Lin	(she/her) aka strawberrycongee

Jade Lin (she/her) aka strawberrycongee

Jade (aka strawberrycongee) is a London-based computational artist, solo game maker, and creative technologist working across art, physical-digital play, and interactive media. With a bleak and detached gaze on harsh realities, their practice explores the affective dimensions of weirdness... Read More →
Thursday May 14, 2026 17:00 - 17:30 CEST
Kuppelhalle [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, 13347 Berlin, Germany

17:00 CEST

Experimental Commons: Let´s talk & create spaces for artistic exchange 
Thursday May 14, 2026 17:00 - 18:30 CEST
What happens when artists from different disciplines share space, time, and uncertainty?

Join us for a roundtable with artists from performing, visual, and digital arts, as they reflect on a three-day experimental, cross-disciplinary residency. Together, we’ll explore the challenges they encountered as well as the resources they discovered through shared space. We will also talk about the need for shared spaces in Berlin and beyond, and how opportunities and resources can be made more accessible.

Bring your thoughts, questions, and experiences into the conversation.


The roundtable will be joined by:

  • Emily Roderick
  • Maarten Isaäk De Heer
  • Veronica Carli
  • Wro Wrzesinska

Artists
avatar for Nicole Fiedler (she/her)

Nicole Fiedler (she/her)

project manager, https://www.creative-cross-collaborations.de/home
Nicole Fiedler is Head of Funding and Projects at the German Dance Association, responsible for funding and programmes, co-managing Creative Cross Collaborations Berlin, coordinating the Association of German Dance Archives, and also working as a ballroom dance teacher.

Creative Cross Collaborations Berlin (CCCberlin) is a cross-disciplinary programme for Berlin’s arts and creative scene. It brings together artists, creatives and producers from the performing arts, visual arts, as well as film and video art. At its core are exchange, collaboration a... Read More →
avatar for Sophia Herzog (she/her)

Sophia Herzog (she/her)

German Dance Association / Creative Cross Collaborations Berlin
Sophia Herzog is a professional contemporary dancer, educator, and producer who creates playful, accessible movement & performance experiences that connect people through dance, curiosity, and shared physical exploration. 

Creative Cross Collaborations Berlin (CCCberlin) is a cross-disciplinary programme for Berlin’s arts and creative scene. It brings together artists, creatives and producers from the performing arts, visual arts, as well as film and video art. At its core are exchange, collaborati... Read More →
Thursday May 14, 2026 17:00 - 18:30 CEST
MARS | Küche & Bar Gerichtstraße 35, Seiteneingang, 13347 Berlin, Germany

17:00 CEST

Making games from scratch in Odin and understanding all the parts
Thursday May 14, 2026 17:00 - 18:30 CEST
Explore alternative technologies for game creation! Using the Odin Programming Language and my library "Karl2D" we will see how you can create a game "from scratch" without a big game engine. We'll open windows, draw things, process input and play some audio. After that we'll look at how the Karl2D library actually implements all those things. You'll get a tour that starts in the gameplay code, all the way down to the operating system APIs. In essence: You get to see a new programming language and we'll demystify what the often "hidden parts" of a game engine actually do. Even though we use a specific language and library, the knowledge you get is transferable: You can do similar things yourself in other languages.

//AUDIENCE:: Those who want to make games from scratch and understand their game on a deep level. Some participants may want to see what Odin is about. Some may want to get more knowledge about what happens in a "game creation library" / engine. It's all good.
//REQUIREMENTS:: A bit of programming experience.
//BRING:: Bring a laptop (Windows, Mac and Linux are all OK). We'll set up Odin during the workshop, but you can install it yourself from https://odin-lang.org/ if you want to come extra prepared.

For this workshop online registration is not required to attend. The spots will be assigned on a first-come first-served basis, so make sure to be at the workshop location at least 10 minutes before the starting time.
Artists
avatar for Karl Zylinski

Karl Zylinski

https://zylinski.se/
I'm an independent game developer and programming book author. I've made the indie game CAT & ONION and the book "Understanding the Odin Programming Language". I like teaching people about programming and giving them insights into how things actually work.
Thursday May 14, 2026 17:00 - 18:30 CEST
Workshop Room 2

17:00 CEST

Let's Make a Game Manual for a Game that Doesn't Exist!
Thursday May 14, 2026 17:00 - 19:00 CEST
We will go over a brief history and culture of game manuals, imagine a videogame that doesn’t exist, and collectively craft a speculative instruction manual for it. This workshop was developed in collaboration with Boshi’s Place and TXTbooks at NYC.

//AUDIENCE:: Anyone with an interest in videogames and paratext surrounding them.
//REQUIREMENTS:: No real requirements
//BRING:: Nothing needed to bring

For this workshop online registration is not required to attend. The spots will be assigned on a first-come first-served basis, so make sure to be at the workshop location at least 10 minutes before the starting time.
Artists
avatar for Biagi (he/him)

Biagi (he/him)

Hapshapen Games
Whether he’s building narrative adventures, party games, or systems-driven experiments, Biagi’s work explores the peculiarities of human existence—with humor, with play, and with deep love for the weird little bonds that form when we interact.
avatar for Hatim Benhsain

Hatim Benhsain

Games for my Computer
Hatim makes games and comics, currently in NYC. He was born and raised in Morocco. He’s interested in nonsense, stolen stuff, and speculative game design. He’s currently working on a swimming/sex game titled coalescent || tidal rapture.
avatar for Isabelle Smith (she/her)

Isabelle Smith (she/her)

hapshapen games
Isabelle Smith is a game developer and writer who makes digital games you can reach out and touch. Her work in digital games has been nominated for awards by IGF, A MAZE., and the Student BAFTAs.  She had seven wisdom teeth but they’re not in her mouth anymore.
Thursday May 14, 2026 17:00 - 19:00 CEST
Workshop Room 1

17:00 CEST

Open Screens: City in a Raindrop
Thursday May 14, 2026 17:00 - 20:00 CEST
This project is a multi-genre platformer about grief. This demo includes an early playable version of level 3; a puzzle platformer about climbing through the city and rewinding your mistakes.
Thursday May 14, 2026 17:00 - 20:00 CEST
Betonhalle [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, Berlin, Germany

17:00 CEST

Open Screens: Crimson Rain
Thursday May 14, 2026 17:00 - 20:00 CEST
Crimson Rain is an experimental and stylized noir-detective style puzzle narrative game, where every character in the scene is mute, lacks facial expressions, looks identical, and is entirely ambiguous in terms of race, gender identity, class, sexuality, and any other distinguishing features. This is a means to address the rampant stereotyping and aesthetic bias that is rooted in classic detective fiction, as well as the motivated reasoning that is at the root of the perpetuation of hatred and bigotry. By attempting to create an environment for players where that form of internal/motivated bias is impossible, the player has no room for motivated reasoning, and instead has to extract their own truth from a blank canvas. Players are tasked to deduce the game’s narrative solely through the characters’ actions, through the manipulation of time on individual characters’ timelines of events. To solve the game,  players must observe every characters’ timeline, and place them all in chronological order through thoughtful analysis and observation, with the goal of uncovering, and subsequently erasing, the tragedy that occurred amongst the events they witnessed.  This prototype is an exhibition piece, played with an custom-made alternative controller, in the shape of a pocket watch, and physical board-game components to aid players with ideation and deduction. 

Thursday May 14, 2026 17:00 - 20:00 CEST
Betonhalle [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, Berlin, Germany

17:00 CEST

Open Screens: Employee 925
Thursday May 14, 2026 17:00 - 20:00 CEST
Employee 925 is a semi-biographical short psychological horror and narrative experiment about work, obedience, and the cost of denying yourself to become what the system expects.  You arrive.  You comply.  You complete your mandatory training — again and again.  Follow every instruction, communicate with your co-worker through Morse code, and measure your worth in a place where success means erasing who you are.  Your progress will be logged.  Your cooperation will be acknowledged.  Your understanding is not required.  Features  ~60 minute experience Multiple endings Unique communication mechanic A surreal reflection on conformity, ambition, and the loss of identity Additional Speedrun mode - try to beat your best time! For players who enjoyed The Stanley Parable, Severance, and minimalist psychological horror.

Thursday May 14, 2026 17:00 - 20:00 CEST
Betonhalle [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, Berlin, Germany

17:00 CEST

Open Screens: Sen z úst
Thursday May 14, 2026 17:00 - 20:00 CEST
Sen z úst is a visual novel-like video game set in a twisted world full of dreams and those who dream them. It contains a reasonable amount of lines and one or two things to think about. The prototype was created as a product of scribbling, writing, crossing out, talking, and getting hands dirty with modeling clay at a game jam. Since then, we have poured more than a little time, energy, and passion into it.

Thursday May 14, 2026 17:00 - 20:00 CEST
Betonhalle [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, Berlin, Germany

17:00 CEST

Open Screens: The Invisible Casino
Thursday May 14, 2026 17:00 - 20:00 CEST
What appears to be a simple card game has a strange twist: all the cards are completely blank. Players can leave their mark on the deck and perhaps, by working together, figure out how to beat the Dealer.  The Invisible Casino is a live-action arcade machine, featuring this and many other obtuse games. Just walk up and start playing… what have you got to lose?

Thursday May 14, 2026 17:00 - 20:00 CEST
Betonhalle [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, Berlin, Germany

17:30 CEST

TBA
Thursday May 14, 2026 17:30 - 18:00 CEST
TBA
Thursday May 14, 2026 17:30 - 18:00 CEST
Kuppelhalle [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, 13347 Berlin, Germany

17:30 CEST

STILL PLAYING (Mohamed Mesbah, France/Palestine)
Thursday May 14, 2026 17:30 - 18:00 CEST
West Bank, summer 2024. Rasheed, a video game creator, tries to raise his two sons amid Israeli army raids and the war in Gaza. At night, he creates games where mothers and fathers can no longer protect their children.

After the screening we will have a talk by Rasheed (remote) and time for questions and answers.
Thursday May 14, 2026 17:30 - 18:00 CEST
Betonhalle Stage [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, 13347 Berlin, Germany
  Special
  • about <br>

18:00 CEST

Talk by Rasheed Abueideh (tbc)
Thursday May 14, 2026 18:00 - 18:30 CEST
Talk by Rasheed Abueideh (TBA)

Rasheed is currently running a crowdfunding campaign for the production of his game Dreams on a Pillow. www.launchgood.com/1948
Thursday May 14, 2026 18:00 - 18:30 CEST
Betonhalle Stage [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, 13347 Berlin, Germany

18:45 CEST

The Line is the Game
Thursday May 14, 2026 18:45 - 19:45 CEST
The Line Is the Game is a short, comedy live-action role-playing game that turns the everyday frustration of waiting into something playful and a little chaotic. Get your role from the ticket machine and join the line — possibly for a bathroom, possibly for art. Complete your task and use your one-time superpower to change the line before the doors finally open. Tired of waiting? Step out, come back as someone new, and see whether how you wait is a more interesting story than what you’re waiting for.

Game design Jana Romanova
Graphic design Elisa Piazzi
Device artisan Pablo San Gregorio

The Line is the Game was originally created for No Quarter 2025 at NYU Game Center

This game is a standalone game that any festival visitor can join to play.
To make it even more exciting: The game will be played before the labRats performance, the queue that will form will define how you enter the space.

Content warning
We encourage everyone to play with respect and kindness to each other.



Artists
avatar for Jana Romanova (she/her)

Jana Romanova (she/her)

Jana Romanova is a multidisciplinary artist working with play, performance, and photography. Her participatory projects invite people to step into unfamiliar roles to imagine and create together. At the heart of her practice is a desire to understand how we relate: to each other... Read More →
Thursday May 14, 2026 18:45 - 19:45 CEST
Kuppelhalle [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, 13347 Berlin, Germany

19:00 CEST

Flesh Network Performance
Thursday May 14, 2026 19:00 - 19:45 CEST
Experience this 45-minute interactive lecture performance. Flesh Network is a live demonstration that presents a history of the Internet as a sound technology, focusing on the ways that disability influenced the design of communication systems.

XR History Award Nominee

Artists
avatar for Peter Polack (he/they)

Peter Polack (he/they)

Sickness International
Peter Polack (Sickness International) is an artist and researcher using illness to examine how technology shapes trust and perception. Each game, song, and theory opens onto a world where the human brain has been molded into a videogame-hosting infrastructure. His work has been published... Read More →
Thursday May 14, 2026 19:00 - 19:45 CEST
Transmediale Studio [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, 13347 Berlin, Germany

19:00 CEST

Level Design Beyond the Screen
Thursday May 14, 2026 19:00 - 20:00 CEST
An approach to level design that goes beyond the computer screen.

Using modular 6×6 elements, participants build structures, test layouts, and explore non-standard ways of thinking about level design. We see the workshop as a shared experiment in alternative ways of approaching level design and building levels.

Each session lasts around 20 minutes, and can be done by 2 people. 

The station also works outside workshop hours, simple instructions allow visitors to use it independently.

//AUDIENCE:: Game designers, artists, and anyone interested in spatial thinking, level design, and experimental approaches to game development.
//REQUIREMENTS:: None
//BRING::
Just bring your curiosity and a willingness to experiment :)

For this workshop online registration is not required to attend. Just come by. 

Artists
avatar for Dominik Cymer (he/him)

Dominik Cymer (he/him)

Cubature
Dominik Cymer is the Designer and Art Director of Cubature, responsible for the game concept and artistic direction of Cubature: The Art Game and Cubature: The Installation.

An illustrator, designer and visual artist with over 25 years of practice at the intersection of art, design and new media. Founder of Cyber Kids on Real, he works across commercial, cultural and educational projects – with clients including Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, PZU... Read More →
avatar for Oliwia Hajn (she/her)

Oliwia Hajn (she/her)

Cubature
Oliwia Hajn is the Executive Producer of Cubature, responsible for the concept and IP development of Cubature: The Art Game and Cubature: The Installation.
She works across business, culture and social impact – designing and leading projects that bring together strategy, communication and partnerships. Creates innovative formats where art, technology and social engagement intersect... Read More →
Thursday May 14, 2026 19:00 - 20:00 CEST
Betonhalle [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, Berlin, Germany

19:00 CEST

Sybil x A MAZE. : a third way to game-dev
Thursday May 14, 2026 19:00 - 21:00 CEST
Note: This is a satellite event at an external location. Register here.

Throughout Sybil’s Arc 2 program we have proposed the idea that the solo-dev - a  post-2000s neologism with roots in 1980s conceptions of computer programmers as savant whizz-kids and enlightened loners - could be emblematic of a third way in gaming: A different strategy for the game-maker that replaces hierarchical AAA studio assembly lines with small teams and more aesthetically oriented working methods.

What the myth of the solo-dev borrows from the traditional framework of “the artist” is the pursuit of self-determination. That is, a drive that is tied to a particular expression of an idea or a question in a practice, and this is what sets it apart from more commercially traditional strategies pertaining to both AAA and Indie-development. Part of this, is also understanding that the game industry is no-longer as off-limits to art driven developers and small scale teams as it once might have felt.

Panelists are: Alex Declino, Beth von Undall, Elliott Burns, Rico Norwood and Shuruq Tramontini.

No extra costs, but limited seats. Please register here


Artists
avatar for Alex Declino (he/him)

Alex Declino (he/him)

Sybil
Alex Declino is a game designer exploring authority and control in digital and online systems. His works are fueled by themes of tech-driven espionage, CEO meltdowns, the innovative exploitations of late-stage capitalism, and the almost Sisyphean tragicomedies of crypto. Alumni of... Read More →
avatar for Beth von Undall (she/her)

Beth von Undall (she/her)

Sybil
Beth von Undall is an artist and writer based in Berlin. Alongside her solo practice, she is embedded in a range of collaborations within art, gaming and tech. Her work is concerned with questions around subjectivity and sexuality in the context of a world enveloped in existential... Read More →
Thursday May 14, 2026 19:00 - 21:00 CEST
Sybil Leuschnerdamm 13/Aufgang 3 / EG, 10999 Berlin, Germany

19:00 CEST

Gamerausch x A MAZE. : Relooted - Live cinegaming session
Thursday May 14, 2026 19:00 - 22:00 CEST
Satellite event at external location with regular admission and free entry with A MAZE. / Berlin ticket.

GAMERAUSCH - RELOOTED (Live cinegaming session with introduction by David Zabel (Popcultural Educator, Germany) and Q&A with Ben Myers (Nyamakop, South Africa) supported by Alexandre Suzanne (Playful, France)
RELOOTED (South Africa 2026, Nyamakop, approx. 120 min, original language with subtitles)

In recent years, there have been increasing efforts to return artifacts stolen during colonial times. Yet Western museums and private collections continue to exploit loopholes to retain these treasures. Rather than wait for justice, in the game RELOOTED, a pan-African group of friends decides to take matters into their own hands: they simply steal the artifacts back. RELOOTED is a platformer by South African studio Nyamakop. We play as Nomali and her crew as they execute elaborate heists in museums and private collections. What makes the game special: the studio has researched with great documentary care the real histories, cultural significance, and circumstances of theft for all objects featured in the game. Rarely has the complex issue of restitution been so successfully integrated into a video game. At the same time, the studio has invested tremendous care into the soundtrack, voice acting, and Afrofuturist aesthetic. RELOOTED is full of empowerment and ultimately poses the question: What if someone simply took back what was stolen?

As part of A MAZE / BERLIN, we'll play selected passages of the game together on the big screen. Guests will provide insights into the production history and contextualize the themes explored in the game

Thursday May 14, 2026 19:00 - 22:00 CEST
Filmrausch Palast Moabit/Game Rausch Lehrter Str. 35, 10557 Berlin, Germany

19:30 CEST

Real Vampires Concert (world premiere)
Thursday May 14, 2026 19:30 - 20:10 CEST
Are you folk or vampire?
A live concert by electronic composer Bjørn Svin. Based on his music for the game Real Vampires and 500 years of authentic accounts of vampirism, the work unfolds as an immersive musical and visual narrative, drawing on the game’s elements and reshaping them into a new sonic experience.
The music moves between day and night, carrying shifts in mood, tension and perspective. The audience is invited into selected moments, entering the Real Vampires universe through simple, shared choices.
A first public showing of an evolving format where music, story and play meet.
History is moving!

Content warning
Real Vampires concert contains depictions of historical burial rituals, including exhumation of bodies, decapitation, and references to disease and death. Some scenes include exposed male genitalia derived from old medical illustrations and historical sources connected to burial practice. All visuals are presented in a stylized, cartoony cut-out aesthetic rather than graphic realism.

Real Vampires addresses themes of moral panic, social exclusion, and collective violence in historical contexts. While the tone includes dark humor, the subject matter may be sensitive for players affected by themes of death, persecution, nudity, or ritual violence.
Artists
avatar for Bjørn Svin (he/him)

Bjørn Svin (he/him)

Sound Synthesist, Bjørn Svin
Electronic music  artist and sound designer that operates in the alternative/experimental field of rhythmic electronic music. 
Thursday May 14, 2026 19:30 - 20:10 CEST
Betonhalle Stage [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, 13347 Berlin, Germany

20:00 CEST

labRats
Thursday May 14, 2026 20:00 - 21:30 CEST
Limited number of Player Tickets available (see below for more info).

Despite all your rage, you are still just a rat in a cage. Luckily, you're also a rat who's been outfitted with a neural implant that allows you to communicate telepathically with the other rats in your cage. Maybe that'll help.

labRats is a digitally native interactive performance by the award-winning duo cirqueSaw. Pulling equally from classic games, silent films, and a generous helping of Lewis Carroll, the piece seeks to blur the line between reality and unreality, between wonder and horror. Audiences play as lab rats in an experiment beyond their control, who have to work together to take control of their lives. Whether they choose to escape, take over the lab, or deconstruct the fabric of the reality of their experience itself is entirely up to them.

There are two ways of experiencing this performance:
- As a player: please get your Player Ticket (limited number) from the ticket shop (only with valid festival ticket or pass): https://weeztix.shop/gteqvq9r
- As a viewer: just come to the Kuppelhalle!

Note: that Player Tickets are limited, so please only take one when you are dedicated to join, including bringing your own laptop or tablet with keyboard

There are two labRats performance dates:
Thursday 14 May: 20:00-21:30
Saturday 16 May: 12:00-13:30 
Artists
avatar for Nathan Leigh (he/him)

Nathan Leigh (he/him)

cirqueSaw
cirqueSaw explores the intersection of live performance, film, and games, co-founded by partners Nathan Leigh and Nicole Orabona. They use a custom-built web platform to create remote, interactive experiences designed to foster community, accessibility, and audience agency. Their... Read More →
avatar for Nicole Orabona (they/she)

Nicole Orabona (they/she)

cirqueSaw
​​​​cirqueSaw explores the intersection of live performance, film, and games, co-founded by partners Nathan Leigh and Nicole Orabona. They use a custom-built web platform to create remote, interactive experiences designed to foster community, accessibility, and audience agency... Read More →
Thursday May 14, 2026 20:00 - 21:30 CEST
Kuppelhalle [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, 13347 Berlin, Germany

22:00 CEST

Super Open Sound System
Thursday May 14, 2026 22:00 - Friday May 15, 2026 02:00 CEST
Some of you remember the Super Open Sound System? Back in the days at the Urban Spree Garden with the little Red Polish Firetruck by Sos. That was so amazing and build the community. This year we are going to bring that experience back and provide the Super Open Sound System a full night on the legendary club stage at Panke. Let’s party to the best and worst tunes the community has to offer. Amazing !

What do you need? Nothing! You can play from your phone, your laptop, your Gameboy or anything you want (nobody checks this).We'll have a bluetooth dongle and a 3.5mm jack for you to plug into, so just bring whatever you need! Note that there won't be much time to set-up, tho!

Just come to A MAZE. / Berlin and put your name on the poster at the next to the time slot and you can play whatever you want! Everyone is welcome! Bad music is great! Let's go! We'll put up the poster on Thursday afternoon near the entrance, watch out for the announcement!

NOTE: If you make your own cool music and would want to secure a spot before hand to make sure you won't bring your gear in vain, reach out to Sos on Discord (sos_sosowski). Note that we have limited availability for this and this is for artists who make their own music.

Games + Installations:
Samples by My name is Fuzzy
Line Wobbler by Robin Baumgarten
Fallbearers by Jem Smith, Ben Geldenhuys and Jason Sutherland
Get Yoked by Barking Dogs
Akapela by Antonin Fourneau
Lazy Kickers by Sos
Artists
avatar for Sos Sosowski

Sos Sosowski

Mad Scientist, Sos
Sos Sosowski (he/him): Mad scientist of video games, creator of McPixel, Thelemite and million other games nobody ever heard about. Maniac of retro hardware and lover of new technology. Currently on a quest to create the worst game ever (Mosh Pit Simulator)
Thursday May 14, 2026 22:00 - Friday May 15, 2026 02:00 CEST
Panke Culture
 
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