A MAZE. / Berlin 2026: Full Schedule

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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10:00 CEST

Coffee & Croissants with*

Friday May 15, 2026 10:00 - 10:30 CEST

Kuppelhalle [Silent Green]

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

Zuraida Buter

program curator, A MAZE.

Friday May 15, 2026 10:00 - 10:30 CEST
Kuppelhalle [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, 13347 Berlin, Germany

Conversations

11:00 CEST

Aspirational Imperfections - why we care about making digital worlds you can touch

Friday May 15, 2026 11:00 - 12:00 CEST

Kuppelhalle [Silent Green]

This panel will assemble game developers crafting digital games with art made from physical objects. In a medium so centered on technological developments and frame rates, what exactly is the value in making so many small detailed physical objects? How do we handle these handmade objects once they are in these digital worlds? This panel will explore both the logistics and the love of this method of game creation.

Artists

Antonio Kos Pinheiro de Andrade (he/him)

Hapshapen Games

Antonio grew up in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. For a while he worked as a full-stack software engineer, then he moved to Brooklyn and started making games. He enjoys horror movies, crossword puzzles and staring wistfully into the ocean. Currently working on Abigail at hapshapen games... Read More →

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.

Ilena Pegan (they/them)

martianwho studios & Godot Foundation

Ilena is a making a handcrafted solarpunk elder bricklayer game about repairing community. During the day, they work with Godot as a Project Manager.

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.

Jack King-Spooner (he/him)

Makes things. Had to fill this form out twice.

Lukáš Kunce (he/him)

Lukáš has been passionate about games all his life. After a few years of games journalism and agency jobs, he joined Amanita Design in 2017 to help the studio with all marketing-related work, communication and production.

Onat Hekimoglu (tbc)

Friday May 15, 2026 11:00 - 12:00 CEST
Kuppelhalle [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, 13347 Berlin, Germany

Conversations

15:00 CEST

Hyper Talks

Friday May 15, 2026 15:00 - 16:00 CEST

Kuppelhalle [Silent Green]

The Hyper Talks are 5 minute knowledge-injections. Several speakers will talk about projects, experiences, failures and sources of inspiration in their work. The Hyper Talks are a platform for both established artists as well as upcoming talents: some of the past hyper speakers ended up being winners of the A MAZE. Awards. The session is curated and hosted by Marina Díez & Leonie Wolf.

Live in Kuppelhalle, streamed in the Betonhalle stage once capacity is full.

Speakers(tbc):
Fawzi Mesmar
Ludipe
Rocío Tomé
Mr Hands
Gwen Foster
Liz Alfos
Oda Tilset
Gio Rubino
Tanat Boozayaangool
Alistair Aitcheson

Artists

Leonie (she/her)

Leonie is a Berlin-based project and event manager for Indie Arena Booth at Super Crowd. She has extensive experience in the games industry, working as a Technical Animator and Associate Art Director in game development for many years. She has worked as both a freelancer and in-house... Read More →

Marina Díez

Friday May 15, 2026 15:00 - 16:00 CEST
Kuppelhalle [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, 13347 Berlin, Germany

Conversations

15:00 CEST

Hyper Talks (stream)

Friday May 15, 2026 15:00 - 16:00 CEST

Betonhalle Stage [Silent Green]

The Hyper Talks are 5 minute knowledge-injections. Several speakers will talk about projects, experiences, failures and sources of inspiration in their work. The Hyper Talks are a platform for both established artists as well as upcoming talents: some of the past hyper speakers ended up being winners of the A MAZE. Awards. The session is curated and hosted by Marina Díez & Leonie Wolf.

Speakers(tbc):
Fawzi Mesmar
Ludipe
Rocío Tomé
Mr Hands
Gwen Foster
Liz Alfos
Oda Tilset
Gio Rubino
Tanat Boozayaangool
Alistair Aitcheson

Artists

Leonie (she/her)

Marina Díez

Friday May 15, 2026 15:00 - 16:00 CEST
Betonhalle Stage [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, 13347 Berlin, Germany

Conversations

16:45 CEST

XR-History Award nominees panel hosted by Simon Strick

Friday May 15, 2026 16:45 - 18:00 CEST

Betonhalle [Silent Green]

A panel discussion with all XR-History Award nominees hosted by Simon Strick

Content warning
Discrimination

Artists

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 →

Ren Loren Britton (they/them)

Ren Loren Britton (they/he) is a trans-disciplinary artist-designer invested in Trans*Feminism,
Technosciences, Radical Pedagogy and Disability Justice; living and working in Berlin,
Germany. They make multi-sensorial media installations that unseat sensory and
communication hierarc... Read More →

Simon Strick (he/him)

Simon Strick is an independent media/cultural studies scholar and writer. He has published widely on a variety of subjects relating to critical race theory, gender, performativity, affect and questions of the popular. In 2021, he published Rechte Gefühle (transcript), a widely cited... Read More →

Verónica Sabat

Cuerpos Migrantes

Friday May 15, 2026 16:45 - 18:00 CEST
Betonhalle [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, Berlin, Germany

Conversations

10:00 CEST

11:00 CEST

15:00 CEST

15:00 CEST

16:45 CEST

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