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.
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
Wednesday May 13, 2026 18:00 - 23:00 CEST Betonhalle [Silent Green]Gerichtstraße 35, Berlin, Germany
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 / Village is the part of the exhibition where you can play new, and unpublished games presented by indie game studios, universities, institutions, and collectives.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:
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.
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
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 / Village is the part of the exhibition where you can play new, and unpublished games presented by indie game studios, universities, institutions, and collectives.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:
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.
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.
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.
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!
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?
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.
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?
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.
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) Yifan
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.
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.
After working as a freelance game designer for a decade, Ash Rezvani returned home to the Rocky Mountains to become an Assistant Professor of Game Design & Interactive Media at the University of Montana. Her industry work centers on games-based learning and games for change, making... Read More →
Bulboka makes small personal awkward naive games in his spare time. He likes to explore different technics and materials like clay, photo collage or felt pens. His games are based on personal experiences, are often abstract and are rarely focused on gameplay.
Isaque Sanches is a Finland/Romania-based Swiss-born ludic/interaction artist of Portuguese origin, who happens to also be a commercial/blockbuster game designer.
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 →
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 →
Tereza Kotěšovcová is a game designer and programmer, currently working at Charles Games on games with social impact. She is also the creator of the eco-themed game, Planetka.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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
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:
Talking is really really hard, thankfully people don’t need to talk when they have a lad with an airplane and countless cannisters to do it for them! You are that lad, soar through the skies writing messages that were left unspoken; relationships will live, die, and evolve based on the quality of your writing. In this comedy satire on the absurdity of social media, you fly through the skies drawing messages in the clouds provided to you in cursive strokes, and get judged based on your accuracy.
Explore the traumas and experiences contained within another's psyche in this vast, dream-like experience of the broken world of his, with a unique audio-visual style.
The Gods hunger for tribute! Build settlements and weave trade routes, feed temples and earn divine boons in this board-game inspired peaceful strategy-puzzler
As the town tea reader it is your mission to give readings to lost clients. But be careful of what guidance you give, because your advice may lead to unexpected consequences.
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.
The Ecto-Terminator 20000 is a state-of-the-art ghost capturing machine that needs to be operated by two players. One will be in the front and privy to the ghost’s location as well as able to press in the capture sequence, while the other will be in the back, unjamming the gun and able to see the necessary capture sequence and share it with the player upfront. Taking a second-hand leaf-blower as a starting point, the goal of the game was to make a cooperative and physical two-player experience. The control is the game as there is no screen. The visuals including paint, ectoplasm, and LED lights add to make this an immersive experience. Capturing ghost as the game fits harmoniously with not having screens, as it allows players to interact directly with their surroundings and increases the player’s immersion. * results may vary depending on the pair operating the ECTO-TERMINATOR 20000
Namtar unfolds in an alien purgatory—a world shaped from dreams—where rebirth is not salvation but an endless cycle of transformation, decay, and becoming. Set within a psychedelic, color-saturated landscape that feels both grotesque and mesmerizing, the game explores metamorphosis as a violent yet necessary force, exposing the discomfort and vulnerability of change alongside the fragile beauty of nature in constant flux. Experience rebirth into a hand-drawn neon purgatory, animated frame-by-frame, that blends the grotesque designs of H. R Giger with the dreamlike visions of Moebius. The result is is an aesthetic distinct from its peers-Blasphemous, Gris and Castelvania- that features surreal vibrant body horror as well as vivid alien landscapes. This vision is realized through a frame-by-frame animated action-adventure experience with bullet-hell elements, born from visual experimentation across multiple graphics forms; every character, environment, and effect is uniquely illustrated, creating a tactile, ever-shifting world where horror and elegance coexist through relentless motion and combat.
Eyes open and shut. Feet rise and fall. So too, can ears be attentive. And so too, can ears be idle. Space Time Continuum of Sound is an interactive sound art experience inspired by the work of Pauline Oliveros. This is sound as ceremony, a singing of the unsung depths of sound itself. This is a call to player: listen.
SZ2000: Rabbit Simulator is a prototype of our upcoming indie game SZ2000, composed of six small interior scenes. SZ2000 is a pixel-look RPG game set in a southern Chinese town Shenzhen in the year 2000, you will play as a kid rabbit spending your 30-day summer holiday, hanging around the city and maintaining a routine: you can explore the town, talk to townsfolk, strictly follow the daily code of conduct being a good rabbit? or get some buzz, take dreamlike trips, push the boundaries to dig out what is behind a series disappearances? or just don’t. Explore freely, die often, and enjoy the life of a little rabbit.
Shoot-2-See! Redefine how you perceive 3D space with a crazy-new, glowing neon laser mechanic. Experience physics thought experiments in this squeaky colorful Arcade VR game: open Schrödinger boxes - rescue cute cat companions, travel through quantum portals and beat the clock to find the exit.
Curiosmos is a cozy space sim where you build your own solar system by hand, crafting planets, moons, gravity, atmosphere, and even life! Embark on a quest to discover the secrets of the universe!
Discharged is a an art game exploring the experiences of a Latinx veteran returning home and reacclimating to civilian life. In the prologue, you play as a teen recruited to join the military. Upon returning from combat duty, you must make your way back to your house. Bureaucracy, apathy, ICE agents and a lack of understanding stand in your way. Discharged critiques the glamorized depiction of military combat presented in commercial videogames such as Call of Duty and criticizes the US military's use of videogames to recruit teens from low-income, Latinx households.
"Learning the Ropes" is a Visual Novel/Adventure game highlighting the mundane aspects of sex work: You assume the role of a new sex worker trying to learn the trade. Your biggest challenge: Identifying suitable clients based on their inquiries. Will you be able to distinguish a reliable client from a no-show? And a keyboard wanker from a white knight? Your day-to-day choices will have an impact on your earnings and ultimately decide whether you'll make it in this industry, or not. Based on a game jam project, "Cash Please" is a title currently in early development. Please note that the itch.io page is not representative of the project we will showcase at A MAZE. (This game does not contain graphic imagery, only mildly erotic descriptions of kink practices as well as images hinting at interactions rather than showing them directly.)
You're home for the holidays, but your parents are off on a trip by themselves. First they need your help to fix the family computer so it can print their dang travel documents. Navigate early 2000s internet and viruses and try to clear that printer queue
CHILDREN OF SATURN blends first person narrative adventure gameplay with real video recordings to tell an authentic slice of life story about growing up under the effects of climate change. Through the lens of a VHS camera, experience some of the most significant moments in the lives of a group of friends during a time of absolute hopelessness. Features: Suburban exploration (aka trespassing), Home parties, Teen angst, Skating, Loitering with friends, Listening to mixtapes, Wasting your youth (again), Vandalism, Theft, Mundanity Try to find hope under an orange sky.
Deep Fog Signals is a horror puzzle mystery game with retro-futuristic hand-drawn gadgets, turn-based mechanics and a dark story. Stuck in an outpost in a sea of toxic fog, your crew has been decimated, you're cut off from the outside world and oxygen is running out. Use limited bandwidth to coordinate unstable crewmates, conduct esoteric research that could change the world and interpret strange signals from the deep.
You find an old briefcase. It moves. Alive and hungry for clothes. This alt-control experience uses tilt, opening, and physical rhythm as its language. The more it eats, the harder it becomes to handle. You’re not controlling the creature, you’re negotiating with it.
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.
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
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:
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.
Become the architect of a thriving ant colony in this real-time simulation. Establish and evolve your ant colony, grow specialized worker castes, cultivate fungus, and explore a living world above and below ground where day and night bring shifting challenges and resources.
Try your hand at “Tācn”. A medieval gaming console powered (or is it cursed by ?) magic, in which you collect tokens to battle and defeat your enemies. Its a turnbased roguelike, played on a grid board.
This is a challenging and fun quiz game of lesser-known facts and notorious quirks of all countries of the world. All questions are handwritten and accompanied by pictures and explanations.
Everything Is Computer is a “game essay” set in the aftermath of a Thielian apocalypse, where a Superintelligence AGI cult has drained humanity’s life force, leaving behind the spectral ruins of startup dreams. The game repurposes texts, tweets, and interviews from Silicon Valley’s techno-libertarian prophets as mythological debris, forming a nonlinear narrative about the collapse of futurist promises.
Paint your city with plants! In this cosy guerilla gardening game, turn harmful areas into gardens that everyone can use.
Corporations have left neglected building projects and unmaintained facilities all over the city. Sure, you don't have the right to use their land...but surely your community shouldn't have to suffer due to corporate mismanagement. And all you're doing is growing some plants to make the space usable again. How controversial can that be?
Trail of Gods: The Cursed Island is a short, brutal adventure where you must fight, die, and learn your way through a beautiful but merciless world that demands everything from this world and beyond.
Explore an open-world 100 Aker Woods while outwitting a twisted Winnie-the-Pooh who wants to eat you. Upgrade yourself and craft elaborate traps to stop him using black honey.
