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.

12:00 CEST

MBB - Spotlight Games Berlin

Wednesday May 13, 2026 12:00 - 15:30 CEST

Kuppelhalle [Silent Green]

Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg invites to Spotlight Games Berlin.

Together with industry professionals, policymakers, and the press, we’ll be discussing current developments in the games industry in Berlin, Brandenburg, and beyond – through fireside chats, panels, and direct exchange.

For reservation please register here (limited seats): https://sweapevent.com/b?p=spotlightgamesberlin2026

Wednesday May 13, 2026 12:00 - 15:30 CEST
Kuppelhalle [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, 13347 Berlin, Germany

Networking

18:00 CEST

A MAZE. Invites

Wednesday May 13, 2026 18:00 - 20:00 CEST

Kuppelhalle [Silent Green]

The networking event A MAZE. INVITES is aimed exclusively at invited guests from the games industry, as well as cultural institutions and artists from Berlin and the surrounding area. The aim of the event is to offer an open discourse between (international) cultural practitioners who work on the crossover between digital culture and games and playful media – whether in developer studios, the independent arts, or established institutions such as museums and theaters.

This event is invitation only.

Wednesday May 13, 2026 18:00 - 20:00 CEST
Kuppelhalle [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, 13347 Berlin, Germany

Networking

20:30 CEST

Qualia

Wednesday May 13, 2026 20:30 - 21:30 CEST

Kuppelhalle [Silent Green]

Qualia combines different new-media practices and perspectives, rethinking how realtime simulations can intersect with live music performance. The result guides the audience on a pilgrimage into the inner world of an organism, an agent revealing its hidden systems, symbols and hierarchies raising the question: what is it like? The characteristics of mental states are often described to carry an explanatory gap in which we struggle to tell about experiences to others. This ontological shock cannot be communicated, or apprehended by any means other than direct experience. Simulating empathy in this, is an attempt to directly understand and relate to the qualia of another's experience, bridging the gap between multiple, separate inner worlds.

Artists

Philip Wölk & Moshe Linke

Moshe Linke is an artist and experimental game developer who utilizes real-time media and game engines as a medium. His primary interests include architecture as a guiding principle for level design, solipsism, sonder, isolation and the ongoing importance of personal, author game... Read More →

Wednesday May 13, 2026 20:30 - 21:30 CEST
Kuppelhalle [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, 13347 Berlin, Germany

AV performance

10:30 CEST

Cubature: How to Make a Game from Wood

Thursday May 14, 2026 10:30 - 11:00 CEST

Kuppelhalle [Silent Green]

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

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 →

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

Talk

11:00 CEST

The artist is present: Making personal games

Thursday May 14, 2026 11:00 - 11:30 CEST

Kuppelhalle [Silent Green]

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

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

Talk

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

Kuppelhalle [Silent Green]

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

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 →

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.

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.

Junipeer (he/they)

Junipeer (pseudonym) is a representing member of the STJV, the largest video game union in France.

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

Conversations

12:30 CEST

Kuppelhalle Stage - BREAK - (12:30 - 14:00)

Thursday May 14, 2026 12:30 - 14:00 CEST

Kuppelhalle [Silent Green]

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

14:00 CEST

GamesConnect AFRICA: Building the Continental Gaming Ecosystem

Thursday May 14, 2026 14:00 - 14:20 CEST

Kuppelhalle [Silent Green]

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

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 →

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

14:20 CEST

A Story of Personal Iteration

Thursday May 14, 2026 14:20 - 14:50 CEST

Kuppelhalle [Silent Green]

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

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

14:50 CEST

With Love From Kenya: Connecting My Culture to Games

Thursday May 14, 2026 14:50 - 15:25 CEST

Kuppelhalle [Silent Green]

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

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

15:30 CEST

Expanding OTHERWORLDS

Thursday May 14, 2026 15:30 - 16:00 CEST

Kuppelhalle [Silent Green]

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

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

16:00 CEST

Kuppelhalle Stage - BREAK - (16:00 - 16:30)

Thursday May 14, 2026 16:00 - 16:30 CEST

Kuppelhalle [Silent Green]

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

Kuppelhalle [Silent Green]

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

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

Talk

17:00 CEST

Counterfeit Games: Anti-Game Approaches to Playable Experiences

Thursday May 14, 2026 17:00 - 17:30 CEST

Kuppelhalle [Silent Green]

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

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

Talk

17:30 CEST

TBA

Thursday May 14, 2026 17:30 - 18:00 CEST

Kuppelhalle [Silent Green]

TBA

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

18:45 CEST

The Line is the Game

Thursday May 14, 2026 18:45 - 19:45 CEST

Kuppelhalle [Silent Green]

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

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

Interactive

20:00 CEST

labRats

Thursday May 14, 2026 20:00 - 21:30 CEST

Kuppelhalle [Silent Green]

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

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 →

Nicole Orabona (they/she)

cirqueSaw

Thursday May 14, 2026 20:00 - 21:30 CEST
Kuppelhalle [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, 13347 Berlin, Germany

Interactive

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

10:30 CEST

Why Computer Games are Puppet Shows

Friday May 15, 2026 10:30 - 11:00 CEST

Kuppelhalle [Silent Green]

Puppet shows are one of the oldest forms of entertainment and computer games are among the newest, but they have much in common!

Running a puppet show? Put up a booth and ready your puppets, your props and your backcloths. You have a story in mind, maybe even a script, and you play it. Making any kind of game with characters? Make your character assets, your props, your backgrounds. You’ve created a world. There may be narrative and pieces of script, but you set the player off with their puppet and tell them: have fun with it.

If you ever play with your toys and send them on adventures you’re playing a game and you’re giving yourself a puppet show. (And if you never send toys on adventures, you’re missing a treat!)

Content warning
A brief mention of mortality, but nothing grizzly or shocking.

Artists

Ben Swithen (she/they)

Ben Swithen is a writer, music-maker and indie game developer who made the game ‘Buy Hyacinths’ (about one of the first sheep to go to a human university) and ‘Trans Theft Horso’ (about gender gladness in the feverish west). They do work for Geeks for Social Change, and in... Read More →

Friday May 15, 2026 10:30 - 11:00 CEST
Kuppelhalle [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, 13347 Berlin, Germany

Talk

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

12:00 CEST

Your Body Is the Controller: Designing Physical Play through How To Pet Your Cat and InSync XR

Friday May 15, 2026 12:00 - 12:30 CEST

Kuppelhalle [Silent Green]

Most controllers are designed to disappear. These ones are designed to be touched, watched, and cared for.
In this talk, Quinn Liu reflects on the making of How To Pet Your Cat and InSync XR — two physical-digital works that turn interaction into a tactile encounter between body and object. A giant plush cat becomes public comedy and a social magnet. A responsive animatronic creature in XR becomes something quieter: a presence that notices how you move, and asks to be approached with care. Across these projects, the talk explores how material, sensors, sound, feedback, and movement shape the way we read — and come to trust — machines that feel almost alive.

Artists

Quinn "Qingyun" Liu (she/her)

Quinn "Qingyun" Liu is a Los Angeles-based creative technologist and interaction designer working between games, XR, and physical installation. Her work explores physical interfaces that feel alive, rethinking our relationship with machines through touch-based play and soft responsive... Read More →

Friday May 15, 2026 12:00 - 12:30 CEST
Kuppelhalle [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, 13347 Berlin, Germany

Talk

12:30 CEST

Kuppelhalle Stage - BREAK - (12:30 - 14:00)

Friday May 15, 2026 12:30 - 14:00 CEST

Kuppelhalle [Silent Green]

Enjoy the sun, play some games, eat some food, catch up with other people! See you after the break!

Friday May 15, 2026 12:30 - 14:00 CEST
Kuppelhalle [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, 13347 Berlin, Germany

14:00 CEST

CLIPPED HORIZON

Friday May 15, 2026 14:00 - 14:45 CEST

Kuppelhalle [Silent Green]

This talk explores Alice Bucknell’s work through the lens of clipping: the moment in a video game when the player slips through a wall or falls beyond the map. Often treated as a technical error, clipping becomes a method for breaking open systems and exposing their ecological, political, and epistemic structures. Across video games such as The Alluvials (2024), Small Void (2025), Nihghtcrawlers (2025), and Earth Engine (2026), Bucknell uses gamespace as a site for speculative experimentation, blurring boundaries between human and nonhuman, natural and synthetic intelligence, self and world. In this framework, play offers an affective encounter with the world that’s grounded in total feeling rather than totalized knowledge.

Artists

Alice Bucknell (they/them)

Alice Bucknell is an artist, writer and educator based in Los Angeles. Their work explores the aﬀective dimensions of video games as interfaces for understanding complex systems, relationships, and forms of knowledge. Bucknell is interested in the ecological dimensions of play as... Read More →

Friday May 15, 2026 14:00 - 14:45 CEST
Kuppelhalle [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, 13347 Berlin, Germany

Talk

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

20:00 CEST

A MAZE. Award Show

Friday May 15, 2026 20:00 - 21:45 CEST

Kuppelhalle [Silent Green]

IT IS SHOWTIME AND WE ARE EXCITED TO HIGHLIGHT THE NEW WAVE OF GAME & PLAYFUL MEDIA CREATORS

With 435 submissions from 78 countries, the 15th international A MAZE. Awards received more entries from more locations than ever before competing for 7 awards and the Audience Award. The Award Show presents the 33 nominations covering innovative performances, digital poems, wild and cultural experiences, personal stories as well as stunning game worlds and works of interactive media art.

Awards: Most Amazing Award | Human Human Machine Award | Long Feature Award | Digital Moment Award | Explorer Award | WINGS Award (presented by WINGS) | XR-History Award (presented by Körber-Stiftung) | Audience Award

👉 See all Nominees and their categories

In this years colorful and wild show, moderator Tim Rogers will be joined by Sarah Bashir from the Audience Stage at Betonhalle. A performance by Gelbart will give a taste of the afterparty to come and the final jury consisting of Anan Fries, Antonin Fourneau, Farfama, Meghna Jayanth and last year's winner Julián Cordero will finally reveal the winners.

MAIN STAGE AT KUPPELHALLE
Doors will open at 19:30. Pre-Show from Audience Stage will be streamed. Seats at groundfloor only available for Nominees (for everyone else there is also the top floor balcony and spots for standing - great to dance though!).

AUDIENCE STAGE AT BETONHALLE
Pre-Show starts at 19:30. If you want to take part in the 15years A MAZE. raffle or the interactive Audience Award part - this is the place to be! Award Show from the Main Stage will be streamed.

Artists

Anan Fries (they/them)

Anan Fries (they/them) is an interdisciplinary artist and researcher who works at the intersection of digital and performing arts. They create performances, installations, and video works influenced by Posthuman and Xenofeminist discourse. Their works explore themes of transformation... Read More →

Antonin Fourneau (he/him)

Antonin Fourneau (he/him) is a French artist and creator exploring the playful side of technology. Blending light, sound, and DIY culture, he designs interactive installations that function like open playgrounds, inviting audiences to touch, shout, draw, and experiment. His work transforms... Read More →

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 →

GELBART

Ever since landing in Berlin’s electronic scene in 2005, Gelbart has earned a reputation as one of the city’s most innovative musicians. A self-taught multi-instrumentalist, composer, filmmaker, and author, his work exists at the intersection of the surreal and the visceral, blending... Read More →

Julián Cordero (he/him)

Julián Cordero (he/him) is a game developer from Quito, Ecuador, now based in New York City. His latest project, despelote, is a slice-of-life adventure about childhood and the magical grip soccer held over the people of Quito in 2001. He’s passionate about finding new ways to... Read More →

Meghna Jayanth (she/her)

Meghna Jayanth (she/her) designs worlds which explore fantasies and pleasures counter to capitalism-colonialism. Her work critiques contemporary technopolitics and excavates video games’ potential as sites of radical and liberatory re-imagination. Her work includes IGF winner 80... Read More →

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 →

Tim Rogers (he/him)

Tim has worked in most aspects of video game development and criticism for two decades. Since 2007 he has owned Action Button, a design consulting agency and game development studio which since 2020 also produces video essays on YouTube. He currently lives in Manhattan, New York... Read More →

Friday May 15, 2026 20:00 - 21:45 CEST
Kuppelhalle [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, 13347 Berlin, Germany

Special

about

12:00 CEST

labRats

Saturday May 16, 2026 12:00 - 13:30 CEST

Kuppelhalle [Silent Green]

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 amount) 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

Nathan Leigh (he/him)

cirqueSaw

Nicole Orabona (they/she)

cirqueSaw

Saturday May 16, 2026 12:00 - 13:30 CEST
Kuppelhalle [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, 13347 Berlin, Germany

Interactive

15:30 CEST

Car Boot Casino* (*Krimskramskasino)

Saturday May 16, 2026 15:30 - 18:00 CEST

Kuppelhalle [Silent Green]

Come join us in the hallowed halls of the Car Boot Casino* (*Krimskramskasino). Join us for an afternoon of homebrew card and bluffing games lovingly crafted by leading game designers. Pick a game, test your luck and horde your tickets for a chance to win one of our authentically sourced car boot sale* (*krimskrams) prizes.

Hosted by Marie Foulston

With a.o.:
Cards!
Holly Gramazio (she/her)
This is a card game in which participants try to get more points than the other participants in the game get.

The Invisible Casino
c.diffin (he/him)
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 weird and obtuse games. Just walk up and start playing… what have you got to lose?

Gambit
Finn Carney (they/them)
Gambit is a minimalist duelling game with an emphasis on Yomi. Two player-controlled game pieces face each other in an arena, with players placing 3 actions per turn which are play out simultaneously. The first player to strike their opponent 3 times wins. Come for epic duels, stay for when you and your opponent perform the same sequence of actions at each other multiple times in a row.

Cave
Ada Null (she/her)
A multiplayer choose-your-own-adventure game dealt in cards by a veiled figure. Seek the tomb of your House alongside your fellow strangers, or walk alone in hope for a new future.

Sausages Game
V Buckenham (she/her)
A silly game about stealing other people's chips (and sausages) and trying not to starve to death.

More to be announced!

Artists

Ada Null (she/her)

Ada Null tells stories of broken pasts, uncertain futures, and the ghosts who never left. An artist, writer, and game maker working in London, she invites you to sit with your fellow strangers and witness an ending together. Her work includes the tiller-controlled installation videogame... Read More →

c.diffin (he/him)

C.diffin is a games designer from Reading, England. He's very much in his Debutante era.

Finn Carney (they/them)

Finn Carney is a London-based Game Designer / Developer, with a focus on engineering elegant and playful systems. At any given time you can find them doing a mix of independent game development, freelance design consultancy, teaching game development, writing about games, or fending... Read More →

Holly Gramazio (she/her)

some games, some curation, these days mostly writing

Marie Foulston (she/her)

An award winning videogame curator and creative director of exhibitions, games and immersive experiences. Marie heads up the creative studio Good Afternoon.

V Buckenham (she/her)

Downpour Limited

V Buckenham is the creator of Downpour, an app that makes it easy to make little games on your phone. Before that, she was the creator of Cheap Bots Done Quick, a website that made it easy to make little Twitterbots on your computer. She's also made things which were hard to use... Read More →

Saturday May 16, 2026 15:30 - 18:00 CEST
Kuppelhalle [Silent Green] Gerichtstraße 35, 13347 Berlin, Germany

Interactive

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