A MAZE. / Berlin 2018

Access to general public from 18:00 to 01:00: 10€ (includes music performances) 
Access to festival ticket holders: free

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 virtual reality experiences, local multiplayer games, interactive installations and many more of this versatile art-form.

Welcome words by festival director Thorsten S. Wiedemann.

Durational performance on collaborative alternative timelines incl. let’s plays, radical labour politics, dying 3d models and alt-modes of production. Throughout the course of the evening there will be a series of talks and performances by AAA collective members.

Join us on Stage 1 before the talks kick off for a relaxed session. Marie Claire LeBlanc Flanagan will be talking about her experience design efforts at A MAZE. / Berlin 2018. There might be drone music as well. Please note we won't be offering breakfast to attendees, this is a bring-your-own-breakfast kind of thing, but Marie promised she'll get a couple of croissants!

Schedule:

10.30-10.35 | Opening Björn Bartholdy and Gundolf S. Freyermuth
10.35-11.15 | Opening Keynote Frans Mäyrä
11.15-11.45 | Katharina Tillmanns project presentation
11.45-12.15 | Emmanuel Guardiola project presentation
12.15-12.45 | Isabela Granic project presentation
12.45-13.30 | Closing Keynote Pippin Barr

- - - - -

The integration of academic and artistic research on games is a central desideratum of game studies - but to a certain extent it is already a lived reality. This Summit deals with the fundamental question of how the procedures and results of academic and artistic research relate to one another. Furthermore, outstanding projects will be presented that embody the interface between academic and artistic research.

Prof. Dr. Frans Mäyrä (University of Tampere), director of the Finnish Center of Excellence for Game Culture Studies, will open the summit with a keynote on the importance of multidisciplinary collaboration in game research. Katharina Tillmanns (TH Cologne) will then present her work on the augmented reality games app Porta Praetoria C.C.A.A., followed by Prof. Dr. Isabela Granic (Radboud University, Netherlands), who will present virtual reality projects in the context of neuroscience. Prof. Dr. Emmanuel Guardiola (TH Cologne) will then offer some reflections on the research challenges he faced in the production of the learning app "Antura and the Letters." Prof. Dr. Pippin Barr (Concordia University, Canada) will give the closing keynote on researching game design.

- - - - -

Prof. Björn Bartholdy, Prof. Dr. Gundolf S. Freyermuth: Academic and Artistic Research on Digital Games

Welcoming and introduction of the Clash of Realitites@A MAZE. / Berlin track.

- - - - -

Prof. Dr. Frans Mäyrä: Potentials of multidisciplinary collaboration in the study of future game and play forms

The work in the University of Tampere Game Research Lab (UTAgamelab) has been dealing with some of the key emerging game and play forms over the last two decades, such as location-based mobile multiplayer gaming, pervasive play, games with digital distribution and micropayments, social network games, and hybrid playful designs. Much of such work has been based on a combination of humanities, social sciences and design research work, with an aim to build bridges between theoretical and foundational research, and applied, future oriented work. In this talk, professor Frans Mäyrä will discuss experiences from this kind of combinations of academic and creative work, with reference on how such lessons have influenced the planning of new “Centre of Excellence in Game Culture Studies” (2018-2025), which he is currently heading.

- - - - -

Katharina Tillmanns: Art & Artifacts: Location-Based Learning with Augmented Reality

Porta Praetoria C.C.A.A. is a location-based Augmented-Reality game app for smartphones that introduces players to the Roman roots of Cologne. By blending in first-century Roman architecture and artifacts within the contemporary cityscape, the app playfully demonstrates the development and origins of today ́s Cologne city center. Targeted at pupils age 10-15, Porta Praetoria C.C.A.A. ́s cooperative and explorative approach allows for an autonomous learning experience that provides historical facts while establishing relevance and an overarching motivational fundament for further studies. - The game app is being developed at the Cologne Game Lab at the University of Arts, Technology & Sciences TH Köln and currently in an advanced prototype phase. The project is funded by Rheinenergie Foundation and the ERDF program.

- - - - -

Prof. Dr. Emmanuel Guardiola: Research challenges of the humanitarian game Antura and the Letters

Antura and the Letters is an Arabic literacy and psychosocial support free mobile game addressing 5 to 10-year-old Syrian child refugees. After two years of development and open beta the final version is now released along with the results of a large field test report evaluating the impact of the game on the most fragile audience in refugee camps.Throughout this applied research project the team was faced with different challenges: choice of the educational and the psycho-social approaches; game design methodologies integrating educational and psychological objectives; application of humanitarian principles as the ”do no harm” in a game production; integration of refugees in the design and production; design of the evaluation protocols in this complex setting; distribution specificities; communication methods to reach the families; etc. This talk exposes multiple points of view on this multidisciplinary project and highlights contributions in different research fields.

- - - - -

Prof. Dr. Isabela Granic: The Art and Science of Virtual Reality Experiences that Promote Emotional and Mental Health

Innovative, scalable, deeply evocative and engaging experiences that can address rampant anxiety and depression rates are urgently needed. We combine neuroscience, developmental and clinical psychology with emotionally evocative VR game design to develop experiences that promote emotional health and well being. To illustrate our multidisciplinary approach, I will present DEEP, a novel biofeedback VR video game. In DEEP, your breath is the joystick and through this embodied play, individuals learn skills that decreases anxiety in their everyday lives. The promise of future innovations for applied games that use biofeedback tools and integrate VR and mobile platforms will be discussed. Through the combination of emotionally evocative design and evidence-based behavioural change mechanisms, these tools have the potential to dramatically improve the mental health of the next generation of youth.

- - - - -

Prof. Dr. Pippin Barr: Materialising Game Design

Game design is invisible in many ways. By the time a videogame is played, the multitude of decisions that were made along the way, from mechanics to technologies to aesthetics, are frozen into place and non-negotiable. It is difficult for a player not to see the result as a monolithic block, unchangeable and unchanging. For the same reasons, it can be challenging for scholars to get a grasp on the living design process itself and they are most often left to analyse and deconstruct its results. Finally, creators themselves, who literally go through the process first-hand, often have no easy way to concretely consider, assess, and discuss their work.

In this talk, Pippin Barr will discuss two versions of "materialising" game design for these audiences. First, he will present a form of videogame design that foregrounds design and technology itself in the finished product, exposing the seams, decisions, and even the arbitrariness of a given game's structure. This represents a way to disseminate videogame design research in the form of videogames themselves. Second, he will outline and give examples of an approach he and his collaborators are calling "the method", a formalised approach to videogame design and development inspired by design research and prototyping theory with a practical focus on documenting the process as it happens for future analysis and consideration. This method yields both extensive materials for post-release analysis and research in the form of incremental builds and design writing in a version control repository as well as the opportunity for the designer to systematically materialise their design process as they perform it.In both cases, the hope is to perform the magic trick of rendering the invisible visible again.

Join Sagan Yee on a journey through the world of vaporwave, a music microgenre / Internet meme / legit art movement! Discover why videogames make the perfect vessel for the ghosts of Late Capitalism and the absurdity of modern existence!

(Note: this talk replaces Meg Jayanth's talk, which unfortunately had to be cancelled at the very last minute due to unforeseen circumstances)

This talk aims to speak about the kids in game development that they'd never heard about but definitely exist because the speaker is one of them.

Online registration is *not* required to attend this workshop. Spots will be assigned on a first-come first-served basis, so make sure to be at the workshop location at least 20 minutes before the starting time.

Some workshops have special requirements: make sure to read the description and bring what’s needed.

- - - - -

It comes as no surprise that computer games draw from research in many fields, with all the fancy math, algorithms, and simulations running behind the curtains. But what about the other way? Can games return the favor and push science forward? Well, of course they can. There are in fact multiple ways how that happens. In this workshop we are going to quickly run through some of the examples of games that help science and then try to brainstorm our own designs for games that could help this cause.

Intended audience: Everybody interested in science and games. Those with background in serious games are probably not going to learn much new, but are welcome to come and share their insights.

Requirements: No computer work will be involved in this workshop. Interest in games, science, and talking to other people is recommended :)

Tools participants should bring: Nothing.

A group of people practice their pitching skills and learn a little bit about communication along the way. But with permadeath.

Capacity for this session is limited, spots will be assigned on a first-come first-served basis: we recommend meeting in The Devolution of SUPERHOT exhibition area at least 20 minutes before the starting time.

For the ultimate insight into the development of SUPERHOT and its design decisions. Guided tours through the exhibition by the Game Director Piotr Iwanicki himself, supported by the curator of the exhibition Csongor Baranyai. Complementing the exhibited versions by background information, secrets and anecdotes.

The tours are a part of Devolution #4: SUPERHOT, a cooperation between Devolution, A MAZE. / Berlin 2018, SUPERHOT Team and Game Design // UE.

Online registration is *not* required to attend this workshop. Spots will be assigned on a first-come first-served basis, so make sure to be at the workshop location at least 20 minutes before the starting time.

Some workshops have special requirements: make sure to read the description and bring what’s needed.

- - - - -

The best effects in games are created using shaders. Holograms, dissolve effects, funky styles or generative art. You can even make logos :)When you control shaders, you control the visuals of your game. And with the arrival of ShaderGraph, finally you can create your own without writing a line of code and let free your artistic vision.In this workshop, we will go through the basics of ShaderGraph and some of the main nodes. After a brief explanation, we will go hands-on and you will get to create your own shader effect. You can come up with an idea for an effect, or follow one of the pre-made challenges that we have prepared for you.

Intended audience: Artists and developers with an artistic mindset.

Requirements: Just a basic knowledge of Unity (GameObjects, assets, etc.) and how to navigate its interface. You can learn the basics with the in-editor Interactive Tutorials (more info here). No programming knowledge is required.

Tools participants should bring: A computer with Unity 2018.1 installed, and a mouse (for your own sake!). Having graphic software and/or graphic tablets to make textures is a plus, but not necessary.

Players emulate what they play into the community: when games don't take violence and adult topics seriously, they become joke subjects. We need games that encourage players to think and reflect, but it can be hard when the environment fights change. It's time to get serious about games.

Having made over 100 games, James Earl Cox III knows the importance of breaking from established norms for his own sake and for games as a whole. We’ll dive into the ways we all shape the medium, how it shapes us back, and what we can do to continue expanding it and making it a better place. Then, maybe we can add the fun back in :)

Mexico City, Seoul, Boston, Jakarta, São Paulo, Novosibirsk, Athens, and Bangkok: for eight game jams all over the world and beyond, ART GAMES unites programmers and game developers as well as artists and creatives. Along with Berlin-based developers Maschinen-Mensch, they will take you on a tour through indie scenes worldwide. In a series of micro talks, we will learn about the obstacles that game developers face on the other side of the globe. What drives them? How do you talk about issues in a society which is reinventing itself? How do games change their world? These presentations will be followed by a Q&A with all participants of ART GAMES, Maschinen-Mensch, and Lisa Mayerhöfer, project coordinator of the Goethe-Institut.

Drawing from their diversity, creative minds from all over the world developed (digital) games which renegotiate the boundaries between art, politics, and games. A selection of ten games from all locations will be exhibited at A MAZE. Festival 2018. Participants and partners from across the globe will travel to Germany to metamorphose the worldwide virtual network of ART GAMES into an analogue one and to meet you at the festival!​

Learn about the small but vibrant indie scene in Novosibirsk aka Silicon Taiga and why “Choo-Choose” wants you to run over a Big Mac! Find out how abstract shapes in “circled.” question what it means to be close. Or take the place of a radiant sun in “SunShine” and burn your own imperfect utopia to the ground. And if you are ready to leave planet Earth behind and become an alien tribe on another planet, we recommend travelling to the “2984 Little Brothers” in a faraway galaxy. “Struggling Dreams” asks you to look back and evoke memories of better times in order to envision a safer future. With “Babel-o-Rama” you can conquer any language barrier as long as you figure out how to talk to each other. Cooperation is also key in “Chain Reaction”, a lesson that you learn the hard way when you try to escape from a dungeon being chained to other prisoners. To get away with your crimes scot-free in return for showers of cash is the goal of “Make it Rain”. Delve into the beautiful virtual reality of “Cacophony” and conduct a choir of eerie figures. It is up to you whose lips are zipped and whose voice is heard! “Status” also puts you in charge of everyone else’s fate – who will be bedded in roses and whose buttocks will get wet?

ART GAMES is a project of the Goethe-Institut in cooperation with Maschinen-Mensch and is sponsored by the Federal Foreign Office of Germany.

Twitter handle and hashtag: @Gr8ArtGames    #gr8ArtGames

Mexico City: circled.
Produced by: Pablo Francisco Montes Romero, Mariana Mena Tello, Omar Ivan Toledano Landero, Nicolás Danziger, Rafael Escalante, Emilio Gerardo Estrada Lucero
Speakers: Mariana Mena Tello, Nicolás Danziger

Seoul: SunShine
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uw4oE8C_0bQ
Produced by: Je-won Yoon, Yunjeong Kim, Aram Lee Miller, Hyijin Cho, Saehoon Lee
Speakers: Yunjeong Kim, Je-won Yoon

Seoul: 2984 Little Brother
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HarvWG-TllA
Produced by: Yongjoo Yoo, Ga-young An, Deokwon Kim, Jaemin Park
Speakers: Yongjoo Yoo, Jaemin Park

Boston: Struggling Dreams
Produced by: Jeffrey Campbell, Zhuo (Aslanta) Chen, Joe Marchuk, Daniel Williams
Speakers: Zhuo (Aslanta) Chen, Joe Marchuk

Jakarta: Babel-o-Rama
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfm5uF7q4fo
Produced by: Jeffin Andria P., M. Tomy Kurniawan, Fandry Indrayadi, Siska Butar Butar, Cherina La Rubatt, M. Abdul Karim
Speakers: Tomy Kurniawan, Fandry Indrayadi

São Paulo: Chain Reaction
Trailer: https://vimeo.com/259054321
Produced by: Vitor Santana Melo Silva, Wellington Fattori, Isabelle Linares, Roberto Romão, Yukio L. K. Odani, Orlando Batista, André Mariano, Bruna Correa
Speakers: Vitor Santana Melo Silva, Wellington Fattori

Novosibirsk: Choo-Choose
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRUR919rH6A
Produced by: Petrushkov Mikhail, Grigoriev Konstantin, Kalmykova Ekaterina, Avdeev Oleg, Yustovich Ksenia
Speakers: Grigoriev Konstantin, Kalmykova Ekaterina

Athens: Cacophony
Trailer: https://vimeo.com/258135335
Produced by: Christina Chrysanthopoulou, Vasileios Karavasilis, Anthony Theodorelos, Christos Kasimidis
Speakers: Christina Chrysanthopoulou, Vasileios Karavasilis

Athens: Status
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVsm0Q8VKm4
Produced by: Tasos Protopapas, Michalis Lygiaris, Kiprianos Skafidas, Haralabos Andrianidis
Speaker: Tasos Protopapas

Bangkok: Make It Rain
Produced by: Saranpat Sereewiwattana, Charlie Sitthisakuldech, Thanapat Tassanavijitwong, Chanatip Buranawarodomkul, Swit Khomapat
Speakers: Saranpat Sereewiwattana, Chanatip Buranawarodomkul

From the caves of Lascaux to contemporary art galleries, drawing has held a unique place in history amongst the artistic mediums. Simple and direct, its communicative power is immediately accessible and can overcome cultural and language barriers. Considering its artistic tradition, power for intuitive communication, and intrinsic playful qualities, why is drawing so underrepresented as a mechanic in the history of games? Perhaps it's more common than you think. This talk will take a close look at digital and non-digital drawing games of all kinds.

Tim Rogers’s studio Action Button Entertainment has made a couple video games—such as VIDEOBALL! However, there are plenty of games they almost made, yet didn’t. Tim Rogers will show some of those games. Many of them are pretty stupid!

Online registration is *not* required to attend this workshop. Spots will be assigned on a first-come first-served basis, so make sure to be at the workshop location at least 20 minutes before the starting time.

Some workshops have special requirements: make sure to read the description and bring what’s needed.

- - - - -

Imagine you're taking part in a game jam. You want your game to have sounds, but the time is limited, you have plenty of other things to do, and the player probably won't notice. And you are wrong ! You don't need that much time to make a soundtrack and a couple of sound effects, and even if, after the brainstorming, you have no idea about what your game will feel like, it's something you can do at the beginning of the process. And there's a great possibility this will improve the player experience.

During this workshop, I'll give you some advises about what to do or no do when you're making music for a game jam game, and also some clue to make sound effects. After that you'll have some time to make a quick soundtrack for an imaginary game, and I will help you making it.

Intended audience: Anybody who already have some basics about making music and are willing to make soundtracks for games.

Requirements: You already know some of the basics of making music, and you want to know how you can apply these basics in soundtracks and sound effects. It doesn't matter if you have never made a finished track, what matters is that you know how to write little melodies with your DAW (Digital Audio Workstation), tracker or whatever you are familiar to.

Tools participants should bring:
• A computer with your favorite DAW or tracker, or anything you can use to make and record music (i.e.: game boy, OP-1, anything)
• Headphones ! (your classmates will thank you)

Hyper Talks are short and fun 5 minute knowledge-injections. Ten speakers (+ a special surprise one) 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 hosted by A MAZE. / Berlin programme manager Lorenzo Pilia.

- - - - -

Anya Combs: 15 of My Favorite Flash Games
I am the former Developer Relations person at AddictingGames. Here are 15 of my favorite flash games.

- - - - -

Claudia Miranda: How will you know when it is done?
A talk about her experience creating a VR environment / art piece that helped her understand her own use of disassociation as a coping mechanism.

- - - - -

Christina Chrysanthopoulou: On Art and Virtual Reality
A short talk about the added value that virtual reality offers to interactive works of art and a brief presentation of such paradigms.

- - - - -

Claire Morley: Accessible creative expression through small tools
Getting started with game development can be daunting, time-consuming, and inaccessible. I taught myself to code and use Unity over a number of years but started using 'small' tools like Bitsy and Flatpack last year, and have found that I am able to use them to articulate and complete my game ideas in a much more realistic time/energy-frame!

- - - - -

Jazz Mickle: An Alternate History Of Game Development
With 20 years of modding history and progress, with relatively little interaction with other fields, the work coming out of the Doom community has creating completely unique takes on design and technical progress. Here's how it changed my outlook on Everything.

- - - - -

Hannah Nicklin: N+1, bikes in games
An in depth analysis of bikes in games which are not about bikes but that contain them. By someone who likes bikes. And makes games.

- - - - -

Malena Klaus: Kickstarted intimacy – Designing intimate spaces for strangers
Are you sick of having the same small talk conversations all the time? Are you craving real, deep connections instead? So were we!That is why we designed "Blanket Space", an analogue, 3-player experience which aims to create intimate, respectful connections between total strangers. And it works!This talk describes how we designed for intimacy, how emotionally straining the process was and how beneficial the outcome.

- - - - -

Miguel Alva: Future II. Mapping reality.
A hyper explanation of Output, a documentary on games and interactive art designed for screening in 2067.

- - - - -

Natalie Clayton: Small Train Dreams
A year ago this week, I released my own take on the queer artgame / first person walker genres.
Let's talk about how working alongside tight limitations helped me dream small.

- - - - -

Xalavier Nelson Jr.: How To Run a Billy Ocean LARP on the Last Day of GDC Without Dying
Interested in how social dynamics and physical presence can affect the games you create? Narrative designer and PC Gamer columnist Xalavier Nelson Jr. walks you through the 5 fundamentals of social role-play and game design, using a real-world example from GDC 2018.

Bare it all!

In Under The Hood, three developers take the stage to show off the naked innards of their current project. Each team has 25 minutes to show the inner workings of one part of their game to the live audience. Come by, learn how the sausage is made and ask the most probing of questions!

- - - - -

Eyal Stern (Mad About Pandas): Narrative Control in Hitchhiker
Take a close look at how we built a comprehensive narrative system suited for a narrative director to piece together the story piece by piece with complete control.

- - - - -

Jennifer Schneidereit (Nyamyam): A comedy written in the stars: Astrology gameplay and storytelling in Astrologaster
Astrologaster is a comedy game based on the real-life casebooks of 16th century medical Astrologer Simon Forman. Players take on the role of Forman to help patient’s with problems, by interpreting answers found in the stars. In this session we will have a look at how the team at Nyamyam employs the use of real Astrology as core gameplay mechanic and storytelling device. We will also cover “Star Kit”, Nyamyam’s in-house design tool specifically created for Astrologaster.

- - - - -

Johan Gjestland (Team Fugl): The joy of level creation in Fugl
Watch Johan Gjestland show and explain his GPU based level interactive editor to procedurally generate beautiful levels filled with towering rocks for the flying-game Fugl.

In the framework of the A MAZE. / Berlin Festival, French Tech Berlin is proud to partner with Spielfabrique, a franco-german Game Accelerator and ARTE to invite you to exchange and learn more about how to develop projects in Gaming with a Franco-German co-production!

A panel discussion on the models & tools available for a binational coproduction followed by the launch of a game coproduced between both countries : Homo Machina. The event will be followed by networking drinks.

16h30-16h45 : Welcome

16h45-17h : Keynote

17h -17h30 : Panel discussion on Gaming : how to develop a Franco-German co-production?

• SpielFabrique / Feierabend Production: Thierry Baujard
• Bluebytes / Ubisoft : Karsten Lehmann
• Arte Experience: Andrien Larouzée
• Medienboard Berlin Brandenbourg: Ina Göring

17h30-18h : Launch of Game Homo Machina, a Franco-German co-production

• Introduction about Fritz Kahn by Thilo von Debschitz, author
• Studio Darjeeling, Game Producer, Paris - Noam Roubah

18h-19h : Enjoy the Game & Network

"Tea with Amaryllis" is a participatory art piece functioning like a cleansing ritual. It relies on the audience to give up a very personal piece of themselves. It's about trust and vulnerability, and about the age-old wisdom that formulating and expressing pain may lessen it.

In the ritual you are asked to think of a memory, feeling or thought that is painful to you. You decide how big or small. No one will see the answer.
You write it down in 1 sentence and put it into a black teapot, thereby symbolically discarding it forever.

This collection of discarded words then becomes an ingredient for a special tea, that will be fed to one of my Amaryllis flowers.
Nature is very good at converting pain to beauty.
With this little ritual, we hope to do the same.

The Indie Arena meets for its fifth birthday. Founded as a community or independent game developers from all over Germany, Austria and Switzerland, A MAZE remains where we touch base.

Come by and meet some local developers and hang out. You're welcome regardless whether you're a member or not.

Join us on Stage 1 before the talks kick off, for a relaxing breathing & light yoga session with Charlene Putney (writer at Larian Studious).

A very open talk about the work, the luck, the emails, the numbers, the art, the practicalities, the team, the money, and the success of Hidden Folks.

This will be a conversation about the a new generation of virtual art spaces. As we exhibit this year at A MAZE. quite some works that come in an art-bundle like "Data Mutations", or as a virtual space to experience digital art like in "MOR - Museum of Other Realities" and "The Zium Museum". And then the work "Fountain" that builds an exhibition around one infamous art work to interact with it in unusual ways, that opens up to new imaginaries of presenting art – exspecially digital art, games, playful media in the future.

This conversation invites you to think forward of how game engines have an impact in the art world and where the time will lead us to.  

Online registration is *not* required to attend this workshop. Spots will be assigned on a first-come first-served basis, so make sure to be at the workshop location at least 20 minutes before the starting time.

Some workshops have special requirements: make sure to read the description and bring what’s needed.

- - - - -

This is a hands-on workshop where participants will make a little creature out of wire and modeling clay, like what might be in one of my games. During the making process participants will allow time to observe and acknowledge their thoughts. I'll go into some of the techniques I like and some of the thought processes that inform my work which I think might be of value for the participant's own practice.

Intended audience: Creatives, not suitable for children.

Requirements: Not minding getting a little messy.

Tools participants should bring: Nothing.

Why did we make the The Missing Game for a cause? What is its part in the larger campaign, the Missing Public Art and awareness campaign? Why is the use of art and technology important to engage the public? How has The Missing Game used the gaming space to address this serious issue? How can we move beyond empathy?

The Missing Game is a part of a larger campaign to engage the public on the role they play in the heinous issue of sex trafficking. There are 3 million people trafficked every year of which 1.2 million are young girls. The Missing Campaign uses art and technology to engage and break the status quo on this grave issue. The average age of a girl getting trafficked has dropped from 13 to 11 and now 9 years.

Warning: this talk will feature explicit sexual content.

The talk is based on 4-year research and reveals the ecosystem behind indie VR adult games subculture. It shows in details how existing fandom, indie artist and internet fetish based communities express themselves in VR and how indie developers create tools which form new communities.

The talk covers the current state of interactivity and hardware and explains future movements such as holoporn and XR based fetishes.

But most importantly, you will hear how VR helps people to express sexuality and how it brings to life wild fantasies to let people experience fetishes which aren’t possible in real life. As well as, how VR scene reframes content distribution and let individuals make sustainable projects while working with the communities.  

Online registration is *not* required to attend this workshop. Spots will be assigned on a first-come first-served basis, so make sure to be at the workshop location at least 20 minutes before the starting time.

Some workshops have special requirements: make sure to read the description and bring what’s needed.

- - - - -

Experimental game designer Sagan Yee (director of the Hand Eye Society) will present a grab-bag of techniques for making weird, offbeat games in Unity. Aimed at game curious beginners who may have dabbled with the engine before, but aren't sure how to jump in and start making cool things, participants will take away some fun techniques including: Using the Billboard script on looping 2D animation in 3D space, building a small world in SketchUp, and putting videos on spheres! The instructor will provide pre-made scenes and objects to work with.

Intended audience: People who want to learn Unity in an artsy way; people with no formal coding background; people from other artistic disciplines who are interested in making games. Participants don't have to be Unity experts, but it would help if they've at least tried a few basic tutorials.

Requirements: Some knowledge of Unity.

Tools participants should bring: Participants will need to provide their own laptop with a recent copy of Unity installed.

An in-depth interview with Piotr Iwanicki about the development of SUPERHOT, conducted by Sos Sosowski. How to break out of the FPS genre and evolve a game into success? How did the game change during its development? Why? Which features were added? Which were taken away? When? What were the interesting design challenges? What was the original vision of the game? How did the idea emerge? How did certain features evolved into their final version?

The conversation is a part of Devolution #4: SUPERHOT, a cooperation between Devolution, A MAZE. / Berlin 2018, SUPERHOT Team and Game Design // UE.

Journalism can use virtual reality both to convey complex meaning in a simple and effective way but also as an entrance point to stimulate in-deep reasoning and more research and attention in readers. By looking at the journalistic content produced for the Guardian VR App and by analysing how the journalistic content is delivered both through interactive and non-interactive approaches, the talk will explore the peculiar features that the VR language is showing more and more.

Independent game developers and academic scientists make surprisingly good and symbiotic partners. Owen has two of these collaborations in progress right now. Deep, a mental health game controlled by breathing, and Theia, a virtual reality cancer lab. In this session we'll take a quick look at these two different projects and how they are structured. We will talk about what is wonderful about working with scientists and why you might consider it. Finally, we'll take a look at some of the challenges in communication between these two groups.

Mexico City, Seoul, Boston, Jakarta, São Paulo, Novosibirsk, Athens, and Bangkok: for eight game jams all over the world and beyond, ART GAMES unites programmers and game developers as well as artists and creatives. Celebrating their diversity, they developed (digital) games which renegotiate the boundaries between art, politics, and games.

A selection of ten games from all locations will be exhibited at A MAZE. / Berlin 2018. This brief exhibition tour is your chance to meet the people behind them!

The A MAZE. masterclass is a 1 hour long in-depth conversations focusing on the work of a veteran of the game scene. This year Jonatan Van Hove will be talking with Colin & Sarah Northway, a husband and wife indie team responsible for Fantastic Contraption, Fantastic Contraption VR, Incredipede, the Rebuild series, Word Up Dog, and a few other cool indie experiments, like Shader, the game that only exists on a single, Internet-and-external-connection-free laptop. They lived all over the world including Thailand, Japan, Turkey, Czech Republic, Italy, Malta, Scotland, France, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, The Philippines, Argentina and Brazil. Currently they settled back in Vancouver, Canada.

Having dedicated three years to solo-building his very recently released VR experience GNOSIS, Rob will be quasi- ritualistically getting some of that insanity out of his system in form of a synesthetically enhanced stream of consciousness. Sharing his influences, personal motivations, "post-mortem" reflections and deep technical trivia, Rob will be also very happy to engage in some discussion about what's around the corner for VR and the role it may yet play in society.

Online registration is *not* required to attend this workshop. Spots will be assigned on a first-come first-served basis, so make sure to be at the workshop location at least 20 minutes before the starting time.

Some workshops have special requirements: make sure to read the description and bring what’s needed.

- - - - -

From very early on in my career as a writer/narrative designer I was introduced to the importance of building tools for thinking with. The difference between an amateur and professional as far as I can see is: deadlines, and developing strategies for working to them. This workshop is an introduction to two key tools I have developed for beginning thinking.You have an idea, an image, a feeling you want to express through a game - how do you start to think about what that looks like?You want to design puzzles which express your character progression, story, and narrative universe - how do you begin?If you come along to my workshop, I’ll take you through these two strategies for thinking, and also encourage you to think more about the role tools for beginning can play in your own practice..

Intended audience: Have you ever stared at a blank page for way too long? Have you ever put off starting a thing because the idea of having to start is the worst thing? Part of the practice of any design or art form is developing a set of tools which help you navigate your creative practice: How to Begin will take you through 2 of the tools for thinking that Hannah has developed in narrative and game design to begin design thinking.

Requirements: Accessible for everyone interested in experimental and contemporary narrative and game design practices, no previous experience necessary.

Tools participants should bring: Pen & paper.

A short introduction to collaborative virtual reality improvisation, ANYTHING and Q&A session with Dogson, the platform's creator. Come prepared with important questions about life, art, and the nature of virtual existence.

Online registration is *not* required to attend this workshop. Spots will be assigned on a first-come first-served basis, so make sure to be at the workshop location at least 20 minutes before the starting time.

Some workshops have special requirements: make sure to read the description and bring what’s needed.

- - - - -

Gay sex game expert Robert Yang is running a democratic game lighting workshop. First, we will begin with a brief lecture / introduction / discussion about lighting design for 3D games. Then in the second part of the session, we will all "get lit" together – specifically, workshop members will make suggestions and communally direct the lighting for a 3D scene together, and Robert will try to follow orders to the best of his ability. CONTENT WARNING: there might be some nude men in the 3D scene.

Intended audience: The intended audience is anyone with an interest in 3D game development, level design, video game lighting, or naked men

Requirements: Knowledge of Unity and 3D game dev is recommended, but not required.

Tools participants should bring: No computer needed... just be ready to participate!!

FLOW as arts game mechanics, concept of immersion and VR with Neurointerfaces.
The panel will introduce and premiere the experimental Game Art Neuroflow Game, http://www.neuroflow.games

Participants:

Margarete Jahrmann, game artist Neuroflow Games, Zurich/ Vienna
Thomas Wagensommerer, lead developer Neuroflow Games, Vienna
Stefan Glasauer, computational neuroscientist, LMU Klinikum Munich

Supported by the Computer Games Museum Berlin and funded by Capital Cultural Fund Germany.
Unterstützt vom Computerspielemuseum Berlin und gefördert vom Hauptstadtkulturfonds.
Special thanks to Andreas Lange.

Walking alone at night, at the edge of my village, I flash the dark landscape with my camera. A series of images spark a passionate vision and urge me to go on an adventure - to independently create VR indie game Homescape with no prior game development experience.

Homescape is a hypnotizing and mysterious Virtual Reality art-game. Wearing the headset, players go through guided meditation and dive deep into a dark landscape, whose design is based on the fields surrounding Ma’as, the artist's Israeli hometown.

In the midst of the native biota, vestiges of colonial British rule, and ruins of Palestinian settlements, players encounter the inhabitants of the cultural unconscious, who reside together to form the sites of the artist’s childhood memories.

The independent exploration of this vast digital landscape evokes moments of cognitive uncertainty and form an alluring, poetic, and thought-provoking experience.

In this talk, I will outline the process of creating Homescape - a project that challenges the borders between film, game, and art. I will discuss the place of philosophy and poetics in Virtual Reality, and think out loud about art, friendship, childhood memories, darkness, technology, and politics.

For generations we have experienced stories which were presented in a frame before us - the television set or screen has after-all been a window into other worlds for over a hundred years. But now, as we enter the VR world, we are crossing that threshold. And with this change much of the narrative language we use to tell and understand stories is no longer possible. In this talk Beatrix Moersch will explore the impact which working in the VR medium has on our traditional storytelling tools, and how we can reinvent some of these tools for the new realities.

Capacity for this session is limited, spots will be assigned on a first-come first-served basis: we recommend meeting in The Devolution of SUPERHOT exhibition area at least 20 minutes before the starting time.

For the ultimate insight into the development of SUPERHOT and its design decisions. Guided tours through the exhibition by the Game Director Piotr Iwanicki himself, supported by the curator of the exhibition Csongor Baranyai. Complementing the exhibited versions by background information, secrets and anecdotes.

The tours are a part of Devolution #4: SUPERHOT, a cooperation between Devolution, A MAZE. / Berlin 2018, SUPERHOT Team and Game Design // UE.

Spoiler: it wasn't easy, but it was very fun.

An absurdist mind-and-body romp through the highest clouds to the ocean deep, Museum of Symmetry is the explosive feel-good alter-universe of cartoonist and animator Paloma Dawkins—a room-scale VR experience with 2D animation in a 3D playground.

"Art, Games, Politics" by Willie Schumann

8 countries, 8 games jams featuring not only programmers and game developers but artists and creatives as well. Celebrating their diversity they created games exploring the fields of art, games and politics. The documentary film about the project ART GAMES will officially premiere at A MAZE. Festival. It features highlights of these game jams all over the world, while exploring the mind-sets of the game creators.

Mexico, Korea, USA, Indonesia, Brazil, Russia, Greece, Thailand
English surtitles

- - - - -

"Output" by Miguel Alva

A manifesto about computer arts and games. Well, it is not really a manifesto but interesting archive material for the future. 50 years from now and then.

Filmed during A MAZE. / Berlin from April 23rd till 28th 2017
to be viewed by April 2067.

Produced by: Screen Implosion
http://outputdoc.com/
http://screenimplosion.com/

And the winners are... 

The German criminal code rightly prohibits the display of unconstitutional content with the exception to “further civil enlightenment, to avert unconstitutional aims, to promote art or science, research or teaching”. Video games, unlike film and other forms of art, are however excluded from this definition. As a result, video games like Attentat 1942, a nominee for the A MAZE. Awards cannot be sold or displayed in Germany.

The open discussion about video game censorship in Germany will discuss the implications of §86 of the German criminal code and subsequent (mis)rulings of German courts for video games. What role can video games carry to "further civil enlightenment, to avert unconstitutional aims, to promote art or science, research or teaching"?

Participants:

Marcus Richter is a radio host and moderator. He will be hosting the panel discussion.

Vit Sisler is the game developer of Attentat 1942.

Kai Bodensiek is a lawyer and expert on the legal aspect of the topic.

Marie Berthoumieu in charge of web content at ARTE.

This is one of the 3 game-making workshops that will be running alongside the Berlin Mini  Game Jam. We recommend joining at 12:00 for the game jam info speech and theme voting, and to meet the other participants. Once the jam kicks off at 13:00, those who want to take part to the workshop will move to a different space. Once the workshop is over, you're welcome to go back to the game jam.

Please note that spots for the workshop will be assigned on a first-come first-served basis.

- - - - -

In this workshop we will introduce the free web-based tool Bitsy, give a brief tour through it, and then be on hand to help out as you experiment with using it. Bitsy is great for making small narrative adventures with a tile-based pixel-art aesthetic, and no knowledge of coding required. It's designed to accessible for any skill level within game development, including absolute beginners, and for making a short game within a few hours - perfect for a game jam!

We suggest you check out this handout if you want to already start learning about it.

Intended audience: People with any level of skill in game development (beginners included!) who want to try out a new tool for making games.

Requirements: None.

Tools participants should bring: Just a laptop.

This is one of the 3 game-making workshops that will be running alongside the Berlin Mini  Game Jam. We recommend joining at 12:00 for the game jam info speech and theme voting, and to meet the other participants. Once the jam kicks off at 13:00, those who want to take part to the workshop will move to a different space. Once the workshop is over, you're welcome to go back to the game jam.

Please note that spots for the workshop will be assigned on a first-come first-served basis.

- - - - -

Interested in making a small project on A MAZE. Berlin  / 2017 Audience Award Winner vinylOS?

Jonas and Josef - the creators of vinylOS - will guide you through the process of making a game for the turntable console. Test your game design muscles & brains and see what you can make for it’s circular playingfield and how it’s input limitations can boost your creativity.

We will provide participants with the brand new vinylOS framework for Unity3D, so you can develop on your Computer.

We will also setup a test station where you can try out your game design concepts on the actual turntable hardware.

http://vinylos.io/about

Intended audience: Everyone who is interested in experimenting with making a game on a turntable console.  People that are interested in making fun stuff on an experimental platform. Humans interested in alt.ctrl games. Participants of the Game Jam who want to build on vinylOS for the jam.

Requirements: Basics of Unity3D.

Tools participants should bring: Bring your laptop with Unity 2017 pre-installed.

This is one of the 3 game-making workshops that will be running alongside the Berlin Mini  Game Jam. We recommend joining at 12:00 for the game jam info speech and theme voting, and to meet the other participants. Once the jam kicks off at 13:00, those who want to take part to the workshop will move to a different space. Once the workshop is over, you're welcome to go back to the game jam.

Please note that spots for the workshop will be assigned on a first-come first-served basis.

- - - - -

PaperJam is a workshop in which the aim is to create a playable game using just ONE sheet of paper. No coding experience required! Just grab a sheet of paper and get designing. Work as a team, work on your own, make one game, make multiple games, it's totally up to you!

There are some rules, but you don't have to follow them if you don't want to:
- Games should use only one sheet of paper, but BOTH sides CAN be used. The reverse side of the paper could be used for instructions for the game, but you don't have to do this).
- You are allowed to require players to do anything with the paper (fold it, tear it, write on it, throw it, anything) You can even include additional objects such as the use of dice or coin toss (if you have these to hand).
- Games can be single player or multiplayer. Multiplayer games could allow multiple copies of the same sheet for each player or have all players gathered around one sheet.

Ideas could include: Printable Mazes, Logic Puzzles, Crack the Code, Story/Narrative/Role-Playing Games, Printable Jigsaws, Printable 'Pin the tail on the thing', Bingo, Origami, Mastermind, Connect the dots, Word Searches, Crosswords, Printable Card Games, Printable Board Games, there's lots you can do with just one sheet of paper!
Use Twitter Hashtag #PaperJam2018 and share your PaperJam game with the world!

Intended audience: Everyone.

Requirements: Bring with you an open mind and some creativity and get ready to make some paper based games.

Tools participants should bring: You don't need to bring anything with you or have any prior knowledge or experience with making games. If you wanted you could bring your own art supplies, but you don't have to. If you plan on using any special objects such as dice or coins, then maybe bring these along, but again you don't have to do this if you don't plan on using them.

The game jam is free to attend, you only have to register by getting a free ticket here. However, it's important to know that having a ticket for the Berlin Mini Game Jam does NOT give you entry to other events in the festival; you need a festival ticket or a day pass for A MAZE.

There will be three game-making workshops running alongside the game jam, to give the opportunity to everyone to make a game: 1. PaperJam (all levels, no computer required) 2. Bitsy (all levels, computer required) 3. vinylOS (knowledge of Unity3D basics and computer required). 

- - - - -

It's time for some game prototyping! Type and draw away, make strange sounds and create fun out of thin air: Berlin Mini Game Jam is a relaxed 8 hour prototyping workshop: After we have chosen a theme together, we form teams or go solo to make game graphics, concepts and prototypes on computers, phones, cardboard or physical space. At the end, we present the results to each other.

Create whatever you want, just bring any materials you need. There is no hardware or material provided on-site unless specifically mentioned.

Everyone is welcome! Really! Artists, game designers, coders, hobbyists or professionals. Any gender, any background! We always have lots of new people, so don't worry if you don't know anybody yet: You're quite welcome too. If you want to, you will find a team at the jam, so coming alone is no problem.

See you at the jam!

Schedule:
12:00 Doors open, get to know people
12:20 Vote on themes via http://vote.berlinminijam.de/
12:40 Info speech & theme announcement
13:00 Jam Starts
21:00 End presentations start
22:00 Socialize & play games

In partnership with A MAZE. and the Volksbühne, we created a narrative game set in a machine learning powered underworld. And we will talk about how that is going!

This talk is about the ways in which the indie dev scene in video games push the boundaries of the medium of video games in various ways. I'll be focusing in the ways in which our games subvert the expectations of players both narratively and structurally and why is not only a good thing, but an important thing as well.

Have you ever lovingly crafted a video game, only to find it later rendered unplayable by an operating system or browser update? Predicting how software dependencies outside your control will change is tricky. However, there are ways you can mitigate the risk of not having a playable build of your game. This talk will discuss best practices for future-proofing your game, plus some approaches for attempting to resurrect your oldest and dustiest projects.

Online registration is *not* required to attend this workshop. Spots will be assigned on a first-come first-served basis, so make sure to be at the workshop location at least 20 minutes before the starting time.

Some workshops have special requirements: make sure to read the description and bring what’s needed.

- - - - -

I’ll be walking you through the process of writing music using LSDJ. LSDJ is a very powerful little tracker program for Gameboy, which you can also easily run it on your PC or laptop. We’ll start with some demonstrations of what the program is capable of and work our way into the basics of project management, navigation, creating our first instrument and onto creating some musical sequences.

LSDJ is very accessible and extremely fun to experiment with. By the end of this workshop I hope to leave you with all the knowledge that you need to start making some noise.

Intended audience: Anyone!

Requirements:

- Note-taking tools.
- If you have a Gameboy & a copy of LSDJ, by all means feel free to bring them along.
- If you’re bringing a laptop, grab a Gameboy emulator (I would recommend bgb) & donate to download the LSDJ ROM at http://www.littlesounddj.com/lsd/index.php (you might want to consider bringing a USB gamepad as well)
- Please bring headphones if you wish to follow along!

Otherwise feel free to just come along and listen to some bleep bloop creation.

Tools participants should bring: None.

Discover the world of robots, programming and creating games! For kids aged 6-12, but we also welcome people of any age who are interested in using digital tools in education.
Workshop led by Svenja Anhut (Game Design and Media Education), Sarah Wölker (Artist and Media Education), and Cäcilia Eming (Teacher).

- - - -

Entdeckt die Welt der Roboter, des Programmierens und der Spieleentwicklung. Für Kinder von 6 bis 12 Jahren und alle, die an digitalen Werkzeuge in der Bildung interessiert sind.
Workshopleitung: Svenja Anhut (Gamedesignerin und Medienpädagogin) , Sarah Wölker (Künstlerin und Medienpädagogin) und Cäcilia Eming (Pädagogin).

“The Shape Of Punk To Come” is a love letter to the future of disruptive pop culture and revolutionary entertainment. 


Arguing that, while rock/ punk/ DIY music acted as the most defiant media of the 20th century, with the passing of time, punk music is no longer the subversive force it once was. If punk is dead, in it’s wake, we need a new noise. We need a fresh tip of the spear of change, thrust into the heart of a stagnant old world. The Shape Of Punk To Come.



While acknowledging both the renegade creators that shaped video game history, as well as the many artists actively re-inventing games today, The Shape Of Punk To Come focuses heavily on the future. A future where small groups of passionate misfits and outsiders band together, imagining and manifesting better worlds through games.


The Shape Of Punk To Come was originally delivered at A MAZE./ Johannesburg 2015, immediately becoming a living manifesto for my own game punk band, Team Lazerbeam.  For it’s European debut, the A MAZE./ Berlin edition of the talk will include reflections on how the talk informed our work as Team Lazerbeam, and assert why, in 2018, radical games are more important than ever.

Scrambleshake18.1 is a low-key eggs’n’chill event that involves scrambled eggs & unconference.
We hijack events for sharing our eggsperiences. You give short talks, workshops, open discussions, etc.

Scramblehshake18.1 will take place on Sat 28 april 4-7pm at Urban Spree (A MAZE. entrance ticket required).

Scramblehshake18.1 welcomes your unconference pitches! The unconf schedule will be made on site (i.e. We employ the 'come and find your spot for your thing!' system) but feel free to share your pitches here to get ready for eggs.

www.scrambleshake.com

A MAZE. is proud to present the first installment of Elie Abraham's "Funny = TRUE", a stand-up comedy show where every comedian is also a game developer. Join us for laughs and disasters with Elie Abraham, Jerry Belich, Ahmed Elgoni, Zuzanna Buchowska, and Limpho Moeti.

"Tea with Amaryllis" is a participatory art piece functioning like a cleansing ritual. It relies on the audience to give up a very personal piece of themselves. It's about trust and vulnerability, and about the age-old wisdom that formulating and expressing pain may lessen it.

In the ritual you are asked to think of a memory, feeling or thought that is painful to you. You decide how big or small. No one will see the answer.
You write it down in 1 sentence and put it into a black teapot, thereby symbolically discarding it forever.

This collection of discarded words then becomes an ingredient for a special tea, that will be fed to one of my Amaryllis flowers.
Nature is very good at converting pain to beauty.
With this little ritual, we hope to do the same.