Enchanted Controllers (alt.ctrl exhibition)
This year’s A MAZE. / Berlin features Enchanted Controllers - a special exhibition on the practice of creating alternative controllers - or alt.
Read MoreLocation: Betonhalle, Kuppelhalle & Transmediale Studio at silent green.
(Please check opening hours in the program.)
With 284 submissions from 60 countries, the 13th international A MAZE. Awards received entries from more locations than ever before competing for 6 awards and the Audience Award. We are very excited to present the 30 nominations and 15 honorable mentions from 31 countries covering innovative and immersive performances, digital poems, wild and cultural experiences, personal stories as well as stunning game worlds and works of interactive media art. The final jury selected their categories and will reveal the winners at the Award Show on May 10th.
All info about the selection → here
This year’s A MAZE. / Berlin features Enchanted Controllers - a special exhibition on the practice of creating alternative controllers - or alt.ctrl. As a festival also for different digital games forms we want to highlight this year the practice of alt.ctrl games creators from around the world.
The controller as an input device is our tool to interact with the game world. It shapes our idea of what a game is and what it means to play. A MAZE. / Berlin 2024 invites 7 international artists and artist groups to present their reimaginings of playing a computer game: from skateboarding through anaglyph cyberspace to shooting a candle light in the dark to following multi-dimensional beings into an infinity mirror - get immersed in the world of Enchanted Controllers.
by Claire Kwong
Nominee
Between is a game that uses projection to illuminate the space between two people. Two players sit face to face and hold hands, which creates a geometric shape between them. They move their bodies together to fit outlines on the floor, creating a performance for the audience. → More info
by Emilie Breslavetz & Léon Denise
Honorable Mention
Crashboard is a surfing cyberspace game controlled by a real skateboard. In the game, you have to avoid waves of operating system windows pop-up interface scrolling in your direction. You control the player position by leaning on the skateboard. The aesthetic of the game is crafted from glitch, retro web design and error system. → More info
by Robin Baumgarten & Philipp Helldorfer
Nominee
Hyper Wobbler is an interactive multiplayer art installation, where 3 participants control multi-dimensional beings trying to make sense of their universe and navigate it to reach their goals. The installation uses metal spring joysticks and a dodecahedron with 900 LEDs and two-way mirror faces. → More info
by Emma Woods & Julia Makivic
co-commissioned by Now Play This & A MAZE.
Journeys are about crossing paths. We reach junctions in the road, deciding to go left or right, move ahead or turn back. Along the way we cross paths with people, either making direct contact or slipping past one another. With every decision, we intertwine threads of experience, creating a unique and complex pattern. Labyrinth is a collaboration between London-based game designer Julia Makivic and Berlin-based weaver Emma Wood. In this room-size interactive game, players will weave their own labyrinth, crossing paths before their own personal journey is revealed. → More info and → Here
by Mouse & The Billionaire
Nominee
A custom-built boutique synthesizer controller creates an ever-evolving sonic landscape, and a screen displays simple, cryptic, but generally traditional visuals. But underneath this all is something hidden. Who has built this strange device, and what are they trying to tell us? Listen. → More info
by 3m Jump
Nominee
VR without the headset! A collection of games you only play with the VR controllers, no headset needed. Instead of visuals, these games only use vibrations and sound to convey the game, while you play in the real world. → More info
by Common Opera
Nominee
A two-player cooperative navigation game where players work together to guide a series of tragic heroes through obstacle-filled corridors en route to a climactic confrontation with the sun. Using custom hardware, the game recontextualizes the classic “light gun” control scheme as a call-and-response mechanic for coordinated movement.Establish a rhythm with your companion and put your rapport to the test across four unique chapters in this realtime death-driven kinetic waltz. Synthesizing fundamentals of lightgun, masocore, and bullet hell classics with the addition of real-time strategy and cooperative elements, Waxwing is a singular take on precision gameplay. → More info
by A MAZE. and Katpatat Collective
Singing Rainbow is a collaborative multiplayer dome game designed by Thorsten S. Wiedemann, developed by Titouan Millet and Lisa Mantel, thanks to the head start of Zuraida Buter. This work is inspired by crowd games. This audio-reactive playful art piece brings people together to sing along different notes. The more you sync with the sound pattern the more bright and dense you paint colors to the dome and move the clouds above away. The game has 7 levels as a rainbow has colors. The rainbow symbolizes ethnic and racial diversity, to express LGBTQ identity and pride, also it is a symbol for happiness, feelings of togetherness, hope, and good fortune. → More info
by Ibrahim Quraishi and Stanislav Liguzinski.
co-conception Julia Braenzel.
Demo / work in progress version
ROAMance is dating for two in the virtual world. It’s a blind date with VR glasses that doesn’t take the visual as its starting point, but rather the essence of the other person. The two protagonists get to know each other by walking through the artificial desert, asking each other questions and acting together. The multiplayer experience for two participants is one with an unknown counterpart. An unbiased encounter with another person whose image can be created throughout history. At the end, after the quiz, the romantic boat trip, the visit to a club, there is of course the question of whether you want to see each other in real life or just make a discreet exit. The project is based on scientific data about the social and physical distance between people, data about social interactions and the rules that allow us to experience a shared, intimate story, beyond the usual interfaces or interfaces such as the screen of our phone, dating Apps and other social media whose aesthetic regime rules over the essence, over the actual nature of every human being. This domination determines whether we swipe left or right, whether we potentially connect or banish ourselves. → More info
by GAIA
The Dream Room is a warm, soft parallel to the party and magical chaos of A MAZE. The dream room is a secret space that you can slip away into, a space that is part of the party but so much softer. The Dream Room is a heated shipping container with soft music, soft lights, soft surfaces, and warm tea. It is a ritual space for people to connect and reflect on the happenings and the spaces between them. Soft cushions, sheer curtains, and heated blankets will surround an interactive, slowed-down, softened live-feed video projection of A MAZE. At the center of the space is a tea service, with an ongoing tea ritual. → More info
by Niklas “El Huervo” Åkerblad
Niklas Åkerblad is a polymathic artist from Gothenburg, Sweden, who has been active in various fields since 2009. Perhaps foremost associated with their art and music in interactive media such as Hotline Miami 1 & 2, else Heart.Break{}, SteamWorld Dig 2, Kometen and most recently Ultros. In addition, they’ve also been recognized for their live-performances and art-shows in Sweden and around Europe as well as the California coast. Vivid colors, a tendency to push the boundaries of visual balance and overload in addition to introspective themes often portrayed through otherworldly scenics run as a common thread through their art. While sometimes haunted by oppressive trans-dimensional deities there is also room for hope, beauty and self-perseverance.
ULTROS is a psychedelic adventure where you wake up stranded on The Sarcophagus — a cosmic uterus holding an ancient, demonic being. Trapped in the loop of a black hole, you will have to explore The Sarcophagus and meet its inhabitants to understand the part you play…
by We Throw Switches with Robin Baumgarten → More info
by A MAZE.
The A MAZE. / STAIRS is a 3D Multiplayer Stair Simulation. Cool Kids hang out on stairs. Design your own stairs, invite friends over, do pranks, build traps or portals to other dimensions. Basically WEBGL limbo of the A MAZE. / SPACE. → More info
by A MAZE.
The A MAZE. / SPACE is a 3D Multiplayer Culture Experience, where the visitors can interact with games, digital art, and other adventurous media. This space invites you to a constantly fresh curated program of live-streamed talks, music performances, games, and art exhibitions in collaboration with art institutions, festivals, thinkers, and curators. → More info
by Blouge
Two planets at war, a peaceful moon, a forbidden love and blasters ! Space, Love and Blouge is a 2-players co-op arcade game between a shmup and a tower defense. Protect your moon from two nations ! With filtered glasses, you can see one army, but only shoot the other. To survive, you’ll have to communicate : give indications, listen to your partner and SHOOT ! → More info
After a long time of silence the A MAZE. Online Game Jam is back. After the Melon, Out of the Frame and Stoner Game Jams we are very happy to announce our new topic. Eat (the) Rich! What is this all about? As the wealth gaps are increasing, it is time to delve into themes of inequality and social justice. Whether you see “eating (the) rich” as symbolic defiance or a literal culinary journey, let your creativity shine in games that provoke questions and spark dialogue. From Robin Hood phantasies, to simulations exploring economic structures to narratives shedding light on those poor but sexy people, and more. Whether you opt for satire, real life stories, or mouth watering storytelling, seize the opportunity to inspire change and challenge norms. Make a game (for) change, and let’s create gaming experiences that stir the hunger for justice. Together, let’s amplify diverse voices, break down systemic barriers, and serve up games that resonate deeply with players. A selection of games will get exhibited during A MAZE. / Berlin 2024. For this exhibition we will use the tool “Flipper” by Gianluca Pandolfo.
See all entries on one page → here
We are thrilled to announce the return of the Open Screens format for the A MAZE. / Berlin. Following the success of previous years, our goal remains the same: to provide a convenient platform for developers to showcase their creations to the press and their peers. These exhibits will be on display at the physical A MAZE. venue.
See all the selected games → here
by Douglas Wilson, David Kanaga, Thomas Perl, Melissa McGlensey
Honorable Mention
Edgar Rice Journey is a physical-digital installation game for teams of 2 to 4, set in a jungle of 20 hanging PlayStation Move controllers. Players chase, coordinate, and puzzle their way through a series of cryptic levels, which gradually layer in new mechanics and challenges. → More info
by Alex Johansson
Glow Golf is a minimalist, 1 dimensional LED game featuring randomly generated golf courses controlled using a spring-loaded pinball launcher. The game is being tested in care homes and special needs centers exploring ways to make games more approachable to the elderly and other marginalized groups. → More info
by Robin Baumgarten
Line Wobbler is a one-dimensional dungeon crawler with a custom controller made out of a spring and a five meter long LED strip display. It is an award-winning experiment in minimalism in game design, use of novel input mechanics, and the incorporation of physical space. → More info
by Jimmy Andrews and Loren Schmidt
Realistic Kissing Simulator is a quick local multiplayer game in which both players manipulate faces.
by Stuffed Wombat
Express your pixelated dance style to the beat of the club. Everyone can dance !
by Team O
O is a tennis rhythm game set in an immersive installation. With joy-cons, two players can engage in a rhythmic exchange, creating a dynamic sound and light show in the process. Just like a real ball game, you can either trick your partner or co-operate to make the longest rally. → More info
This year’s A MAZE. / Berlin features Enchanted Controllers - a special exhibition on the practice of creating alternative controllers - or alt.
Read More