| A MAZE. | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Independent games, digital art |
| Location(s) | Berlin, Germany, Johannesburg, South Africa |
| Years active | 12 |
| Founded | 2008 |
| Website | amaze-berlin |
A Maze (stylized as A MAZE.) is an international series of events celebrating independent and arthouse games, immersive media and digital culture. Founded in 2008 by artistic director Thorsten Wiedemann, A MAZE hosts the International Games and Playful Media Festival, held annually in Berlin since 2012, which feature annual awards and prizes for games and digital works.
History
A MAZE was launched by founder and artistic director Thorsten Wiedemann in Berlin in 2008. Wiedemann stated the event began at a local bar to showcase games and digital art, with the event expanding in 2012 to the first festival, Indie Connect, coinciding with the International Games Week Berlin. The festivals are not primarily commercial and aim to celebrate games and digital culture as "not only a product" but a "medium of expression". In following years, the festival was also co-held in Johannesburg from 2012 to 2017. In 2019, A MAZE experienced financial difficulties following the decision by the German Senate Department of Culture to discontinue funding for the program. Following this decision, the festival organisers launched a successful campaign on Kickstarter to partially fund the event in November 2019. During the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the event transitioned to a digital experience titled A MAZE ./ SPACE, hosting an online multiplayer showroom.
Awards
A MAZE Festival events feature awards and prizes decided by an independent jury. The festival awards features an open-ended selection criteria beyond traditional video games, with eligibility extended to interactive fiction and digital art. Nominees are judged by a selection committee, with submitted works reviewed and rated on "innovation, potential, interdisciplinarity, social, cultural and political impact, aesthetics and overall awesomeness". A shortlist of games is then reviewed by a final jury of five to select award winners, including the winner of the previous year. Winners of each category receive a €1000 prize, with the main 'Most Amazing Award' prize winner receiving €2000.
| Year | Date | Work | Author | Award |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 10–13 May 2023 | Extreme Evolution: Drive to Divinity | Sam Atlas | Digital Moment Award |
| The MetaMovie Presents: Alien Rescue | The MetaMovie | Human Human Machine Award | ||
| Season: A Letter to the Future | Scavengers Studio | Long Feature Award | ||
| Lost on Mars | Trey Ramm | Explorer Award | ||
| Viewfinder | Sad Owl Studios | Audience Award | ||
| Player Non Player | Jonathan Coryn | Most Amazing Award | ||
| Psychotic Bathtub – The Story of an Escalating Mind. And Ducks. | natsha | Wings Award | ||
| 2022 | 13-17 May 2022 | BORE DOME | Goblin Rage | Digital Moment Award |
| Okthryssia and Saturnia's Bureaucratic Adventures | Fantasia Malware | Human Human Machine Award | ||
| NORCO | Raw Fury / Geography of Robots | Long Feature Award | ||
| We Are One | Flat Head Studio | Explorer Award | ||
| Titanic II: Orchestra for Dying at Sea | Flan Falacci | Audience Award | ||
| Tux and Fanny | Albert Birney and Gabriel Koenig | Most Amazing Award | ||
| A Rejection Story! | Faezeh Khomeyrani | Wings Award | ||
| 2021 | 21–24 July 2021 | Adventures of Harriharri | Harold Hejazi | Digital Moment Award |
| Map to Utopia | Fringe ensemble / Platform theatre | Human Human Machine Award | ||
| I am dead | Hollow Ponds | Long Feature Award | ||
| Before Your Eyes | Goodbyeworld Games | Explorer Award | ||
| Time Bandit | Joel Jordon | Audience Award | ||
| Stilstand | Ida Hartmann & Niila Games | Most Amazing Award | ||
| Colestia | David Cribb | Humble New Talent Award | ||
| 2020 | 21–24 July 2020 | Promesa | Julian Palacios | Digital Moment Award |
| Brave Mouse Cartographer | common opera | Human Human Machine Award | ||
| Knife Sisters | Transcenders Media | Long Feature Award | ||
| Cook your way | Enric Granzotto Llagostera | Explorer Award | ||
| Time Bandit | Joel Jordon | Audience Award | ||
| Nightmare Temptation Academy | Lena NW & Costcodreamgurl | Most Amazing Award | ||
| N/A | Studio Oleomingus | Humble New Talent Award |
References
- Chan, Stephanie (17 September 2017). "How the A Maze Festival in Johannesburg showcased Africa's indie game scene". VentureBeat.
- "Thorsten S. Wiedemann: The New Wave. From Indie to Arthouse Games". GamesNow. 23 January 2023.
- Webber, Jordan Erica (21 October 2015). "Sex, art and picnics: the rise of the alternative video game festival". The Guardian.
- Clayton, Natalie (25 November 2019). "A Maze Berlin secures another year of indie games, Thin Lizzie sing-a-longs". Rock Paper Shotgun.
- "A MAZE Festival 2020: Kickstarter-Kampagne erfolgreich (Update)". GamesWirtschaft.de (in German). 27 November 2019.
- Vega, Sin (22 July 2020). "The super-artsy A Maze festival has begun". Rock Paper Shotgun.
- "The 2023 A MAZE. Award nominees are as weird and wonderful as you'd expect". Game Developer. 14 March 2023.
- "Welcome to the A MAZE. Award System". A MAZE. 2022.
- Wagner, Pascal (15 May 2023). "A Maze. Awards 2023 küren Schweizer Entwicklerin". GamesMarkt (in German).
- "A MAZE. / Berlin 2022". A MAZE. 2022.
- "A MAZE. / Berlin 2021". A MAZE. 2021.
- "A MAZE. / Berlin 2020". A MAZE. 2020.
Further reading
- Bojaryn, Jan (17 May 2015). "A Maze 2015 in Berlin - Spiele zum Staunen". GameStar.
- Reinhard, Claudia (11 May 2023). "A Maze Festival: Hier muss man hin, auch wenn man mit Spielen nichts am Hut hat". Berliner Zeitung (in German).
- Patsch, Sabrina (6 May 2023). "Arthouse Games: Das A Maze Festival zeigt die Vielfalt der Games-Kultur". Der Tagesspiegel Online (in German).