A MAZE. is an international arthouse focused on games and playful media in the experimental field. The organization, founded in 2008, also hosts a plethora of events: exhibitions, physical pop-ups, and festivals. Their most well known festival is A MAZE. / Berlin which showcases, in the organization’s words on their website, “controversial and subversive games” along with those games’ developers.
This year, A MAZE. / Berlin’s 13th International Games and Playful Media Festival was hosted from May 8-11, 2024. There were 283 entries from 60 countries. While the festival had an online venue, A MAZE. also offered four physical venues: Silent Green, Transmediale Studio, Panke Culture, and HAU (Hebbel am Ufer, HAU2) – all of which are located in Berlin, Germany.
A total of seven awards were handed out this year.
Grunn (Recipient of the Digital Moment Award 2024)
The Digital Moment award was given to Grunn by Netherlands developer Tom van den Boogaart. On PC and Mac, the horror game focuses on the player cutting the tall grass and exploring a village. The official synopsis reads:
Grunn is a game set in a mundane village in the far north of the Dutch countryside. A gardener gets hired to do some maintenance work over the weekend. The tall grass needs to be cut, the wild hedges trimmed, and the dead flowers could use some water. It’s a simple task, but strangely some tools are missing… The owner of the garden isn’t around, and their house is off-limits. Perhaps new tools can be found in the mysterious town, or maybe some of the reserved townsfolk have seen them?
Waxwing (Recipient of the Human Human Machine Award 2024)
The Human Human Machine Award was given to Waxwing, developed by American developer Common Opera. The game is pitched as an alt-control arcade game with precision navigation. Its official description is as follows:
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. The game was developed in tandem with a custom arcade cabinet featuring a bespoke interface and responsive lights. A smaller, more portable “console” version of the control scheme was also produced for ease of transportation for exhibition.
Echostasis (Recipient of the Long Feature Award 2024)
The Long Feature Award was given to sci-fi horror game [ECHOSTASIS] by Irish developer Enigma Studio. The description is as follows:
[ECHOSTASIS] is a psychedelic science-fiction horror game which presents a world where our reality is not only curated by algorithms, but created by them. The game gradually descends into a fully playable existential nightmare within a story that could only take place within the medium of games. [ECHOSTASIS] acts as the final chapter of solo developer Jamie Gavin’s trilogy of games, preceded by THE ENIGMA MACHINE in 2018 and MOTHERED – A ROLE-PLAYING HORROR GAME in 2021.
BlueSuburbia (Recipient of the Explorer Award 2024)
The Explorer Award was given to BlueSuburbia by Solvenian developer Nathalie Lawhead. Described as an atmospheric horror game, the game combines dreamscape and poetry together.
BlueSuburbia is interactive poetry and literature. It is a haunted dreamscape where you explore poems through immersive environments. Wander through the world of poetry, seek out dark secrets, confront your demons, and delve deeper into a dream that dances between beautiful and terrible. Forgotten dreamscapes and open worlds are yours to explore as you venture on your quest to find hope in the darkness.
Non-Virtual Reality Games (Recipient of the Audience Award 2024)
The Audience Award was given to Non-Virtual Reality Games by Dutch developers 3m Jump. Described as a local co-op, non-VR game on Valve Index/Vive/Oculus Rift, the game description is as follows:
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.
Minatures (Recipient of the Wings Award 2024)
The Wings Award was given to Minatures, created by Denmark developer Other Tales Interactive. Set as a narrative, interactive-animation anthology game, the game’s description is as follows:
A collection of handcrafted games about childhood, where imagination and reality merge with darker undercurrents of loneliness, mystery and magic.
No Case Should Remain Unsolved (Recipient of the Most Amazing Award 2024)
The Most Amazing Award was given to No Case Should Remain Unsolved by Korean developer Somi. Described as a non-linear detective adventure game, the game’s description is as follows:
No_Case_Should_Remain_Unsolved is a detective game where players uncover and piece together memory fragments to solve a long-forgotten case. Follow former police detective Jeon Gyeong as she acquires clues and testimony relating to the case of a missing girl. February 5, 2012. A little girl named Seowon is reported missing from a playground. Police launch an investigation and question witnesses and suspects, but Seowon’s case is never solved. Twelve years after Senior Inspector Jeon Gyeong’s retirement, she is visited by a young police officer: a woman who pleads with her to reexamine Seowon’s case. But with each uncovered memory, only one thing becomes clear: everyone in Seowon’s vicinity was lying.