A Maze

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 S. 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 S. 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 "Deutsche Gamestage" (later becoming 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.

+Awards at the A MAZE. Festival Date Work Author Award 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 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 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 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 8–11 May 2024 Grunn Tom van den Boogaart Digital Moment Award Waxwing Common Opera Human Human Machine Award Echostasis Enigma Studio Long Feature Award BlueSuburbia Nathalie Lawhead Explorer Award Non-Virtual Reality Games 3m Jump Audience Award No Case Should Be Left Unsolved Somi Most Amazing Award Miniatures Other Tales Interactive Wings Award 14–17 May 2025 Some Goodbyes We Made Safe Flight Games and Joey Schulz Digital Moment Award Synch.Live Hillary Leone and the Synch.Live Team Human Human Machine Award Threshold Julien Eveillé Long Feature Award Flora Flora Explorer Award Breaking News Danil Bialo, Tamir Herzberg, and Evyatar Cohen Audience Award Despelote Julián Cordero, Sebastián Valbuena, Gabe Cuzzillo Most Amazing Award Curiosmos Céline & the Silly Stars Wings Award

References

A Maze

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