Study Programs

To serve both up and coming talents and experienced professionals, Cologne Game Lab offers undergraduate and postgraduate studies as also several opportunities to study abroad, get in touch with the games industry or start own projects. Students from 45 nations study at the Cologne Game Lab. Worldwide, the institute maintains – in addition to the European ERASMUS programme – additional exchange agreements.

#FemDevsMeetup Special Award

#FemDevsMeetup Special Award of the Jury of the German Computer Game Award 2023. Leonie Wolf and Casilda de Zulueta – both graduates of the Cologne Game Lab – receive the special award of this year’s DCP on behalf of the FemDevMeetup team! The #FemDevsMeetup is a free event and non-profit organization dedicated to advancing women […]

A Maze. Explorer Award

CGL Student Trey Ramm has been awarded the prestigious Amaze Explorer Award for his Project “Lost on Mars”: Six months after all contact with the Atlas III Mars Exploration mission was lost, the Soter Exploration Rover lands in the mission area. What happened to the previous mission, and why did they cut off contact? The […]

Open Lab

Right at the end of the summer term, on July 12, the Cologne Game Lab will again host its annual OPEN LAB. Following the Graduation Ceremony for this year’s graduates of all BA and MA study programs, we will not only take the time to celebrate our students’ accomplishments, but also seize the opportunity to […]

Research Day

Save the Date: Research Day on May 8, 2023 The Research Day is intended as an intermediate stage towards a joint collaborative project between different Faculties of TH Köln: the Cologne Institute of Conservation Sciences (CICS), the Köln International School of Design (KISD), and of course the Cologne Game Lab. The Research Day will be […]

Upcoming Guest Lectures

Join us for another Guest Lecture! On May 9 musician, performer and multimedia-artist Max Schweder will talk about “Interactive Environments/ Accessible Digital Art for Stages”. Max Schweder is a creative coder and digital artist who works for the Koproduktionslabor Dortmund and as a freelancer internationally. He is a member of the inclusive Un-Label Performing Arts […]

Animation Awakened

Animation AwakenedShowcase M.A. 3D Animation for Film & Games | 3rd semester Finally, the application phase for all B.A. and M.A. study programs has started! As we eagerly await the first warm days of spring and the approaching summer term, we want to take the time and reflect on some of last semester’s projects. The […]

End of Term Student Showcase

The winter term has officially come to a close – and looking back, we really must say: It was a blast! We were all so pleased to see the halls and lecture rooms crowded with people again and finally enjoy our traditional end of term Student Showcase & Exhibition on site. So, last Wednesday the […]

Greta Hoffmann appointed as Game Design Professor

New Professorship for Game Design with Focus on Independent Games We are very pleased to announce that Dr. Greta Hoffmann will be joining our team of professors as of February 1! She has been appointed as Professor for Game Design with Focus on Independent Games. Thus, the CGL teaching team consists of nine professors again, […]

TIMETRAVEL #101

TIMETRAVEL #101: An Introduction to the Affordances of Mixed Reality for Teaching History On-Site On December 12, Katharina Tillmanns will give a lecture at C²DH in Luxembourg that focuses on Games & Cultural History. In order to attend the lecture online, please write an email to vanessa.napolitano[at]uni.lu to get the link. The Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary […]

Games Promotion NRW

In its last promotion session for digital games and interactive content in 2022, the Film and Media Foundation NRW awarded over 1.4 million euros to 15 projects. Among these projects, there are also two games that are currently developed by CGL alumni! “Hinterland”, by the independent game studio Cyber Manatee, is a nerve-wracking first-person mystery-thriller […]

Recent Publications

Check out the latest publications of CGL-professors & staff in 2022. Find all other articles, chapters and conference proceedings in our ->publications section. August 2022 Playful Materialities.The Stuff That Games Are Made OfFreyermuth, Gundolf S. | Beil, Benjamin | Schmidt, Hanns Christian | Rusch, Raven (eds.) Game culture and material culture have always been closely […]

Deutscher Entwicklerpreis for “Antura & the Letters” and Casilda de Zulueta

On December 8, the German Developer Award 2022 (Deutscher Entwicklerpreis) was awarded to the best games of German-speaking developers & publishers! We are very proud to announce that Antura & the Letters has won the award in the category Special Award for Social Commitment – presented by Gaming-Aid e.V.! And as if that weren’t enough, […]

NO END TO THE ROAD

Fellowship for urban digital culture has started in Witten A program for everyone who wants to experiment with new media formats and digitize the urban cultural scene together with other artists! Last year, we teamed up with the Kulturforum Witten, and the Kulturpolitische Gesellschaft e.V., to enable four creative people to realize their own digital […]

XR Science Award 2022 for Fear//Anxiety

In this project, virtual reality is used as a method to investigate the fundamental differences between anxiety and fear. The objective is to gain new biological insights into these two primary emotions and to derive therapeutical measures for the treatment of anxiety disorders, panic attacks, and phobias. Anxiety and fear arise in a confrontation with […]

ISEDA project officially launched

We are happy to announce that the ISEDA project has been officially launched! The joint research project aims to produce, test, evaluate and upscale innovative solutions against domestic violence and abuse in Europe. During the hybrid Kick-Off Meeting on September 22-23 , the 15 partners of the ISEDA project team, led by TH Köln – […]

Lecture Series on Research Perspectives in Cultural Studies

Lecture Series 2022/23 – videos out now! During the winter term of 2022/23, the lecture series of the Faculty of Cultural Studies, also called “Ringvorlesung”, explored research perspectives in cultural studies, in particular using the example of doctoral studies being developed at the faculty. The aim was to identify peculiarities and broader points of contact […]

Abeer Kapoor: German Chancellor Fellowship at CGL

The Cologne Game Lab is delighted to welcome on board Mr. Abeer Kapoor! He is the founder of The Civic Games Lab, a games for social change studio in New Delhi, India. At Civic Games Lab, he and his team has built games on issues like democracy, health and nutrition, and digital rights. Kapoor is a published author who has written […]

Clash of Realities 2022: It’s a wrap!

The 13th Clash of Realities has come to a close! A big thank you goes out to all participants, speakers, organizers and our fantastic audience who made this last edition of the Clash of Realities conference such a great experience. After the last keynote had ended, Gundolf S. Freyermuth and Björn Bartholdy took to the […]

Get Ready for Clash of Realities 2022

The 13th International Conference on the Art, Technology and Theory of Digital Games will be back for one last time on September, 28-30! Some keynotes will be held online and will also be streamed. Kicking things off on September 28 is the Young Academics Workshop on “Female Figures: Present and Future of Storytelling, Play, and […]

Upcoming Guest Lectures

The first Guest Lecture of 2023 is coming up… unfortunately a little later than originally planned…! Due to the KVB strike the lecture had to be postponed to May 23. Looking at the bright side, you have a little more time to look forward to Pablo & Rodrigo Olmos from Anima Res who will talk […]

Prof. Markus Hettlich ✝

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Call for Papers

Call for Papers for the anthology “Playgrounds: Museums and Games as Media for the Creation of the World” The integration of digital media into museum practice is considered elementary for attracting new groups of visitors and is thus an indicator of the future connectivity of the museum institution as a whole – from folklore, local […]

Greening Games Project

CGL recently entered into a cooperation with IGDA Climate SIG. For the next month and a half our BA4 students will experiment with making games on the issues related to climate crisis. We’re looking forward to the final presentations and play sessions at CGL in mid July. This project is also a pilot teaching format […]

Obituary for Markus Hettlich

It is with deep sadness that we have to announce that our esteemed colleague and friend, Prof. Markus Hettlich passed away on June 3. A physicist by training, pilot, and teacher, he had been involved in the development of the Cologne Game Lab since the institute’s early beginnings in 2010 – first as a freelance […]

Inclusive Mentoring

INCLUSIVE MENTORING This goes out to all of you who want to apply to one of our study programs (or already did)! We are pleased that you are interested in studying at the Cologne Game Lab and would like to support you in the best possible way. As we pay special attention to inclusion and […]

Call for Papers

Clash of Realities | Save the Date The 13th International Conference on the Art, Technology and Theory of Digital Games will be back in the fall of 2022. Please save the date: September, 28-30! For everyone who wants to join us for the 13th edition of the conference, detailed information on program and speakers will […]

Hammam

VR experience selected for GoEast Film Festival “Hammam”, the VR project of CGL student Naz Akgül and her team was selected to participate in goEAST Film Festivals VR Hackaton to build an interactive world for their VRChat app. The Festival has invited four teams of independent VR artists to work on this collaborative project: An […]

New network for the promotion of game technologies

The computer games industry in Germany is growing steadily and has internationally active publishers, a strong developer scene and important trade fairs to show for. In order to sustainably strengthen North Rhine-Westphalia as a games location, TH Köln has now joined forces with three other universities from NRW. The long-term goal of the cooperation is […]

Antura for Ukraine

In light of the war in Ukraine, we decided to develop new language versions of Antura & the Letters. The focus is on countries like Poland, Romania, Moldova and Hungary, that are hosting the most refugees from Ukraine. The app will help children acquire a basic vocabulary of the respective host country and is also […]

Deutscher Computerspielpreis for “Words”

The grand awards ceremony for the German Computergame Award went down on March 31 in Munich. We are pleased to announce that CGL student Ahmet Zahit Dönmez has won the 2nd prize in the category Young Talent Award – Best Prototype for his game “Words“. “Words” is a slow-paced, narrative-focused, first person game where players […]

Apply now!

The application period for all B.A. and M.A. programs starting this winter term, has officially kicked off! You can find out about the application process and the different tasks – depending on the study program you want to apply for – in the list below and of course, on our application page. The deadline for […]

Play! An Interdisciplinary Conference on Digital Games in Museums

Play! An Interdisciplinary Conference on Digital Games in Museums The hybrid conference Play! An Interdisciplinary Conference on Digital Games in Museums will take place in the context of the Futur 21 Festival on March 12, 2022, at the Gesenkschmiede Hendrichs of the LVR-Industriemuseums in Solingen. Representatives from the fields of media and cultural studies, game […]

Professorship Game Design

We are hiring! We are offering a position as Professor for Game Design with a focus on Independent Games.W 2 | unlimited | part time with 50% | Faculty of Cultural Sciences | Köln-Mülheim You will represent the field of “Game Design” in CGL’s Bachelor’s and Master’s programs and teach the design of game mechanics […]

InfoHours for Applicants

InfoHours for Applicants The application phase for our study programs will start soon! You are invited to join our open information events. During the 90-minute (online-) sessions, our staff will provide you with everything you need to know about applying to, studying at, and graduating from the Cologne Game Lab. Upcoming InfoHours M.A. Game Development […]

Conference Proceedings

The proceedings of the first Games Technology Summit “AI in natural user interfaces” are online as open access! Many thanks to the authors and of course to the co-curators Martin Lorber, Prof. Dr. Sebastian von Mammen and Prof. Dr. Roland Klemke. As part of the Clash of Realities International Conference on the Technology and Theory […]

11th & 12th Clash of Realities has ended

#CoR2021 has come to a close! On behalf of the organizers Cologne Game Lab of Technische Hochschule Köln and Universität zu Köln we’d like to thank our supporters Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, EA & Köln.Business as well as our partners Stiftung Preußische Schlösser und Gärten Berlin-Brandenburg, Kunsthochschule für Medien Köln and many more! A big […]

Virtual time travel to the year 2050

Exoskeletons for people with walking disabilities and red wine from Alaska: In a joint research project, the Cologne Game Lab (CGL) of the TH Köln and the Zukunftsmuseum in Nuremberg have developed a virtual image of life in the year 2050. Using virtual reality, visitors to the new branch of the Deutsches Museum can immerse […]

Call for Papers

Immersive Gaming x Cultural Heritage Summit @ Clash of Realities 2021 Submission Deadline: September 15 In recent years, cultural institutions across all sectors have been working on integrated concepts to drive the digital transformation of their educational outreach. In the process, digital game-based learning has established itself as a successful and sustainable technique that particularly […]

Mayor visits Cologne Game Incubator

The Cologne Game Lab supports game developers in turning their ideas for digital games into marketable products. Just before Gamescom 2021 kicked off, Cologne’s Mayor Henriette Reker and representatives of the Cologne Business Development Agency got an impression of the activities in the Cologne Game Incubator (CGI). “Cologne and the games industry are inextricably linked […]

Sheroes

Program for female founders and entrepreneurs in the media industry launchedTen participants from the fields of film, TV, web video and social media Strong women – strong economy In order for women to develop their entrepreneurial potential more strongly in the media industry and to increasingly implement their visions in their own ventures, the Mediengründerzentrum […]

FUTUR 21 Game Jam

How will new technologies change our work and our daily lives? What are the challenges for a future oriented use of resources? These and other questions will be addressed at FUTUR 21 Game Jam! FUTUR 21 is a cooperative project of the Regional Associations Rheinland (LVR), Westfalen-Lippe (LWL) and Cologne Game Lab on occasion of […]

Virtual Journey through Time and Space

The “Virtual Journey through Time,” which will be located in the exhibition area Time and Space at the Deutsches Museum Nürnberg in the future, has passed an initial test phase with flying colors. Museum employees tried out the virtual and fully interactive scavenger hunt under expert guidance – and are thrilled. No, details are not […]

CGL develops innovative learning environment

Learning psychomotoric skills independently with artificial intelligence. A research consortium around the Cologne Game Lab at TH Köln is developing a learning environment with artificial intelligence to support the independent learning of psychomotor skills. Anyone who wants to learn a sport trains new psychomotor skills. Until now, this has required role models such as teachers […]

11th Clash of Realities Conference

It’s a wrap! Gundolf S. Freyermuth & Björn Bartholdy thanked the organizers, the program board and everyone who made this year’s conference possible and turned it into such a great experience! Last week, #CoR2021 concluded with its Game Studies Summit. The third and final day of the conference started with an introduction by Tom Apperley […]

MA Game Development and Research

Dear candidates, Cologne Game Lab would like to announce the extension of the application deadline for the further education degree program of the M.A. Game Development and Research. Given the global circumstances caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the stress it has put on both the administrative systems on which this application process is based […]

Film- und Medienstiftung NRW provides more than 1.6 million euros for eleven games projects

Film- und Medienstiftung NRW provides more than 1.6 million euros for eleven games projects Eleven game projects receive funding from the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, the company ‘Cyber Manatee Games’ is one of them. ‘Cyber Manatee Games’ is an independent game studio based in Cologne, whose founders (Jonah Fintz, Mitesh Amin, Marc Kelbling) are graduates […]

Ten years of game research at the Cologne Game Lab

Since its founding just over ten years ago, the Cologne Game Lab (CGL) has developed into a renowned research institution in the field of digital games. Institute directors Prof. Dr. Gundolf S. Freyermuth and Prof. Björn Bartholdy launched the CGL at the time and look back on the facility’s development. Many great success stories start […]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

In 2021, TH Köln celebrates its 50th birthday! It was founded on August 1, 1971 as the University of Applied Sciences Cologne and has undergone an impressive development within the past five decades. It is not only the largest university of applied sciences in Germany in terms of students and staff, but also a pioneer […]

International Research Conference on the art, technology and theory of digital games

Call for Papers: Playful Materialities

Call for Papers: Playful Materialities As a follow up to the Game Studies Summit at Clash of Realities Conference 2020, we are editing a volume about Playful Materialities! The anthology intends to embrace a broaderscope on meanings, methodologies, its limits, and its many opportunities. The volume will be published by transcript in summer 2022. You […]

Best Serious Game: “Welten der Werkstoffe”

We are very pleased to announce that our “Welten der Werkstoffe”-team was awarded with the German Computer Game Award! Flavia Vincens presented the trophy endowed with 35,000 euros in the category “Best Serious Game”. Congratulations! The Institute for Materials Application at TH Köln, together with the Cologne Game Lab, has developed the serious game “Welten […]

Alumni Interviews!

At CGL, we develop digital games and research interactive content – but our main task is still to train specialists for the games industry. In our series “Alumni Interviews” we present some of the former CGL students, their careers and the companies they successfully founded. We ask them about their experiences while studying at CGL […]

Implementing games in political campaigns. An interview with Dr. André Czauderna

Implementing games in political campaigns. An interview with Dr. André Czauderna. In the run up to the presidential election, 440,000 people watched US politician Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez play the popular video game “Among Us” on Twitch. Using games as a campaign tool seems to be a smart move to get more votes. But is that tactic […]

Apply now!

The application period for our Master- and Bachelor programs has officially started! You have time to submit your application until March, 31! If you want to apply, please go here! Check out our FAQs to find out more about the different programs:BA Digital Games – FAQ MA Digital Games – FAQ MA Game Development & […]

Apply now!

MA 3D Animation for Film & Games The application period for the part-time Master program “3D Animation for Film & Games”, which starts in September, has officially started – it runs until March, 31. The cross-media study course for 3D animation is jointly organized by the ifs and the Cologne Game Lab. On March, 11 […]

Global Game Jam 2021

The Global Game Jam (GGJ) is the largest Game Jam event worldwide. Since 2010 the Cologne Game Lab (CGL) has been hosting the Global Game Jam Cologne. Usually the event takes place at different locations around the world, however, due to Covid-19, the Global Game Jam will be an online event from January 27 to […]

Nominations for Deutscher Entwicklerpreis

The nominees for the “German Developer Award” 2021 have been made public. The award ceremony will take place on Thursday, December 9, 2021, starting at 8:00 p.m. in the auditorium of the Cologne Game Lab as well as in a big show in a live stream on deutscherentwicklerpreis.de and rocketbeans.tv. Due to the ongoing Corona […]

Clash of Realities 2020: It’s a wrap!

The eleventh Clash of Realities has come to a close! A big thank you goes out to all participants, be it the speakers, the audience or the organizers who were responsible for making this year’s Clash of Realities such a great experience. This year, the artistic-scientific research conference of the Cologne Game Lab (CGL) of […]

Workshop with Sudanese Game Collective

Most computer games – whether from a large publisher or a small independent label – treat their topics from a Western or East Asian perspective. Games from African countries, on the other hand, hardly exist. Carmen Johann, Jonas Zimmer and Rakibul Hasan Toor from the Cologne Game Lab, therefore support game developers in Sudan in […]

GDD Indie Award

The GDD Indie Award 2020 was awarded on October 1st via live stream in eight categories. A total of 10,000 euros was distributed among young developers and up and coming studios. In the course of the event CGL-Professor Odile Limpach was admitted to the GDD Hall of Fame. The rhythmic puzzle game “Vectronom”, developed by […]

GamesTalente Academy @ CGL

We are excited to announce that we will co-host this year’s GamesTalente Academy at CGL from October, 17 to October 25. Although it will be a digital event, we are happy to welcome the GamesTalente- team at CGL who will set up their workshop-headquarter on site. The initiative is a two-stage support program that has […]

Ten minutes in 2050

TH Köln develops VR exhibit for the Deutsches Museum Nuremberg The Deutsches Museum is planning to open a new branch in December 2020 with the Zukunftsmuseum in Nuremberg, where everything will revolve around future technologies. In a joint research project, the Cologne Game Lab and the museum are developing an exhibit for the exhibition: Using […]

“Jessika” receives Innovation Award at Deutscher Entwicklerpreis

Finally, the winners of the German Developer Award have been announced. The Award Ceremony took place on January 20, 2021 in a live streamed show. We’re very excited that the game “Jessika” by CGL-alumni Pierre Schlömp (story design & game mechanics), Seren Besorak (design of the pictures & sounds/ initiator of the project) and Sarah […]

Student Game wins recognition

Our 6-semester BA-students did a very special collaborative project on impact games this summer term. The students focused on the current spreading of the Corona virus throughout the world, tackling either mental issues and psychological effects of the current situation, simulating the virus‘ spreading throughout the world, show how to fight the virus inside of […]

11th Clash of Realities Conference

SAVE THE DATE The 11th International Conference on the Art, Technology and Theory of Digital Games will be a two-part event. In November 2020, we start with a digital conference that includes the Young Academics Workshop, several Summit Presentations, and international Keynote speakers. The research conference provides a virtual space for […]

Obituary for Dario d’Ambra

We are devastated to announce that our dear graduate, colleague, and friend Dario D’Ambra passed away on July 26. In the winter term 2015/2016, Dario started studying the Master Program Game Development and Research at Cologne Game Lab and finished his studies in 2017 with his master thesis, “The Theatrical Lens in Game Studies and Game Design: […]

Graduation Ceremony

Despite all Corona-restrictions, our annual Graduation Ceremony will be held as scheduled on Wednesday July 15. All students and their families can follow a stream online! The 2-hour ceremony will take place live in CGL´s auditorium – with a few staff and faculty members in the stands (in accordance with university´s physical distance regulations, of […]

Game Funding NRW

The results of the latest meeting on the promotion of digital games and interactive content of the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW have come out and we are delighted there are many CGL-alumni and members of our Incubator among the beneficiaries. Corrado Maraini and Jonas Delleske receive a production funding of 125.000 euro for their puzzle-platformer […]

Complexity Jam

This Friday, the Complexity Jam, an international online game jam about “Surviving the infodemic”, will kick off! “Bring your ideas and create your game or Interactive Digital Narrative about how to handle the information overload, identify fake news and beat the pandemic with playful creativity!” All game developers, artists, graphic designers, musicians, narrative designers, writers […]

Developing games in and about the Corona crisis

Our 6-semester BA-students have a very special collaborative project on „impact games“ this summer term. In general, impact games are playful experiences that are designed to encourage a change in behaviour or teach the players something new and help them experience another perspective on a given topic. For obvious reasons, this semester the students focus […]

Please welcome:
Prof. Dr. Sonia Fizek

We are very pleased to announce that Prof. Dr. Sonia Fizek has joined our team at Cologne Game Lab as a professor for Media and Game Studies with specialization in Player Research. She is a digital games, design and media scholar. She was senior lecturer in the School of Informatics and Design at Abertay University […]

FemDev Game Jam @ CGL

+++ The FemDev Game Jam has to be canceled / postponed due to the current situation regarding COVID-19 concerns. We will let you know when or if a new date can be set+++ We are glad to welcome the #FemDevsMeetup Game Jam back to CGL,March 27 – 29! It is a yearly video game creation […]

APPLICATION PHASE EVALUATION

B.A. Digital Games

APPLICATION PHASE EVALUATION

B.A. Digital Games

APPLICATION PHASE EVALUATION

B.A. Digital Games

APPLICATION PHASE EVALUATION

B.A. Digital Games

Global Game Jam @ CGL

That was GGJ2020! The 2020 Global Game Jam is over now, and we are left not only with fond memories but also loads of games to look at and try out. With 22 games created by the 110 active participants, this year was once again one of the biggest GGJ in CGL´s 10-year history of […]

Upcoming Guest Lectures

Upcoming Guest Lectures The next guest lecture will again be a collaborative effort between IFS and CGL. On January, 8 Patrick Gladys will talk about „Natural Environment Art – Foliage Creation”. Description follows. __________________________________ Upcoming Guest Lectures WT 2019/2020 January, 8 | 5.30 pm Patrick Gladys “Natural Environment Art – Foliage Creation”

Daniel Majonica

Daniel is a researcher and developer at the Cologne Game Lab in the field of Technology Enhanced Learning and is developing a framework in mixed reality for designing immersive learning systems in human-robot interaction to increase safety and descrease development time and costs. He started his Ph.D. and is mainly working on the “Multimodal Immersive […]

Prof. Dr. Sonia Fizek

Sonia Fizek is a digital wanderer and a ludic thinker; on a more formal note, a digital games and media theorist. She is also an associate editor of the Journal of Gaming and Virtual Worlds, a leading international journal publishing academic work in the field of game studies.

Prof. Björn Bartholdy

Prof. Björn Bartholdy

As a visual designer, Björn Bartholdy focuses on graphic design, UI & UX, motion graphics and 2D animation. Together with Gundolf S. Freyermuth, he conceived the Cologne Game Lab as a creative space around the topic of digital games with the aim of establishing one of the leading research institutions in this field for Europe.

Games studieren – was, wie, wo?

game studies – what, how, where? Games are the most influential audiovisual expression and narrative form of digital culture. The currently emerging state educational offerings are therefore gaining artistic and cultural, but also scientific and economic significance, as was the case with film courses in the 20th century, for example. For the first time, this […]

B.A. Digital Games

Digital Games BA excerpt

Lecturers & Researchers

Professors