The Cologne Game Lab was out in full force at this year’s edition of the world’s largest event for digital gaming culture! Students, alumni, and researchers showcased their games and cutting-edge research in a variety of formats at gamescom, from the Indie Arena to the Business Area and the gamescom congress.

The Indie Arena Booth, Europe’s largest joint developer platform, featured more than a dozen games developed by CGL students and alumni:

Broken Paternoster Games:

Broken Paternoster Games (itch.io link), a game publisher created by CGL students for CGL students, showcased an impressive lineup of nine games. The joint booth with HAW Hamburg and Hochschule Mittweida attracted a diverse crowd, from enthusiastic gamers to press representatives.

neoludic games:

neoludic games, with CGL alumni Raven Rush, David Wildemann and Maurice Andreas, made a confident showing at gamescom for the second year running with their award-winning game ‘Tiny Bookshop‘. Having found a publisher for their game here last year, the Cologne-based game studio was rightfully honoured to receive two nominations for the gamescom award this year.

In ‘Tiny Bookshop’ the player can set up shop in scenic locations, and run the cozy store while getting to know the locals. You can collect second-hand books and decorations, stock books of different genres to satisfy the locals’ reading habits and equip the Tiny Bookshop with the items you collect. Where you go each day, which items you bring, and the way that you interact with the people around you all shape the town’s stories – and your own.

NEPTUN Interactive:

Also present in the Indie Arena Booth was the four-person team from NEPTUN Interactive with their game ‘Kiosk Simulator’. Keivan Akbari, Fritz D. Thiel, Ilgin Oezcelik and Jan Wichmann professionalised and founded NEPTUN Interactive in spring 2023 after years of working together during their studies at CGL.

Kiosk Simulator lets you manage a traditional kiosk in the city metropolis of Cologne, Germany. Manage and upgrade your store and forge your own empire of sinister products one needs after a long night out. But watch out! Raging customers may vandalize your shop and steal your precious goods! Defend your hard-earned ground and survive the night!

Spoonful Games:

The team from Spoonful Games also met while studying at Cologne Game Lab. After being supported in founding their company in our Cologne Game Incubator program, they became an integral part of the Cologne games industry. At gamescom 2024, they presented their second title, ‘Bauhaus Bonk‘, a clean and simple one-button game of dexterity based solely on movement.

Press any button or touch the screen to toggle which pivot your spinning character is rotating around and maneuver your way through Bauhaus-inspired arcade worlds, collecting bonus points and power-ups without hitting any obstacles. Challenge friends or players from all over the world and secure the highest score, the fastest time or even the award for the fewest steps taken!

Here you can find press reports from ZDF, WDR and Arte:

Many familiar faces were also present at the Business Area of gamescom, both online via stream and offline on site, especially at the ‘Welcome to NRW stand’. CGL alumnae contributed their expertise in no less than three talk rounds: Linda Kruse (The Good Evil) addressed the topic of serious games, Leonie Wolf (Maschine-Mensch) emphasized the importance of diversity in games, and Hanna Steinhauer (Spoonful Games) and Casilda de Zulueta (FemDevs) highlighted the need for equality in the games industry. Another highlight was a live-streamed interview with Onat Hekimoglu, Mahee Pal (both Slow. Bros UG) and german streamer Gnu, in which both former CGL student provided exclusive insights into the making-of ‘Harold Halibut’.

CGL Research:

At the gamescom congress, Europe’s leading conference on the potential of computer games, researchers from CGL presented two innovative research projects:

Game artist, designer and researcher Alina Menten and game designer and project manager Franziska Funken presented the pilot game, ‘The Migrants’ Chronicles: 1892‘. They also discussed the educational strategies of the games and the integration possibilities of the game in schools and museums.
Find out more about the research project here.

Kendys Ortega, 3D character artist and researcher, and CGL’s Prof. Dr Emmanuel Guardiola presented the Horizon Europe research project ISEDA, which they are both working on at CGL. Their presentation was focused on two key areas: the development of a low-cost facial motion capture pipeline and the development of an automation tool.
Find out more about the research project here: