Play

Weiterleitung

Weiterleitung: Zum Call von “Spiel | Museum 2025” bitte hier klicken!

News from CGL’s research department!

As one of the most research-active institutes at TH Köln, we are proud to share recent highlights from our work at the intersection of game development, sustainability, and community building. From international conferences and academic collaborations to public events and festival curations, 2025 so far showcased the breadth and impact of our interdisciplinary research. Recap: […]

Symposium “Game | Museum 2025”

Call for Participation (German) Fachtagung Spiel | Museum 2025 Spiel und Museum sind vielschichtig verbunden: Mit Blick auf das Spiel oder Spielerische im Museum reicht die Bandbreite historisch vom (technisierten) Spiel als Sammlungsobjekt, angefangen bei Spielmaterialien aus der Ur- und Frühgeschichte über die Automaten der Wunderkammern bis zur Gegenwart, in der digitale Spiele nicht nur […]

Application deadline extended!

The application deadline for the M.A. 3D Animation for Film & Games and the M.A. Game Development & Research has been extended until 24 April at 23:59 CEST. M.A. Game Development & ResearchThis paid interdisciplinary advanced training program is designed to educate pioneers of the digital content industry and is aimed at young media professionals […]

Newly appointed: Prof. Dr. Jonas Zimmer

As the newly appointed Professor of Game Informatics at the Cologne Game Lab, Dr Jonas Zimmer‘s research interests include non-Euclidean spaces in virtual reality (VR). He explains what this is all about in a short interview. Study program:Media Cultural Studies and Media Informatics at the University of Cologne PhD:„Transzendenz gestalten. Interdisziplinäre Paradigmen für das Design […]

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 on our application page. The deadline for all applications […]

Open Lab 2024/25

Full house at the Open Lab! On Wednesday, February 5th, we had an amazing evening exploring the future of game development! Our talented students showcased their semester projects and theses, offering an exciting look at their creativity and innovation. The event was a great opportunity for game enthusiasts, industry professionals, artists, students, and anyone curious […]

Young Academics Workshop Game Jam 2025

Games & Psychology: Community Building in Games & Virtual Worlds Date: March 19, 2025Time: 09:45 AM – 07:30 PM Location: Cologne Game Lab, Schanzenstr. 28, 51063 Köln Team: Katja Aller, Su-Jin Song – Cologne Game Lab at the Cologne Game Lab, University of Applied Sciences (TH Köln), René Lang – a.r.t.e.s. Graduate School for the Humanities […]

Nina Kiel

Nina Kiel is a research assistant currently working for both the Cologne Game Lab and the Institute for Media Research and Media Education at TH Köln. As an expert in the field of diversity, equity and inclusion with more than ten years of experience both in game studies and game development, they’ve been hired to […]

Broken Paternoster Games

Broken Paternoster Games consists of a group of students at Cologne Game Lab publishing games and helping students to get their projects out and kickstart their careers. The goal is to lower the entrance barrier into publishing for students by offering quality assurance and guiding them through complicated bureaucratic processes. Likewise Broken Paternoster Games assist […]

Speaker & Team

Young Academics Workshop – Speaker Young Academics Workshop – Team

Schedule

YAW 2025 – Games, Politics & Psychology: Community Building in Games & Virtual Worlds Program schedule 09.00 – 09.30 | Speaker Registration 09.30 – 09.45 | Opening 09.45 – 10.30 | KeynoteMatthias Heider (Institute for Democracy and Civil Society (IDZ) 10.30 – 10.55 | TalkAlexandra Petrus, M.A. (University of Southern California, School of Cinematic Arts) […]

Young Academics Workshop 2025

Games, Politics & Psychology: Community Building in Games & Virtual Worlds The 2025 edition of the Young Academics Workshop extends its focus beyond traditional gaming communities, delving into communities of care, activism, queer groups, and political/ideological communities. Titled Games, Politics & Psychology: Community Building in Games & Virtual Worlds it explores both the positive and […]

German Developer Award 2024: Harold Halibut awarded for best graphics

On Tuesday evening, 3 December 2024, the best computer games of the year from Germany, Austria and Switzerland were honoured with the German Developer Award (dt.: Deutscher Entwicklerpreis) in Cologne. Harold Halibut by Cologne-based indie studio Slow Bros. won the prestigious award for “Best Graphics”. The team from Harold Halibut, Harold Halibut’s team, including former […]

Greening Games Project Results Presentation

The Cologne Game Lab is hosting the presentation of results from the Erasmus+ research project, Greening Games. Over the past three years, this project has focused on developing, testing, and distributing didactic materials that address the interdisciplinary nature of green digital gaming. Event Information Date: October 23, 2024 Time: 10:00 AM – 4:30 PM Format: […]

Dr. Damian Gałuszka

Dr. Damian Gałuszka is a sociologist specializing in the study of socio-technological phenomena, with a particular focus on digital solutions such as video games, virtual reality (VR), artificial intelligence (AI), and automation. He is a graduate of the AGH University of Krakow, Jagiellonian University, and the Collegium Invisibile association. Currently, he serves as an assistant professor […]

Pedro Zambon

Pedro Zambon is Vice Chairperson of the IGDA’s Game Incubation SIG and Researcher of the Collaborative Technologies Lab at Utrecht University under a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship. He develops tools, methods, and solutions to support game creators. Zambon is Founder of Savegame.dev, have a career focused in providing consultancy to engage institutions and policymakers to create […]

Innovative Solutions to Eliminate Domestic Abuse: The ISEDA Project

The issue of domestic violence (DV) continues to represent a significant challenge across Europe, with adverse consequences for both individuals and communities. In response to this situation, the ISEDA project (Innovative Solutions to Eliminate Domestic Abuse), coordinated by Cologne Game Lab from the TH Köln – University of Applied Sciences, has been launched with the […]

CGL@gamescom 2024

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, […]

Celebrating the End of Summer Semester 2024

Celebrating the End of Summer Semester 2024: Graduation Ceremony and Open Lab We are delighted to announce the successful conclusion of the Summer Semester 2024 at CGL, marked by an inspiring graduation ceremony and a vibrant Open Lab. The graduation ceremony celebrated the achievements of our talented students from the Winter Semester 2023/24 and the […]

Photo Gallery Open Lab 2024

Open Lab | Summer Term 2024

Webinar Archive

Explore our collection of past webinars, featuring insightful talks by game developers who are making a difference. Each webinar delves into the unique ways games can address and solve humanitarian issues, offering inspiration and knowledge to both developers and humanitarian advocates. Past Webinars: Title: DisCoord the board game https://www.youtube.com/live/MI0TqD9riSw Date: 13th of February Time: 14:00 […]

Arkadijs Gribacovs

Arkady is an experienced game artist and a graduate of Cologne Game Lab, holding a Bachelor’s degree in Digital Games, Game Art. Currently, he is taking part in the development of a serious game as part of the PREMIERE project. His main passion lies in 3D Art and creating visually stunning games.

Simon Skrippek

Simon is a CGL alumni with a Bachelor’s degree in Digital Games. With multiple years of industry experience as a game developer and game programmer, he is currently contributing to the development of a serious game as part of the PREMIERE project.

Call for Papers: The Young Academics Workshop 2025

The Young Academics Workshop 2025Games, Politics & Psychology: Community Building in Games & Virtual Worlds Estimated Date: March 18-19, 2025 Guest Scholar: The guest speaker will be announced at a later date. Organizing Chairs: Katja Aller (Cologne Game Lab / University of Cologne), René Lang (University of Cologne), Su-Jin Song (Cologne Game Lab / TH […]

About Us

Our Mission: As part of a broader initiative of believers in the power of games to address these critical issues, inspire global action, and drive meaningful change, we aim to build and share knowledge around the topic of humanitarian games. Our Vision: Our vision is to build a thriving community where game developers, academics, and […]

Tobias Lemme

Ruth Dorothea Eggel

Ruth Dorothea Eggel is a cultural anthropologist and gender studies scholar with a focus on digital ethnography of technosocial lifeworlds and the anthropology of play and games. Inspired by feminist science and technology studies, she likes to engage in playful thinking and tinkering in her academic work. To explore the interplay of techno-logics and socio-material […]

Call for Papers: Immersive Technology Meets Cultural Heritage

Call for Papers: Immersive Technology Meets Cultural Heritage Submission Deadline: July 22, 2024Abstract Length: Up to 500 wordsFull- Text Submission (if selected): October 1, 2024Publisher: transcript (open access)Language: English Book Description: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 interactive […]

The Migrants’ Chronicles: research project brings migration history to life

We are thrilled to announce the successful conclusion of the Migrants’ Chronicles project, an initiative that has brought the history of Luxembourg’s emigration to America in 1892 to life through an immersive educational game. The Migrants’ Chronicles project, spearheaded by the Cologne Game Lab and supported by the Faculty of Humanities Education and Social Sciences […]

Border Zone – A journey into the history of the Cold War

On Wednesday 15 May, the Prussian Palaces and Gardens Foundation and the Cologne Game Lab present the results of their joint research collaboration at Park Babelsberg. “Border Zone” is a story-based game app using smartphones or tablets and leveraging the power of augmented reality (AR) technology. The app constructs a seamless connection between history and […]

6side Studio

6side Studio was funded by three CGL alumni in 2023, and we are currently working on our first game – Dawn of Defense. In Dawn of Defense, an innovative blend of tower defense and real-time strategy offers new strategic challenges, while roguelite mechanics, meta-progression, and procedurally generated maps help keeping each round unique. Target platforms: […]

Prof. Dr. Slyvia Heuchemer takes up new office as President of TH Köln

On Tuesday, 23 April, Prof. Dr Slyvia Heuchemer took up her new office as President of TH Köln. At the end of November, the long-standing Vice President for Teaching and Studies was elected as the new President by an overwhelming majority at the University Election Assembly. Prof. Dr Sylvia Heuchemer studied economics at the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität […]

Arcane Revolution

Arcane Revolution is a Tabletop Roleplaying Game with boardgame elements that bridges the gap between narrative and mechanics and takes the players through a society rapidly transformed by innovation in the arcane sciences. Arcane Revolution is played by three to six players and a Game Master. Prepare yourself for a game in which your character’s […]

Future Box System

Future Box Systems is developing an augmented reality pinball machine that combines digital and analog aspects to create a new kind of gaming experience. A transparent 3D screen projects the ball onto a real playing field. The complicated mechanics that move the ball in an analog pinball machine are not needed. In contrast to purely […]

Neptun Interactive

We are Neptun Interactive,an Indie media developer team based in Köln-Mülheim, Germany. After six years of successful collaboration in our studies, we founded our studio in May 2023. We are currently working on our first game called “Kiosk Simulator“, an action-roguelike simulation that lets the player manage a traditional kiosk in the city metropolis of […]

Papercoda Games

Papercoda Games is an indie studio based in Cologne, Germany, founded by three multimediacreatives from India, South Africa, and Vietnam. Our mission is to cater to the rapidly growing but underserved market of strategy & simulationgames that explore real-world complexities in a fun and insightful way. We plan to lower the highthreshold of entry into […]

Guest Lecture: Tobias Wüstefeld

On Tuesday, April 16, we start our series of guest lectures this semester with illustrator and motion designer Tobias Wüstefeld. It will again be possible to listen to the lecture on site at the Cologne Game Lab or to join in virtually via Zoom. In his talk titled “Control and Being Controlled: From User to […]

Protected: Another Space Game

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

Sebastian Rieger (he/him)

Sebastian Rieger (he/him)Treasurer Contact:sebastian.rieger@smail.th-koeln.de

Carina Voß (she/her)

Carina Voß (she/her)Vice Treasurer & Discord Admin Contact:carine.voss@smail.th-koeln.de

Isabelle Strecker (she/her)

Isabelle Strecker (she/her)FSVK-Spokesperson & Event Organizer Contact:isabelle.strecker@smail.th-koeln.de

Dominik Ens (he/him)

Dominik Ens (he/him)Event Organizer Contact:dominik.ens@smail.th-koeln.de

Digital Frontiers: MA 3D Animation for Film & Games Winter Showcase 2023/24

MA 3D Animation for Film & Games Winter Showcase 2023/24 In the winter term 2023/24, students of the M.A. 3D Animation for Film & Games demonstrated versatility and creativity by bringing to life a variety of projects from games and VR experiences to 3D animated shorts. Originating from concepts developed in their second semester, these […]

Photo Gallery Open Lab 2023/24

Open Lab | Winter Term 2023/24 Fotos: © Guido Löhrer | Cologne Game Lab, TH Köln

Zeno

In the first semester of his Master’s programm, Savish Uttam developed the character Zeno, a cyborg of fish and machine. Zeno wants to take revenge on the scientist who created him. Zeno 1st semester | Individual Projects | WT 2019/20Virtual Character Creation SoftwareBlender, Substance 3D Painter. Photoshop Team:Savish Uttam 3D Artist [-> ArtStation Profile]

Open Lab

The end of the winter term is approaching and it’s time again for our traditional OPEN LAB. On February 07, following their final exams, our students will showcase their finished game projects at a public get-together. At this occasion, we will not only take the time to celebrate our students’ accomplishments, but also seize the […]

Game & Mod Jam: CGL students awarded for innovative approach to game-based teaching

As part of the three-day Mod & Game Jam “Auswärtig gespielt”, the three CGL students Housein Asadi, Farid Behrouzi and Pragya Mukherjee developed the digital strategy game “Divide & Rule” and were awarded by the jury for their innovative approach. The serious game inspired by the divide and rule policy of colonial powers in Middle […]

Apply now! M.A. 3D Animation for Film & Games

The application phase to the shared graduate program M.A. 3D Animation for Film & Games of the Cologne Game Lab and ifs internationale filmschule köln is now open until March 31, 2025. Overview of the basic facts of the study program: 4 semesters (2 years) Combinable with part-time job (required attendance: Mondays all day, Tuesday […]

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: B.A. Digital Games […]

German Developer Award: CGL-alumni awarded twice

On Thursday evening, December 7, 2023, the German Developer Award (Deutscher Entwicklungspreis) was presented in Cologne. Every year, the prestigious award honors outstanding games and the creative minds behind them. It is the oldest award for computer games from German-speaking countries and was presented for the 20th time this year. We are thrilled that two […]

EU Horizon project STRATEGIES kicks off

Last week saw the launch of the Horizon Europe-funded project STRATEGIES (Sustainable Transition for Europe’s Game Industries). The event took place at Utrecht University on the 17th and 18th of April, bringing together many of the colleagues from the NGOs, game companies, and universities that make up the STRATEGIES consortium. Over the course of four […]

ProfiL² – Projects for inspiring teaching and learning

A new ProfiL² project week is coming up! From 27 to 30 November 2023, block courses, workshops and self-study units will be offered in a joint project week for all BA degree programs. The usual courses will be canceled during the week. With the help of project-based learning, students should independently acquire transferable knowledge and […]

Sergej Laas

Sergej is part of the ISEDA project, currently working as a programmer on a serious game which will serve as a training tool for police officers interviewing victims of domestic violence. He studied computer science at the University of Paderborn, graduating with his bachelor’s thesis on the use of educational games for mobile phones in […]

Kendys Ortega

Kendys Ortega is a skilled 3D artist known for her expertise in character design, likeness portraiture, human anatomy, and visual storytelling. Her passion lies in animation, VFX, and traditional art. She currently dedicates her talents to the impactful Horizon Europe project ISEDA (Innovative Solutions for Eliminating Domestic Abuse), where she serves as a Game Artist […]

Chad Comeau

Chad Comeau is a game developer specializing in game design, narrative design and project coordination currently working as game designer and coordinator for the ISEDA project. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Digital Games, Game Design from the Cologne Game Lab and another in the field of translation. The intersection of games and cultural groups […]

Team

Team Cologne Game Lab:Björn BartholdyIlja BurzevTessa BurzevVolker ZerbeOnat HekimogluKatharina TillmannsTommy KolakOskar Bonny Goethe-Insitut Washington: Anne SchönhagenEdin Konjhodzic

New research team begins work on ISEDA project

On Thursday, November 3, a team of three reseachers started work on the ISEDA project (Innovative Solutions to Eliminate Domestic Abuse). In the coming months, Chad Comeau (Team Lead & Game Design), Kendys Ortega (3D Art) and Sergey Laas (Game Programming) will develop a serious game that will simulate different interview scenarios. This game will […]

German Developer Award: Nominees Announced

In early November, the nominations for the German Developer Award (Deutscher Entwicklerpreis) 2023 have been announced. Twelve expert juries selected the best computer games of the year from 187 submissions. We are very proud to announce that “Tiny Bookshop” by neoludic games has been nominated for a Ubisoft Newcomer Award. With their Indie game studio, […]

Emeriti

Spiel | Museum

Together with our partners at NS Dokumentationszentrum Cologne, we just hosted the conference “Game | Museum. Building a bridge” that dealt with the role of digital media and game-based formats in museum practice. For two days, we delved into the interplay between museology, museum education, game development, and game studies and listened to experts from […]

Guest Lecture: Annakaisa Kultima & Solip Park

On November 14, our latest Guest Lecture went down! Annakaisa Kultima & Solip Park from Aalto University explored the dynamic industry landscape of game development in Finland in their hybrid guest lecture. While Solip Park took to the stage on site, Annakaisa Kultima joined the talk via zoom. Both of them gave insights into different […]

Schedule

Spiel | Museum: Ein Brückenschlag Programm Donnerstag, 16. NovemberNS-Dokumentationszentrum Köln 12.00 Uhr Eröffnung & Grußwort Philipp Bojahr | Cologne Game LabDr. Henning Borggräfe | NS-DOK 12.10 Uhr Demokratiebildung und Spiel im Museum Bastian Schlang | NS-DOK, Universität WürzburgIlja Gold | NS-DOK Bastian Schlang | NS-DOK, Universität WürzburgIlja Gold | NS-DOK 13.25 Uhr Pause 13.35 Uhr […]

CGL Projects Nominated at XR Science Award

On September 25, the DIVR (Deutsches Institut für Virtuelle Realitäten) awarded the XR Science Award for European research projects in AR & VR. Among the nominees were also two CGL projects: Border Zone and garTRYon! Border Zone is an XR game app that takes visitors to Potsdam’s Park Babelsberg on a unique journey through the […]

Lecture Series on Research Perspectives in Cultural Studies

Lecture Series 2023/24 During the winter term of 2023/24, the lecture series of the Faculty of Cultural Studies, or “Ringvorlesung”, will explore the field of Research-Based Learning. The lecture series is an ongoing project of the institutes CGL, CICS and KISD and is conceptualized as a prelude for further joint research formats. Check out this […]

Katharina Tillmanns

Katharina Tillmanns is a doctoral researcher, designer and lecturer for playful immersive media at at the Cologne Game Lab, an Institute for Game Development and Research at TH Koeln (University of Applied Sciences). In her studies and work, she explores and promotes the expressive qualities of games as a means of art and activism. A […]

Newly appointed: Prof. Dr. Federico Alvarez Igarzábal

We are very happy to announce that we have appointed Dr. Federico Alvarez Igarzábal as Substitute Professor of Media & Game Studies! For the next 12 months, he will stand in for Prof. Dr. Gundolf S. Freyermuth who is taking a sabbatical to work on his research projects and next book. Federico Alvarez is a […]

Photos SomaFest 2023

Photos of SomaFest 2023 Photo Credits: Guido Löhrer

somafest

Recap: SomaFest 2023

As the summer sun is currently treating us with a toasty finale to the academic year, the winter term is slowly approaching. – A good moment to reminisce about this summer´s artistic-academic highlight in Cologne, CGL´s all-new annual artistic XR research event SomaFest. Over the course of seven days, SomaFest unfurled its magic, encompassing a public exhibition, specialized workshops, and […]

Guest Lecture: Steffen P. Walz

Just in time for the start of the new semester, a new series of Guest Lectures is coming up. Join us for the first date in the series on September 26 with Prof. Dr. Steffen P. Walz! Right before the lecture, we’d like to invite you to our “CGL Spirit Discussion” at 5.30 pm in […]

Photo Gallery Open Lab 2019

Graduation & Open Lab | Summer Term 2019

Photo Gallery Open Lab 2022

Graduation & Open Lab | Summer Term 2022

Photo Gallery Open Lab 2023

Graduation & Open Lab | Summer Term 2023

CGL@gamescom

As always, it was anticipated for so long, then passed almost in the blink of an eye: Gamescom 2023 is over! We had a great time and are very happy to have met so many of you during the last week! This year, Gamescom Congress was focused on what games can do for education, science, […]

CGL @ Indie Arena Booth

For any of you who lived under a rock for the last few days and didn’t visit the Indie Arena Booth at Gamescom, we’d like to remind you of the games exhibited by CGL students and alumni, namely Tiny Bookshop by neoludic games (Raven Rusch, David Wildemann) and Super Catboy by pixelpogo (Arthur Eckmann). In […]

Professorship Game Informatics & Media and Game Studies

We are hiring! We are offering a position as a Professor for Game Informatics and another position as a Professor for Media and Game Studies!

Tiny Bookshop receives Rising Star Award

On August 16, the winners of the Indie Cup Germany 2023 were announced by GTP Media and “Tiny Bookshop” by neoludic games received the Rising Star Award as the best entry of a small team. With their Indie game studio, CGL-alumni Raven Rusch, David Wildemann, and Maurice Andreas as well as team member Charlotte Zapfe […]

gamescom congress 2023

The gamescom congress, scheduled for August 24th, 2023, in Cologne, serves as an interdisciplinary hub where over 90 experts will converge to discuss the transformative impact of gaming across various sectors including culture, politics, and pedagogy. In exciting talks and panels, they demonstrate how multifaceted games and game technologies can enrich our world of tomorrow. […]

ISEDA – Initiative against Domestic Violence

The ISEDA project (Innovative Solutions to Eliminate Domestic Abuse), coordinated by the Cologne Game Lab at the TH Köln – University of Applied Sciences, unites 15 partners from nine European countries to combat domestic violence (DV) through a comprehensive, enriched European approach. The project focuses on various strategies including training, awareness campaigns, education programs, and […]

Farewell, Class of 2023!

On July 12, we said goodbye to the graduating class of 2023 at Cologne Game Lab. Our students, now alumni, from BA Digital Games, MA Digital Games, MA Game Development and Research, and MA 3D Animation for Film & Games are set to make their marks in the games industry. The commencement speaker was Leonie […]

Symposium “Game | Museum: Building a Bridge”

Call for Participation (German) Fachtagung Spiel | Museum: Ein Brückenschlag Seit jeher beschäftigen sich Museen nicht nur damit, was sie zeigen, sondern auch wie sie es präsentieren. Dem Spiel bzw. spielerischen Formen kommen sowohl in der Ausstellungs- wie auch in der Vermittlungspraxis eine besondere Bedeutung zu, da sie ein breites, aber häufig übersehenes Spektrum an […]

Upcoming Guest Lecture

Upcoming Guest Lecture UX and User Research: How to create enjoyable, inclusive experiences in the games industry Michaela Peterhansl (UX Accessibility Specialist) & Natali Panic-Cidic (User Researcher) at Ubisoft Düsseldorf Michaela (“Ela”) Peterhansl (she/her) is a UX accessibility specialist at Ubisoft Düsseldorf. Before starting her career in UX, she successfully pursued degrees in Applied Computer Sciences and Human-Computer Interaction. Her […]

Greening Games

The team of the Erasmus+ funded research project “Greening Games” has published its Education Report: http://greeningames.eu/greening-games-education-report/ The report maps out the green gaming research, related didactic offer and the initiatives of the games development sector. Based on interview and survey material, the analysis of selected literature and games industry’s outreach projects, it provides a comprehensive […]

Exchange Program

#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 […]

Making-Off

Education

Zur App „Noli – Auf der Suche durch die Zeit“ Die App setzt sich aus zwei Teilen zusammen: Einem Point & Click-Adventure und einem Lehr-Lern-Portal mit erzähldidaktischen Anschlusshandlungen zur offenen Spielgeschichte.

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 […]

Andrea Hein (she/her)

Andrea Hein (she/her)PresidentBA2021 – Design Contact:andrea_victoria.hein@smail.th-koeln.de

Leon Moses Schauer (he/him)

Leon Moses Schauer (he/him)FSVK-SpokespersonBA2021 – Design Contact:leon_moses.schauer@smail.th-koeln.de

Kai Jaeschke (he/him)

Kai Jaeschke (he/him)Vice President & Discord AdminBA2020 – Design Contact:kai.jaeschke@smail.th-koeln.de

Hall of Fame

Here you can find articles published by CGL researchers.

Photo Gallery Open Lab 2022/23

Graduation & Open Lab | Winter Term 2022/23

Photo Gallery Open Lab 2021

Graduation & Open Lab | Summer Term 2021

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 […]

MIRÓ – World of Monsters (2018)

About In 2018, the exhibition “MIRÓ -World of Monsters” was curated at Max Ernst Museum Brühl of the LVR. The accompanying catalogue included an Augmented Reality app, which for the first time allowed the complete spatial viewing of some of the artworks depicted in it. The app “Miró 2.0” was developed by the Cologne Game […]

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, […]

Newsletter – Unsubscribe

You have successfully unsubscribed from our newsletter! If you unsubscribed accidentally and want to register again, please do so here.

Newsletter – Thank You

Thank you! You will now receive our newsletter! If you signed up accidentally, you can unsubscribe at any time via the link at the bottom of each newsletter.

Escher 2.0 (2016)

About The enigmatic and magic works of Maurits Cornelis Escher (1898–1972), one of the most significant dutch graphic artists of the 20th century, provide a very special visual experience. CGL teamed up with the Max Ernst Museum Brühl des LVR to develop Virtual Reality experiences for their exhibition on M.C. Escher (February 21 – May 22, 2016). […]

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 […]

Team

Team TH Köln – University of Applied SciencesCologne Game LabJonas Zimmer (Project Lead)Rebecca Nöll (Research Assistant) Vadim Nickel (Research Assistant)Noa Marcon (Student Assistant)Arthur Kehrwald (Student Assistant)Iuliia Chesnokova (Student Assistant)Diego Tibocha (Student Assistant)Marisa Lublevski (Student Assistant) University of Bonn (Collaboration Partner)Institute of Psychology – Differential and Biological Psychology Prof. Dr. Martin Reuter FundingDaimler and Benz Foundation

Spoonful Games

Spoonful – making games with 🧡 Spoonful Games is an indie game studio located in Cologne, Germany. The founding members Hanna, Lukas, Nicole, and Tom met during their studies of Digital Games at the Cologne Game Lab and made it their mission to create wholesome games with kindness and respect, both on screen as well […]

Team

Team TH KölnProf. Björn Bartholdy | Cologne Game LabProf. Dr. Arnulph Fuhrmann | Institute for Information, Media and Electrical Engineering Collaboration partners: Institute for Visual Computing at Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences (project coordination)Visual Computing Institute at RWTH Aachen University Department of Media, Mixed Reality and Visualization at Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences

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, […]

Team

Team Project LeadCologne Game Lab, TH Köln – University of Applied SciencesProf. Dr. Emmanuel Guardiola | Prof. Dr. Federico Alvarez / Dr. Vanessa Ossa Game Development at CGLTeam Lead & Game Design: Chad Comeau3D Art: Kendys OrtegaProgramming: Sergey Laas Civil Society OrganizationsEuropean Network for the Work with Perpetrators of Domestic ViolenceAssociation for the Prevention and […]

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 […]

Gaming-Study

+++Die Studie ist abgeschlossen. Eine Teilnahme ist aktuell nicht mehr möglich++++++The study has been completed. Participation is currently no longer possible+++ SOLVE – ENTWICKLUNG UND PILOTTESTUNG EINER INNOVATIVEN SPIELEBASIERTEN PRÄVENTIONSINTERVENTION FÜR JUGENDLICHE MIT ERHÖHTEM RISIKO FÜR SUBSTANZMISSBRAUCH UND -ABHÄNGIGKEIT “Gaming für Draufgänger“ Ein Kooperationsprojekt zwischenKatHO NRW | DISuP, Prof. Michael KleinTH Köln | Cologne Game […]

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 […]

Virtual Bauhaus (2018-2019)

About On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Bauhaus, the Cologne Game Lab has developed a VR application on behalf of the Goethe-Institut Boston, which enables a virtual tour through the Bauhaus building in Dessau. The “Virtual Bauhaus” exhibition is touring ten Goethe Institutes as well as museums and universities in North America, […]

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 […]

PES (2016-2019)

About Prozedurale Erstellung von Spielelementen (PES) // Procedural Creation of Game Elements In a collaborative research project the Blue Byte Gmbh and the Cologne Game Lab (TH Köln) are researching the capabilities of procedurally generated game content and elements through new methods of automated creation. The result of “machine learning” concepts and new AI approaches, […]

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. Dr. Cécile le Prado

Sound Designer and Music Composer, Cécile Le Prado is a member of CEDRIC (cedric.cnam.fr), the computer science laboratory of the Cnam (National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts, France, www.cnam.fr). Since 2001, she served as an assistant professor at Cnam in charge of the sound design department in the Master for Games and Interactive Media (ENJMIN, […]

Prof. Markus Hettlich ✝

*16.09.1960 – † 03.06.2022 A physicist by training, pilot, and teacher, Prof. Markus Hettlich has been involved in the development of the Cologne Game Lab since the institute’s early beginnings in 2010 – first as a freelance lecturer, from 2016 as an interim professor, and from 2017 as a professor of game programming – he […]

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 […]

Literalität des Spiel(en)s (2018-2019)

About The research project “Literacy of Games, Literacy of Play: Imparting Media Competence in the Field of Analogue, Digital and Hybrid Games” (German: Literalität des Spiel(en)s: Vermittlung von Medienkompetenz im Bereich analoger, digitaler & hybrider Spiele) aims at determining central theoretical foundations on the topic of games competence – i.e. the literacy of digital, analogue […]

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 […]

GLARS (2016-2019)

About In the collaborative research project GLARS (Goal Based Learning in Alternate Reality Setting) the Cologne Game Lab, the Rheinische Fachhochschule Köln (RFH) and Rheinische Akademie Köln (RAK) are developing an education game for trainees in the field of biological technical assistants short BTA. The goal of the project is to translate curricular content into engaging game […]

Prof. Sophia Zauner

Diploma studies in »Digital Television« at FH Salzburg. Since 2006 in the 3D animation industry, first as an animator and subsequently as a Character Technical Director, Pipeline Technical Director, and Computer Graphics Supervisor, among other things. »Every 3D animation project is both art and technology. Whenever we use technology skillfully to realize our artistic visions, […]

Newsletter Confirmation

Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter! Don’t forget to confirm your subscription! You will soon receive an email with a confirmation link and you will only be subscribed to the list if you click the link. 🙂

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 […]

EPPSA (2016-2019)

About EPPSA is a research and development project that aims to investigate opportunities for cultural institutions in the use of location-based playful applications. Over the course of the project, the EPPSA consortium has created a series of individual showcases in collaboration with cultural institutions. The app Porta Praetoria C.C.A.A. created by CGL is oneof those showcases […]

Für Jugendliche

Hier findet ihr Infos zum Thema Drogen/Sucht & Hilfe bei Problemen. Here you can find information about drugs/addiction & support. drugcom.deGanz viel Info zum Thema Drogen, Selbsttests, Online-Beratung. kenn-dein-limit.infoAlles zum Thema Alkohol – Infos, Beratung, Tests, Alkohol-Rechner. rauch-frei.infoInfos, Beratungstelefon, Tests zum Thema Rauchen und Abgewöhnen. bluprevent.deInfos, Tests und Beratung zum Thema Suchtfrei in der blu […]

Schedule

Play! An Interdisciplinary Conference on Digital Games in Museums Programm 11.00 Uhr | Eröffnung 11.10 – 12.10 | KeynoteProf. Dr. Hubertus Kohle (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) 12.15 – 12.40 | Lightning TalkPeter Färberböck & Judith Zimmermann (Paris Lodron Universität Salzburg) 12.40 – 13.00 | Lightning TalkFrank Horlitz (Raumwiese) & Georg Wolf (Software Developer) 13.00 – 13.25 | […]

Play!

The Clash of Realities international research conference on the art, technology and theory of digital games is providing the opportunity for interdisciplinary exchange and dialogue.

Sheep Detective

Bruce White is a cynical private detective who solves cases in a world of fairy tales. His clients are characters from the Brother Grimm’s Fairy Tales with their distinctive characteristics. The setting is a brutal neon noir world with a photorealistic look. This 3d character is a visualization of the main character based on a […]

Nyah

3D animation meets contemporary concert culture: In his Master’s project, student Sven Rexrodt and singer-songwriter Sophia Rexrodt Meleiro embarked on a research trip into the terrain of virtual stage characters. During the process, the design, the model, and the animation of Sophia’s virtual alter ego were created. But of course, the avatar also needed a […]

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 […]

Team

Team MASDIGU is a cooperation of the Cologne Game Lab of TH Köln, the Institute of Geography Education and the Institute of German Language and Literature II of the University of Cologne. Cologne Game LabProject Lead: Prof. Dr. Emmanuel Guardiola & Dr. André Czauderna Institute of Geography Education – University of CologneProf. Dr. Alexandra Budke […]

Team

Team Cologne Game Lab • Project Lead – Prof. Dr. Roland Klemke • Project Management – Melina Rose • Project Management – Khaleel Asyraaf Mat Sanusi, M.Sc • Student Assistant – Carlos Andres Giraldo Navarro Pedmede Somateio Scuola Costruzioni Vicenza Andrea Palladio Bildungszentren Des Baugewerbes EV Gospodarska Zbornica Slovenije Institute of Social Solidarity and […]

Team

Team Cologne Game Lab • Project Lead – Prof. Dr. Roland Klemke • Project Management – Melina Rose • Project Management – Khaleel Asyraaf Mat Sanusi, M.Sc European University of Cyprus (CY) American Academy Nicosia (CY) Challedu (EL) Doukas School (EL) La Salle Buen Consejo (ES)

Team

Team Cologne Game Lab • Project Lead – Prof. Dr. Roland Klemke • Project Management – Khaleel Asyraaf Mat Sanusi, M.Sc • Project Management – Daniel Majonica, M.A • Student Assistant – Lukas Künz • Student Team: o Alexander Gerhards o Arthur Balthasar Nepomuk Kehrwald o Ignacio Di […]

Team

Team Cologne Game Lab • Project Lead – Prof. Dr. Roland Klemke • Project Management – Melina Rose • Project Management – Khaleel Asyraaf Mat Sanusi, M.Sc Advanced Educational Technologies and Mobile Applications Lab, International Hellenic University Open University of Cyprus European University of Cyprus Ellinogermaniki Agogi (Greece) The English School (Cyprus) Humance AG

Welten der Werkstoffe (2020)

About Welten der Werkstoffe (Worlds of Materials) is a point-and-click adventure game for students of various engineering courses and enthusiasts of materials science. The game presents players with fun challenges that require them to draw on their basic knowledge of materials engineering to solve. From the properties of different atomic structures to the iron-carbon diagram […]

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 […]

MASTER PROJECT & THESIS

Find out all there is to know about the module “Master Project & Thesis” in our -> information sheet.

Team

University of Luxembourg (coordinator)Faculty of Humanities, Education and Social SciencesMarie-Paule Jungblut – Project LeaderJohannes Pause – Expert for Media & Education Caroline Resch – Historical ResearchMélanie Jung – Historical Research TH KölnCologne Game LabEmmanuel Guardiola – Project LeadAlina Menten – Art Nare Matevosian – ProgrammerFranziska Funken – Game Design/ Narrative DesignLoai Qubti – ProgrammerYadira Marin – 2D […]

Pablo Lopez Soriano

Pablo Lopez Soriano Game artist and animator Pablo Lopez Soriano is currently working at Media Molecule where he has joined the creative animation team working on the highly ambitious project Dreams. Developed for PlayStation 4, Dreams aims at providing an accessible and inspiring creation system for players. In-game, you should not only be able to […]

Podcast: DECVOM

Pdcast: DEVCOM Monika Probst In this episode of the devcom podcast, host Lars Janssen welcomes Gundolf S. Freyermuth and Björn Bartholdy, two key people behind the success of the Cologne Game Lab.The institute has just celebrated its 10th anniversary and we take a look at the history and how the team managed to build the […]

Article: VERSPIELTE ZEITEN

Article: VERSPIELTE ZEITEN Monika Probst Everyone is talking about the need for digitization, but when will it come? The Corona pandemic has revealed how slow progress is being made in Germany – or, in some cases, how much has been overlooked. Media scientist Prof. Dr. Gundolf S. Freyermuth (Cologne Game Lab) would like to see […]

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 […]

Team

Team Cologne Game Lab Project Lead: Prof. Dr. Gundolf S. Freyermuth Project Conception and Management: Dr. Philipp Bojahr Project Management & Historical Research: Rüdiger Brandis UX Design & Mixed Reality Research: Katharina Tillmanns Game Design: Rebecca Nöll, Sebastian Stricker, Pierre Schlömp Programming: Manuel Ott, Daniel Turner Research Assistant: Meike Hedderich Student Assistant: Tamina Brunke, Nina […]

M.A. Game Development & Research

Dear applicant, We have extended the application period for our Game Development & Research Master’s program. You can still submit your applications until 24 April at 23:59 CEST. The examination committee will keep the previously announced interview dates (June 11 & 13). The interview schedule will be posted on our website on May 24. If […]

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 […]

Student Projects

Projects

M.A. Game Development & Research Projects

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 […]

M.A. Game Development & Research

B.A.

Ackermann, Moritz. Replayability of Games – Means of achieving replayability and the effect on the player. Belal, Ahmed. Cultural Heritage: How Games Can Help to Preserve Cultural Heritage and the Visual Representation of forgotten Handcraft Environments. Esch, Lukas. Modern 3D tools and their effect on Concept Art. Farazan, Yasaman. Breaking the Virtual Ice: A Study […]

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 […]

Talk: Games und Wahlkampf

Summary/Description Politik und Games… zwei Welten, die sich selten berühren. Aber da bewegt sich was: In den USA wurden Politikerinnen und Politiker bereits aufmerksam auf das Potential der Computerspiele. Wie sieht das in Deutschland aus? Ein Beitrag von Tobias Nowak. Tobias Nowak (2021, February 26) Games und Wahlkampf WDR 5 Scala – Netzkultur https://www1.wdr.de/mediathek/audio/wdr5/wdr5-scala-netzkultur/audio-games-und-wahlkampf-102.html Source […]

Feature: Cologne game developers receive innovation award for “Jessika”

Description The WDR television reports in the broadcast ‘Lokalzeit Köln’ about the game “Jessika”. Click here to go to the feature where they talk about the game “Jessica” starting at minute 20:27. WDR Fernsehen – Lokalzeit Köln Kölner Spieleentwickler bekommen Innovationspreis für “Jessika”

APPLICATION FORM

APPLICATION FORM B.A. DIGITAL GAMES Weiterleitung

APPLICATION FORM

APPLICATION FORM M.A. 3D ANIMATION FOR FILM & GAMES Weiterleitung

APPLICATION FORM

APPLICATION FORM M.A. GAME DEVELOPMENT & RESEARCH Weiterleitung

TASK

APPLICATION TASK 2025: M.A. IN DIGITAL GAMES To apply to the Cologne Game Lab’s Master of Arts in Digital Games, please complete the following application tasks and submit them through our application form. Submission Procedure Good luck!

TASK

APPLICATION TASK 2025: B.A. IN DIGITAL GAMES To apply to the Cologne Game Lab’s Bachelor of Arts in Digital Games, please complete the following application tasks and submit them through our application form. Submission Procedure Good luck!

APPLICATION PROCESS

APPLICATION PROCESS

Entry Requirements: Completed university studiesThe prerequisite for admission is a university degree with at least a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Sciences degree in Digital Games as well as in comparable subject areas such as Game Arts, Game Design, or Game Programming. Graduates of only six-semester Bachelor’s programmes are required to make up for […]

Carmen Schneidereit

Carmen Schneidereit is a Lighting Artist at Microsoft Playground Games, working on the next entry of the Fable series and is currently living in London. Before she joined Playground Games, she was part of Cloud Imperium Games to work on Star Citizen, an upcoming multiplayer space exploration game which is inspired by 1980s science fiction […]

M.A.

B.A.

PhD

Federico Alvarez IgarzábalThesis: “Time and Space in Video Games”; Supervisor at CGL: Prof. Dr. Gundolf S. Freyermuth; with the University of Cologne, Prof. Dr. Benjamin Beil (summa cum laude, 2018) Rüdiger BrandisThesis: “Historische Simulakren im digitalen Raum”; Supervisor at CGL: Prof. Dr. Gundolf S. Freyermuth; with the University of Goettingen, Prof. Dr. Stefan Haas Jürgen […]

M.A.

Graduation game/project

Thesis

Podcast: Schule der Zukunft: Videospiele und außerschulische Lernorte (DE)

(2020, December 30) Schule der Zukunft: Videospiele und außerschulische Lernorte WDR 5 Scala – aktuelle Kultur Listen at WDR5 Scala

Team

Team Cologne Game Lab Project Lead – Roland Klemke Project Management – Jonas Zimmer Game Design & Art Direction – Melina Rose Game Art – Clarissa Wegner, Dominique Bodden, Hans Reitemeyer, Trixia Quinzon, Johannes Weber Game Programming – Jonathan Yue, Maurice Matz Sound Design – Olivier Haas Narrative Design – Tom Schildhauer Voice Artist – […]

B.A. Theses

B.A. Theses The Cologne Game Lab has a rich and varied tradition in publishing. Its printed, multimedia and digital publications have high standards in terms of content, design, and communication. The publications cover all areas of teaching, research, and further education in digital games. 2020 2020

Students’ Theses

Here you find a catalog of Theses that were handed in and/ or published by CGL students

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 […]

Squirrel And Bear (2012)

Squirrel And Bear (2012) Master Thesis Project Squirrel & Bär is a 2D adventure game for kids between 3-9 years and their parents to learn English as a foreign language for iOS and Android. The player joins Squirrel & Bär on a journey to save the bees, seeking for a magic flower. Starting in the […]

Game Of Drones (2012)

Game Of Drones (2012) Master Thesis Project Game of Drones is an Alternate Reality Game that tackles the topic bundle sur-veillance, drones, terror, paranoia and DIY-approaches in modern day societies. The game combines fictional characters, websites and institutions with already existing technologies and strategies. The core idea of the project is to install a fictional […]

39 (2012)

39 (2012) Master Thesis Project Afterhis graduation from CGL Achim received a scholarship from Mediengründerzentrum and founded ‘Dear Reality UG’. His project ’39′ was co-produced and released by Germany´s largest broadcasting house WDR. About the game [currently German only]: Richard Hannay erwacht im Krankenhaus mit einer Kugel im Kopf. Wer hat auf ihn geschossen? Und […]

The Ghost And The Witch (2013)

The Ghost And The Witch (2013) Master Thesis Project The Ghost And The Witch (OT: Das Gespenst und die Hexe) is an interactive storybook aimed at children age three to six years for touchscreen devices (with focus on tablets). At this age group the fear of witches and ghosts is widespread. As part of her […]

Magnet-O-Bro (2013)

Magnet-O-Bro (2013) Collaborative project with KISD Magnet-O-Bro is a 2.5D platformer featuring racing game elements and fast-paced gameplay. Players control small, spherical robots (In single player mode only one, of course) and try to climb a giant, humanoid robot. Their target is to reach the control-unit in the head of the robot to regain access. […]

Harold Halibut (2013)

Harold Halibut (2013) Master Thesis Project Harold Halibut is a stop motion point&click adventure set in an underwater world full of amusing characters, strange creatures and fantastical locations. Everything is hand-crafted from wood, clay and anything we can get our hands on, really. Platform Mac/PC Genre Adventure Game Tagline A handmade videogame. […]

BeatBounce (2013)

BeatBounce (2013) Joint project with ZHDK BeatBounce is a multiplayer arcade game in the style of Super Monkey Ball (multiplayer arena mode) where you need to bounce your enemies off of an ever changing platform. The fun part is that you move synced to the beat or melody of the music. It’s easy to pick […]

Around (2013)

Around (2013) Master Thesis Project Move around the planet and let the world grow to the beat of the music. Interact with the world on the planet’s surface or from the orbit and experience the evolution of the environment. Platform Mac/PC Genre A 3D Music Game Tagline Move around the planet and let […]

Outcasted (2014)

Outcasted (2014) Joint project with KISD OUTCASTED – a game that lets players experience the world through the eyes of a homeless person – was the winner of the 2014 Games for Change Students Challenge, an initiative by Games for Change Europe, Autodesk and Unity Technologies that aims to leverage important societal topics through the […]

YGGDRASIL (2015)

YGGDRASIL (2015) First Year Intermediate Project YGGDRASIL is an atmospheric 2D puzzle-platformer focused on two player co-op. Assuming the role of the two seperated lovers the players have to work together to overcome the obstacles that lie ahead on their path. A succesful gameplay is only possible through interaction and communication between the two players. […]

Triple A (2015)

Triple A (2015) First Year Intermediate Project Triple A is a three-player-racing game in space. It is about three space truckers, which are on a mission to deliver cargo. In order to win, you must cross all gates with the highest amount of cargo possible, rather than just end in first place. Mechanics such as […]

Torn Apart (2015)

Torn Apart (2015) First Year Intermediate Project In ‘Torn Apart’ we wanted to implement the given theme (‘Mine and Thine’) through the feelings of a child which is in the center of her parents divorce. Each parent considers the daughter to belong to him/ her and makes her feeling torn apart. The gameplay is about […]

Swell Nobblers (2015)

Swell Nobblers (2015) First Year Intermediate Project Swell Nobblers is a steampunk-themed browser based competitive local multiplayer twist on the shoot-em-up genre. Choose one of the four characters and battle in 4 arenas against each other until one (or none) remain. Be careful though. Your ship IS your ammunition IS your health, so if you’re playing […]

Spooky Friday (2015)

Spooky Friday (2015) First Year Intermediate Project A single player 2D-Platformer for boys and girls of every age: Seek revenge together with Spooky, the abandoned black cat, by robbing mean kids off their Halloween sweets! Jump and run through 13 levels, eat candy and use your gained weight to smash bigger obstacles or lose it […]

Polyguys (2015)

Polyguys (2015) First Year Intermediate Project POLYGUYS is a cooperative puzzle platformer taking place in a world made up of polygons. The two of you control two primitive shapes trying to escape from a cave. The main idea of the game is to overcome obstacles by collecting and exchanging vertices with your friend. You can […]

NOUMENON (2015)

NOUMENON (2015) First Year Intermediate Project NOUMENON is a game dealing with The Internet of Things. The players will at the beginning of the game install a new, simulated operating system on their smartphone. They dive into the futuristic mobile operating system and will be confronted with losing control over their device and data to […]

MiUWeI (2015)

MiUWeI (2015) First Year Intermediate Project MiUWeI is an atmospheric single-player puzzler about two characters whose ultimate goal is to get to the northern lights as close as possible. On their journey through a glacial Scandinavian environment they will have to pass several tests and puzzles working together, while only one can be controlled at […]

Hero of Xeric (2015)

Hero of Xeric (2015) First Year Intermediate Project Hero of Xeric takes place on a desolated arid planet called Xeric. A human colony lives near a small sea that feeds them but the sea is nearly drained empty and the colony fears to die of thirst. They have not explored much of the planet they […]

Heart of the Forest (2015)

Heart of the Forest (2015) First Year Intermediate Project Our idea is to create an emerging and mystical world that is challenging but beautiful. We aim for an authentic environment that everyone could relate to and combine it with a little magic. In Heart of the Forest the player controls the spirit of a little […]

Code 7 (2015)

Code 7 (2015) First Year Project Code 7 is a cinematic text-adventure. It combines the mechanics of the classic text adventure genre with cinematic fully-voiced storytelling and modern visual design. You find yourself trapped in a room with a computer on an abandoned space station. Your only way out is to navigate your partner Sam […]

Wendigo (2015)

Wendigo Intermediate Project You barely survived a plane crash and find yourself in a desolated Canadian mountain region. You fight against the cold, hunger and thirst while paranoia and delusions get on you. Or is it your fellow survivors who are going mad? While searching for food or a way to reach civilization, you get the […]

Vocus Air (2015)

Vocus Air (2015) Collaborative Project Vocus Air is a short virtual reality experience that takes place on a passanger airplane flight. As a player you can influence your experience and decrypt the storyline only through your audiovisual focus – no other controls. The storyline is about… OH MY GOD, THERE’S THE KID AGAIN!! …which you […]

Unclaimed Skies (2015)

Unclaimed Skies (2015) Collaborative Projects After a disaster wiped out large portions of the world’s population and set technological advances back for centuries, an isolate recluse shelters two individuals who strife to rediscover knowledge long forgotten: The mystery of flying. A young tribe member follows her dreams in which she sees machines flying through the […]

Touching Lights (2015)

Touching Lights Collaborative Project Touching Lights is a relaxing game about the relationships between lights. Guide the Blue Light towards the Orange Light. Touch the Orange Light to regain your fading energy! The emergent story is shaped by the player’s emotions and past experiences. Touching Lights has beautiful dynamic lighting and global illumination effects. The […]

The Old Man and his Attorney (2015)

The Old Man and his Attorney Collaborative Project “The Old Man and his Attorney” is an adaption of Ernest Hemingway’s “The Old man and the Sea”. The game deals with a reinterpreation of the novel represented as a fictional trial. The theme of a trial fits best of what will happen with the old man […]

The Golden Marlin (2015)

The Golden Marlin (2015) Collaborative Project The game is an adaptation of the novel “The Old Man and the Sea” by Ernest Hemingway. I’ve choseN to extract from the original novel some elements which I’ve considered to be essential and I’ve changed the setting entirely and made-up a story in which the character is lost […]

Running North and South (2015)

Running North and South (2015) Collaborative Project This game takes you on a journey with Amelia Earhart on her final flight. Experience the highlights and hardships, Amelia and her navigator Fred Noonan had to endure during their attempt to fly around the world. Follow in their footsteps, circumventing hostile weather conditions and calculating needed resources, […]

Rabbits: The Dream Loop (2015)

Rabbits: The Dream Loop Collaborative Project The first inspiration for the project’s concept was David Lynch’s avant-garde short horror-comedy sitcom „Rabbits”. All series consisted of disjointed conversations between humanoid characters with rabbit heads, dialogs that were interrupted by laugh track. The sitcom was somehow a parody to common TV shows, translated in David Lynch’s surreal […]

Papair (2015)

Papair (2015) Intermediate Project Papair is telling the story of an old pilot who strived to be the first to uncover the mystery of the floating islands. But after losing control over his airplane, he stranded on of them. Since then he is trying to escape. Join him on a day when his life finally […]

Love, Mummy and Daddy (2015)

Love, Mummy and Daddy (2015) Collaborative Project William’s parents were famous explorers. But when he was still a small child they got lost on one of their adventures. All they left him is a box full of postcards. In his imagination William traces his parent’s last flight through all the wonderful places the postcards are […]

Loop The Loop (2015)

Loop The Loop (2015) Collaborative Project Loop the Loop is a short wander game. Traverse a surreal world, trapped between impossible structures, uncanny places and mysterious noises. Platform Linux / PC / Mac OSX Genre Wander Game Tagline surreal first person explore-em-up T Team György Droste: Architecture, Concept; Kai Op de Beeck: Art […]

idō (2015)

idō (2015) Collaborative Project idō (the Japanese word for movement) is a therapeutic and meditative rhythm game intended primarily for the improvement of motor skills in neurodivergent people, as well as athletes, dancers, and everyone in between. The player controls an avatar via Kinect and uses her body to interact with symbols and shapes on […]

Heavenly Fort (2015)

Heavenly Fort Collaborative Project The heavenly fort is the most impressive airplane of its time. Developed by professor Julie Cunningham it starts its very first flight ever with you on board. After a short meal in the plane’s very own restaurant you visit the bathroom. However, all of a sudden all the voices of the […]

Border Patrol (2015)

Border Patrol “Border Patrol” is a serious game, conducted during four weeks in summer term 2015 at the Cologne Game Lab, Cologne, Germany. It’s set in the complex Mexican-American War on Drugs. You may play as the US-Soldier, protecting the border from immigrants approaching from Mexico. Or you play as a Mexican, sneaking across the […]

Aellion (2015)

Aellion Collaborative Project Immerse into Aellion, an exciting strategy and visual novel adventure. It takes you to the planet Askye where four races forged an alliance to live peacefully – until something went terribly wrong. The planet ended up shattered, with only three continents remaining and its magical core weakened and exposed. Those who survived […]

A Breathtaking Flight (2015)

A Breathtaking Flight Collaborative Project Stalin is dead, Khrushchev is gone. What happened on one of the last flights to Moscow in 1965? Slip into the role of Elizaveta Syomina and test your investigative skills and solve a meticulously crafted mystery. Explore a 3D replication of the Tupolev TU-114, a Soviet passenger plane full of […]

84 (2015)

“The old man and the sea” or “84” is an adaptation game – developed at the CGL Master course between the 15.06.15 and 13.07.15. It is a point and click adventure: Interactive story and you are playing an old fisher man, in the present. He wants to fish as he remembers fishing was in the […]

You love life, I love death (2015/16)

You love life, I love death Collaborative Project You Love Life, I Love Death revolves around the hurtful relationship between two incompatible partners. Starting from the illusion of being able to come to an agreement, the players give up on more and more of their abilities in order to maintain the relationship. As the situation […]

You can’t go back (2015/2016)

You can’t go back Collaborative Project Sometimes there are things that happen and you can’t go back. Sometimes you are so focused on your grief, on your own problems that you don’t realize how many people are around you. Eventually is all up to you: passing through the pain or fall into it. Platform Windows […]

Whisper (WT 2015/2016)

Whisper Collaborative Project Whisper is a puzzle game about sound shaping our reality. Human perception is guided by visual input. We know that a tree is a tree because it looks like a tree. What if we took that away? If you hear the sound of a falling tree, but no one can see it, […]

Two Nines Fine (2016)

Two Nines Fine Collaborative Project “Two Nines Fine” is a political, narrative-based, explorative experience about the hidden powers that fuel oppression, manipulation and war in a seemingly fake world. Welcome to City 16, home of PLEXOR and the visual metaphors. A world in which a corporation changes the rules, the media cover up the truth, […]

Prisoner (2015/16)

Prisoner Collaborative Project “[…]but I, as one man, am going to exercise my freedom of speech. No human being on the face of the earth, no government is going to take from me my right to speak, my right to protest against wrong, my right to do everything that is for the benefit of mankind.” […]

Poardy (2015/16)

Poardy Collaborative Project Pictures Of A Reasonably Documented Year takes place in a simulated computer environment. The player browses through the files and learns more about the original owner of the computer, while it begins to increasingly malfunction. The game tells the story of Alexander Libovich over the course of a year. After his workplace […]

Pangea (2015/16)

Pangea Collaborative Project Pangea is a world in balance, until one person decides that that is not enough. Choose your hero and help them reach their own goal to help their country. Your choices will influence the well-being of all countries of Pangea – Help them becoming wealthy or steal their money and take it […]

Of Rule And Parley (2015/2016)

Of Rule And Parley Collaborative Project “Of Rule and Parley” follows the opinion that peace between countries is the result of balance. As the ruler over a nation, the player learns of the many factors that need to be considered to maintain this balance. A balance of power is necessary so no country has to […]

Mother Cube (2015/16)

Mother Cube Collaborative Project Mother Cube is a first-person arcade platformer, set in a dystopian future. It’s a game about rising up in a world that is falling. Players embark on a vertical journey to reach a large alien structure in the sky – the Mother Cube – by jumping up falling platforms so rapidly […]

Leaves (WT 2015/16)

Leaves Collaborative Project Leaves is a small point & click adventure about exploring the forest, aimed at 4-6 year-old children. Help little animals, be curious and discover the secrets and stories hidden in this magical world. Niklas Tomkowitz and Rick Hoppmann are nominated for Der Deutsche Computerspielepreis 2016 in the category “young talents concept”. Platform […]

Justice Simulator (2015/16)

Justice Simulator Collaborative Project You play as the crooked CEO of a financial institution whose headquarters get stormed by federal investigators. You must escape the building without getting arrested, destroying all evidence of fraud and corruption along the way. In order to avoid the police, you can bribe your subordinates with cash and force them […]

In Alio (2015/16)

In Alio Collaborative Project Being a scientist, you are chosen, to help your local Lab to keep up the awesome work. You have to travel to different parallel Universes and collect enough power to keep it all going. In Alio is a strategy action game. Test your reaction and spatial Imagination Skills and collect the most […]

Flux (WT 2015/16)

Flux Collaborative Project Flux is a mobile application on the android platform that will assist drivers regularly commuting by car to obtain a better understanding of their actions and through this knowledge improve their driving behavior. The feedback is depicted as a line that is generated during driving from collected data. Flux features a companion […]

Elegy (2015/16)

Elegy Collaborative Project In this challenging and atmospheric 2D puzzle-platformer you play a boy who lost his favorite pet. Now, you are trapped in a dreamlike state, wandering through a seemingly empty city. Your goal is to recollect your memories and cope with your loss. But to reach your memories, you have to shatter everything […]

Elderfalls (WT 2015/16)

Elderfalls Collaborative Project The Elderfalls – The Cane Walkers is a 2D point and click puzzler full of dark humour, where the player has to interact with the environment and items found in it to prevent a grandma from falling to her death. The items and positioning of them influence the behavior of the grandma […]

Dreams of Pan (2015/16)

Dreams of Pan Collaborative Project Dreams of Pan is a 2D puzzle platformer. You control Pan, a boy with a vivid fantasy! You accompany Pan on a journey through his dreams, where you will have to protect him from the dangers that his troubled emotions bring! As Pan falls into deeper sleep stages, you will […]

Drawnes (2015/2016)

Drawnes Collaborative Project Drawnes is a multiplayer game that has two different play styles. One player plays the drone-module on the host computer and all other players the draw-module on their smartphones. All players share one big screen where the game runs. The drone-module plays like an arcade shoot’em up game with a serious twist. […]

Away with the Fairies (2015/2016)

Away with the Fairies Collaborative Project “He who fights monsters should see to it that he himself does not become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.” – Friedrich Nietzsche, 1886 You play as a ten year old boy who is rescued from war and […]

Aeronautics (2015/16)

Aeronautics Collaborative Project Welcome to the world of Aeronautics dear Sir or Madame. Here you have the marvelous chance to create your own aircraft from selected items and even test it out on the field. One word of advice: try to keep in control of your aircraft, keep your resources in check and mind the […]

WYSIWYG | Sector A23 (ST 2016)

WYSIWYG | Sector A23 Collaborative Project Imagine a world that only exists when you see it. Whenever you look around you see something completely new coming to life. This is the world of Sector A23. A beautifully generated cave system, filled with alien plants and mysterious creatures, giving room for endless exploration. Whatever you see, […]

Way back | At the time | And now (2016)

Way back | At the time | And now Collaborative Project “Way Back” is the journey of a horse riding back home – An endless runner, with a twist! At the first glance it may seem like a normal endless runner with different obstacles like trees on the ground and rocks. However, there is a […]

Untold (ST 2016)

Untold Collaborative Project You are a writer, an artist that can depict scenes and images through words like no one else. Therefore, when a menacing dream begins to haunt you in your slumber, reappearing again and again, you have no other option but to pursue that story. You seek out an old mansion, surrounded by […]

The Toddler Connection (ST 2016)

The Toddler Connection Collaborative Project The Toddler Connection is a detective game for the HTC Vive. It features investigative dialogue, with a unique take on dialogue options, as well as two distinct perspectives on the world. You take on the role of a toddler in kindergarten who likes playing detective and solving mysteries. Once again […]

The ones we fight for (ST 2016)

The ones we fight for Collaborative Project The Story follows the Halfling Psychiatrist Schlomo. In the great war he met and lost his greatest love and haven’t been happy ever since. One Day a spark of hope appears. Could Etca, his great Love, be still alive? Unravel the mystery in this 3D point and click […]

Son (ST 2016)

Son Collaborative Project SON is a first-person exploration game with shadow-based stealth and puzzle elements and a dark, engaging and multi-layered story that will draw you into a surreal desert environment. You have to traverse a wide landscape and find a way to rescue your child that was absorbed by a demonic sun. Be careful […]

Scotoma (ST 2016)

Scotoma Collaborative Project Scotoma is an Alternate Reality Game about human trafficking which is played using the Internet. It blends reality and fiction by using real world media as a platform for telling a fictional story that pretends to be real. In Scotoma, you are given the possibility of becoming an investigative researcher trying to […]

Punchmart (ST 2016)

Punchmart Collaborative Project PUNCHMART is an interactive installation that invites its participants to take a seat inside a real-life shopping cart that was modified and turned into a modern experimental arcade machine. Players are encouraged to punch virtual items out of shelves of a supermarket depicted on the screen by punching a modified keyboard in […]

Project MMM (ST 2016)

Project MMM Collaborative Project Project MMM – short for MIDI Multiplayer Madness – is a loop machine arcade installation that rewards the players’ skillfulness with colorful and seemingly unique music tracks. This game is controlled via hardware fader controllers for precise movement and maximum fun – for up to 8 players simultaneously! Tagline MIDI Multiplayer […]

Portrait of an Oligarchy (ST 2016)

Portrait of an Oligarchy Collaborative Project Portrait of an Oligarchy is an experiment in the caricaturization of the ruling class through narrative, symbolism and grotesquely stylized visuals. Ten rich and powerful figures are having a dinner party in a mansion, and you play as the server who must cater to their every whim. The game […]

Airtime VR (2017-2020)

About Airtime VR is the prototype for a virtual reality simulation that aims at supporting aspiring paragliding pilots in their practical learning of common flight routines. As a complimentary tool to their regular outdoor practice, the simulator introduces basic flight mechanics and playfully provides users with advanced topographical as well as aerial knowledge. An ongoing […]

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 […]

Nicolas Gabrysch

Nicolas advises on venture capital and private equity transactions, as well as M&A transactions (national and international) and emerging growth companies and start-ups. Nicolas heads the German Venture Capital group of Osborne Clarke. He has advised on more than 100 venture and growth capital financings for national and international venture capital funds. Nicolas and his […]

Renate Schmidt

Renate Schmidt studied law in Tübingen, Geneva, and Freiburg/Brsg.She is in-house counsel for the German-French TV channel Arte and for the TV production company Sony Pictures Film und Fernsehen TV GmbH.Since September 2014 Renate Schmidt has been working as a lawyer for WILDE BEUGER SOLMECKE in Cologne.Renate Schmidt advises media companies, agencies, and artists in […]

Pamuya (ST 2016)

Pamuya Collaborative Project Pamuya offers a surreal under-water experience. Using a VR headset and the Leap Motion the player is able to use their own hands to interact with the world of Pamuya. Simply pointing the thumb downwards sends the player on their journey into the depths below. Pointing the thumb upwards causes them to […]

Oneironaut (ST 2016)

Oneironaut Collaborative Project Oneironaut is a virtual reality game in which the player can explore the dreamscape of a comatose person through the HTC Vive. In order to achieve progress in the game, the player has to explore the environment and find a way to turn the dream into a lucid dream. The game is […]

In twitch no one can hear you left left left (ST 2016/17)

In twitch no one can hear you left left left Collaborative Project „In Twitch no one can hear you left left left“ is a first person exploration adventure game set in space. The special thing about it is that it is collectively played by a chat. The chat decides for the next action by voting. […]

I looked at the Sky and saw two shooting stars but couldn’t come up with a wish (ST 2016)

I looked at the Sky and saw two shooting stars but couldn’t come up with a wish Collaborative Project I looked at the sky and saw two shooting stars but couldn’t come up with a wish is a narrative game about two men who have fallen in love but live in very different worlds. One […]

Hololoh (ST 2016)

Hololoh Collaborative Project Hololoh is an multiplayer arcade shooter set in an underwater environment. Two players have to team up to battle against underwater deep sea creatures. They have to survive several waves and in the end they have to win an epic boss fight. The game is controlled via game pads. Through the special […]

Hero (ST 2016)

Hero Collaborative Project Hero is a heavily story driven, first person action game with a unique rhythm based combat. The game intends to evoke feelings of envy by creating a story where the actions of the player/main character will be confronted with contradictory beliefs presented by the game’s setting and ultimately questioned about the drive […]

Tea Shop (2016/17)

Tea Shop Self-initiated Project In “Tea Shop” the player slips into the role of a lone hysteric, living a life of solitude in a small hut in the outskirts of Autumn Well, a secluded village in Canada. One day they find the entire village turned into a ghost town from one moment to the next. […]

Shell Shift (2016/17)

Shell Shift Collaborative Project Shell Shift is a 2D Shooter about a special agent that has to fight off waves of enemies by shifting into the bodies of his fallen opponents. Use the different strengths and weaknesses of your enemies to stay alive as long as possible. Tagline Fend off waves of enemies and turn […]

Ruin Runner (2016/17)

Ruin Runner Collaborative Project Ruin Runner is a fast-paced, side-scrolling 2D endless runner for the PC that takes the player through the buried remains of long forgotten fictional civilizations. On his journey, the clumsy protagonist Kino will discover several mystical artifacts once belonging to the ancient cultures down below that when picked up grant him […]

Rewolwe (2016/17)

Rewolwe Collaborative Project Rewolve is a 2D sidescroller/platformer in which you play a wolf in a very mechanical world. You try to escape and you find a device that allows you to rotate the world around you in 90 degrees steps. With that power you want to break free from the world. During the game, […]

Puzzlebility (WT 2016/17)

Puzzlebility Collaborative Project In this game, the player controls an abstract character to find his way through a mysterious environment. The character’s abilities will be affected by absorbing objects. In some places, the player can move faster or slower, rotate or not rotate and sometimes the character becomes affected by excessive bounciness. The player should […]

Papercut (WT 2016/2017)

AboutPAPERCUT takes you on a journey of homecoming to oneself, told through form switching origami figures in a puzzle platformer 2D experience. TaglineA journey of many to become one Team Lena Eggermann – ProgrammingDarja Staub – 2D Animations, Character DesignMelissa Perl – UI Design, Environmental ArtNeul Ha – Environmental Art, UI DesignDasha Cherkasov – Level […]

Monster Party Crasher (2016/17)

Monster Party Crasher Global Game Jam 2017 Project – „Waves” Wakey wakey, sleepy head. Our monster is not very amused about the noise townsfolk are making nowadays. Woken up from the deep slumber, our grumpy sweetheart marches through the city to turn off the menace! Tagline Command & Control the Monster, crash the Party […]

YOU (2017)

YOU Collaborative Project YOU is an escape game where the player moves through a level filled with barriers, enemies and projectiles that aim to hamper the player’s movement. • YOU is allegorical, where the level represents a phase from ‘life’ – in this instance, childhood – and the player must maintain and build their identity […]

inTentz (2016/17)

inTentz Collaborative Project InTentz is a social deduction mobile game for 4-8 players played locally. The game blends a digital interface which is unbiased towards rules with a need for attention towards social cues and body language in a physical space. Players assume the roles of high schoolers who spend a week playing hooky in […]

Warena (2017)

Warena Collaborative Project Two players fight in the name of powerful companies over the dominance in the sports arena of the future. With timing, wit and a little bit of luck, both participants use trading cards to develop their units, leading to an action paced battle influencing the whole arena. Not just strategy, but also […]

VR Chambers (2017)

VR Chambers Self-Initiated Project “VR Chambers: The Ludorium” is a exploration puzzle adventure game for mobile vr headsets (cardboard). The player travels trough a surreal world which is based on a lot of different board games. So he will see giant board game pieces like chess figures and dices. Every Interaction is gaze based, so […]

Vibrant World (2017)

Vibrant World Collaborative Project Vibrant world is a mood-led narrative set in a desaturated world, ruled over by entities known as “Delights”. The Delights are manifestations of beauty who have lost sight of their primal undertaking: to fill the world with beauty. Instead, they hoard any and all beauty they can take from the world. […]

Unlight (2017)

Unlight Experimental Game Unlight™ is a 2D arena shooter with a few twists and changes to the core game play. The game begins with the whole map revealed and turns completely dark after the players know their respective position on said map. After the screen turns black only certain elements are visible at certain times. […]

Umlautron (2017)

Umlautron Self-Initiated Project The UMLAUTRON is a modern 4-player arcade cabinet based on the open source Winnitron platform. The controls are designed to be as accessible as possible to players and simple for developers, with players only getting one directional joystick and two buttons each. The arcade cabinet is designed to act as a platform […]

Trash Chicken (2017)

Trash Chicken Collaborative Project Enough is enough! Rise up against the oppressive Foxes and reclaim your country for chicken-kind! You are a mutated giant chicken and must free the cooped up chicks from their prisons and destroy the fox city and its inhabitants. Besides your large physique, your best weapons are the different weapons that […]

Toy Box Orchestra (2017)

Toy Box Orchestra Collaborative Project Chimpanzee Bukkaque started as a real-time synthesizer project but has grown into something more. This project defines itself as an audio-visual installation consisting of interactive and ludic elements. It is represented in two forms: – the performance, in which Chimpanzee Bukkaque plays and performs compositions, – and the exhibition, in […]

Thoughts of Tomorrow (2017)

Thoughts of Tommorow Collaborative Project Thoughts of Tomorrow is a cooperative game where the players slip into the roles of two unique characters (Slave or Saviour) at different starting positions and make their way to each other. Once united, both descendants of two different tribes begin to move through a mystical world filled with a variety of […]

This is Only Human (ST 2017)

This is Only Human Experimental Game This is only Human is a game about modern media-culture and how we as consumers distance ourselves from the reality which we perceive on the screen. It reflects on the fact that we have lost the sense of the actuality of the media-production; That we do not feel as […]

The Old Prince (2017)

The Old Prince Collaborative Project What if the Little Prince managed to get out of the earth in search of his Rose, what if years passed of struggle and hardships through the universe without being able to find his asteroid, but what if in the end he finally find it? Now an old prince, he […]

The Little Prince (2017)

The Little Prince Collaborative Project The Little Prince is a comical arcade game adaptation of the novella of the same name by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. The prince is no longer the little boy that he once was. He’s old, bitter, and redneck, yet he works all day long to protect his beloved rose, who is […]

Themple of Philae (2017)

Themple of Philae Collaborative Project Everyday Kissa told her son the story of how the goddess Isis had brought him and given him to her care. How he had always been a special child and would one day have to face many challenges in order to become greater than any human being before him. Gamal […]

TAST – The Alien Sphere Thing (2017)

TAST – The Alien Sphere Thing Collaborative Project TAST or The Alien Sphere Thing is an experimental, procedural 3D puzzler for the PC in combination with the XBox 360 Controller. The player is trapped inside a sphere with floating cubes that react to each input he makes. To proceed to the next room he has […]

Sunny (2017)

Sunny Collaborative Project Sunny is a dialogue driven narrative game where the player has to put himself into the di cult relationships between two astronauts on the abandoned station. This project is a mixture of a two genres text adventure game and dating simulator. Put yourself in the shoes of both heroes of the story […]

Soulpieces (2017)

Soulpieces Master Thesis Project (MA) It is a fun multiplayer adventure puzzle game where the players have to collect all the pieces around the universe and complete all the puzzles. Tagline: Complete all the puzzles Platform: PC/win Genre: Action-adventure-big puzzle-multiplayer-cooperative game Team Programmer and designer: Tanya K. Romero A.

Signify (2017)

Signify Collaborative Project Signify is an experimental sandbox game where players enter an empty world and can spawn entities such as plants, wildlife, an even light itself into existence, solely through the use of sign language. Signify has been developed for Oculus VR and currently uses the LeapMotion to detect various real sign language gestures […]

Renegade (2017)

Renegade Mixed Reality Renegade is a social deduction game for five players played on one mobile device. By discussing and combining the individual information that the players receive during the game they have to find and exile the renegade among the group. This person and a hidden conspirator will do their best to bluff and […]

QR (2017)

QR Collaborative Project QR is a headhunting and human assessment agency who scouts for individuals to fulfill the workforce needs of the world’s largest corporations. With QR’s help, you will embark on a new career as an executive area manager for one of those corporations. You must collect assets, build your portfolio, and crush the […]

Pictures at an Exhibition (2017)

Pictures at an Exhibition Collaborative Project Pictures at an Exhibition is, as the name implies, an exhibition in the virtual space. The player or rather visitor enters the exhibition through a central hub, which design is the result of a Brutalist deconstruction of Indian temple architecture. Having an ever-changing colour concept and further procedural modifications […]

Peru Game Arts (2017)

Peru Game Arts Self-Initiated Project This is no game, but a walkthrough in a limited area to showcase different Game Assets, including 3D meshes, characters and animations. This project embraces the production of a game world, from the concept phase to 3D modeling, texturing, rigging, animation and engine implementation, including the entire composition. A third […]

Ozomahtli (2017)

Ozomahtli Collaborative Project Ozomahtli is a game that blurs the boundaries of the real and virtual world as it exists in both. The name-giving protagonist Ozomahtli is on his quest to awaken the sleeping gods of the Aztec pantheon. As the player, you need to interact with the environment of the game that exists physically […]

Mostly Sugar (2017)

Mostly Sugar Collaborative Project Mostly Sugar is a mix of a card game and a board game played online with up to three friends. Every player secretly chooses goals throughout the game and win the match by fulfilling their fifth goal. Players move around the board by playing cards, not by rolling dice. The key: […]

Line 451 (2017)

Line 451 Collaborative Project Line 451 is a first person bus passenger game where the player is seated and can only look around. The game consists of several scripted events that play out regardless of player interaction. The game is set in a bus. The player is seated and can look around as well as […]

Lethe (2017)

Lethe Collaborative Project In the enchanting 2D puzzle adventure platformer Lethe, you accompany a lost soul on its journey of rediscovery, as it tries to find its way back to itself. Help the lost soul by guiding it safely through the world of Lethe. Obstacles will block your path, conquer them to discover its true […]

Kyklos Code (2017)

Kyklos Code Self-Initiated Project The player dives into a program to defeat the virus by which it has been attacked. The virus sets back the player to his starting position every 10 seconds. The time between two resets is called a loop. During the game the player receives a device that enables him/ her to […]

IYNX (2017)

IYNX Mixed Reality A mysterious device is found with no indication of its purpose, and alongside it is a personality chip owned by a man named John. The device looks tampered with, as if someone has tried to sabotage or access what it contains. Who’s John and what’s inside? You only need to figure a […]

It wasn’t a love song (2017)

It wasn’t a love song Collaborative Project An abandoned apartment somewhere in a city. A murder happened here. Fragments of evidence are scattered across the environment: videos, sounds, voices. Collect and rearrange them into a sequence that makes sense to you – but be aware that each shift in your timeline will shift the truth […]

Heart-shaped glasses (2017)

Heart-shaped glasses Experimental Games Heart-Shaped Glasses is an experimental text-based interactive journey through an abusive relationship. The game is played using a custom mouse that emits an electrical shock when the player chooses certain dialogue answers that trigger a violent outburst in their abusive partner, making emotional pain into something tangible that is able to […]

Gridrunners (2017)

Gridrunners Collaborative Project Gridrunners is a fast paced racing game within an endless digital circuit like the world. Players compete against each other with up to 4 player multiplayer possibility in a Modern Arcade styled game. Each player controls a vehicle called Gridrunner, with their Gridrunner they have to evade obstacles, collect fuel, power ups […]

Glowing Deers (2017)

Glowing Deers Collaborative Project Glowing Deers offers a unique Virtual Reality gaming experience. Shrinked to the size of a thumb, the players explore a photorealistic environment and get to know nature from another perspective. They interact with small animals, discover caves in tree stumps or sea anemones in coral reefs. The players learn about the different mechanisms of the tiny worlds that are […]

Gemini (2017)

Gemini Collaborative Project GEMINI is a cooperative puzzle runner with a twist: One player plays the game in VR, the other on a touchscreen, both controlling the same character from different perspectives. Together, both players have to solve puzzles. As both see the game world from different perspectives and have different ways of interacting with […]

Frontline (2017)

Frontline Collaborative Project Project’s aim was to see whether through terrain design we as developer could have more diegetic way of guiding, to make this happen, Ik Hwan Kim, doctoral candidate from KAIST who specializes in landscape architecture in cyber space helped creating core terrain design elements, such as use of light and shadow, different […]

Fired! (2017)

Fired! Collaborative Project Fired is a game where you slip into the role of a pyromaniac who just got out of a mental institute and is now working at a fireworks company. Your jerk of a boss is also an alcoholic who does nothing but drink in his office. You are given chances and choices […]

Final Cut (2017)

Final Cut Collaborative Project Can you stay alive? This is a ludic multiplayer one-screen game with a bloody twist. Play together with your friends – but be careful! Deathly traps, tricky items and a chaotic game play will try to kill you. Can you kill your opponents before you die? Tagline „Are you brave enough […]

Ferrytale (2017)

Ferrytale Collaborative Project Slip into the role of Death and have a nice chat with a lost boy while escorting him to salvation. His fate will be entirely up to you and your decisions. Be sarcastic, be skeptical, be funny, be serious, be good, be evil – be yourself! And play the game the way […]

Fallen Hero (ST 2017)

AboutThe fallen hero’s core concept is to deliver a new way to enjoy the classic Japanese anime “Gundam”. The concept behind is that with the use of VR and its immersive capability, we could bring new dimension how to improve the immersion while watching otherwise one directional movie watching experience. The narrative is driven by […]

Elementary (WT 2017)

Elementary Collaborative Project You can change the view from the game to real life. You play as a detective in the beautiful city of London. A butler has been killed. There are five suspects. Genre: Mixed Reality Game Team Dennis: Programming Leyla: Arts Lukas: Programming Henri: Design

Effy (2017)

Effy Collaborative Project Effy is supposed to offer an unconventional text adventure experience by interacting with an artificial intelligence that has human-like characteristics. The players get to know the personality of the character and explore the stories she has to tell. Throughout the process the player will reveal the mystery about a secret organisation that converts […]

Dinner for SchmORCs (2017)

Dinner for SchmORCs Collaborative Project Dinner for schmORCs is a dexterity board game with mobile app support with simple competitive mechanics like rock-paper-scissors and monopoly. App provides a Counter and a Dice for simplifying interaction. Tagline Platform: Android/IOs Genre: A board game with mobile app support Team Anna Smirnova – Project manager, Design, Programming Birce Yılmazkarasu – […]

Dear Brother (2017)

Dear Brother Semester Project Tagline „Dear Brother“ is a horror-exploration game about a man who is in search of his lost sister. While searching he has to navigate through his parent’s house, is confronted with his past and encounters the supernatural which he has to avoid to stay sane. Platform: PC Genre: Horror/Exploration Team Tom […]

Crimson Dinner (2017)

Crimson Dinner Collaborative Project You and three friends were invited to a party by your good friend Lord Fletcher. But just when you settle down for dinner, the butler announces that Lord Fletcher has been murdered. And it was one of you. Who has been the killer? How and why did they do it? Has […]

Corp ID (2017)

Corp ID Collaborative Project Corp ID is a mixture of exploration and puzzle adventure that takes place in America in the 80s and 90s. Experience corporations background that is hidden from people. As protagonist Kelvin Medoc you have to solve the problems of big media corporations. During your missions, you will have the possibility to […]

Catboy (2017)

Catboy Self-Initiated Project Catboy is a fast-paced action platformer with a retro 16-bit pixel art look that mixes elements from jump’n’shoot and beat’em up games and will provide an optional co-op mode for local multiplayer. In addition to a lot of varying levels there are plans to integrate several bonus levels in-between with an alternative gameplay like car chases […]

Build a Robot VR (2017)

Build a Robot VR Collaborative Project Build A Robot VR is a sandbox game for virtual reality in which you explore the world and build your own personal robot. You – the player – switches into the role of a young boy, who is living in the 80’s, building a machine with nothing, but his […]

Annika Mette

Annika Mette studied law at the Ludwigs-Maximilians-University Munich from 2009 – 2016. Her main focus was corporate law: corporate / capital market and insolvency law. In 2016 she passed the first state examination in law. Since 2018 she has been working as a lawyer for the law firm Wilde Beuger Solmecke in Cologne and specializes […]

Michael Liebe

Michael Liebe is the founder and managing director of Booster Space, the company behind the event formats gamesweek Berlin (incl. QUO VADIS conference and Gamefest), VR NOW Con & Awards, Womenize!, and Game Cinema as well as the VR game DUEL, based in Berlin. Since February 2016 Michael has been working for Kickstarter as Outreach […]

Thomas Friedmann

Thomas Friedmann wrote his first game concept in 1987: “Tom and the Ghost” It was developed by Bluebyte and Ubisoft in 1989 and released on Atari ST and Amiga. After his diploma in business informatics at the FH Karlsruhe, Thomas joined Bluebyte as a producer in 1994. He was responsible for games like “Dr. Drago’s […]

Airtime VR (2017)

Airtime VR Collaborative Project The Airtime VR Paragliding Simulator aims at supporting aspiring pilots in their practical learning of common flight routines such as landing maneuvers. As a complementary tool to their regular outdoor practice, the simulator will playfully provide users with advanced topographical as well as aerial knowledge of the client´s main schooling arenas.The […]

A Drop in the Ocean (2017)

A Drop in the Ocean Collaborative Project The game will take place in our main character’s (Ed) memories, that he relives one last time. The player will float around the zero gravity memory space, giving him a sense of detachment and inexplicable freedom, from there he can enter certain memories by flying into portals. The […]

Twin Sprouts (2017/18)

Twin Sprouts Collaborative Project Twin Sprouts is a 3D multiplayer platformer for PC and Mac. Pick up seeds and grow plants in a lush and beautiful environment. Run, jump and glide to collect magical orbs to feed your plants with water and sun spells. Keep your plants happy and healthy and gather the joy orbs […]

ThingamaBOB (2017/18)

ThingamaBOB Collaborative Project ThingamaBOB is a game that challenges the user to create and care for a virtual companion – known as a BOB – whose characteristics are intimately connected to data collected on the user’s smartphone. In this prototype, the player hatches a BOB whose visual parameters vary based on the user’s age, height […]

Tell me where (2017/18)

Tell me where Collaborative Project The game’s focus is to eliminate the wraith that is plaguing the world. But you cannot do it alone and need your friend’s help. The game utilizes both a desktop monitor and the HTC Vive requiring 2 players to be present at the same time in the same room. Player […]

Scintillia (2017/18)

Scintillia Intermediate Project In “Scintillia” the player finds him/herself in a day of a chronic pain patient. Personalized on his/her real life the game will make the player plan his day and master daily chores like a real pain patient would. He is accompanied by the unnerving and cynical “Pinta” who symbolizes chronic pain in […]

Rovatar (WT 2017/2018)

AboutThe player becomes the operator of a robotic avatar in a physical maze. Upon putting on the head-mounted device and headphones, his main senses (sight, hearing) are “transferred”, his disoriented awareness merges with the bot and players unknowingly become test subjects for “Human mind and body separation”-experiments. They encounter different situations, signs and traces of […]

Luchador Dash (2017/18)

Luchador Dash Polished game demo from a piece of homework from the first semester. This is a small demo made in a few hours for one of my Game Design class assignments. The challenge was to make a one-button game with a limited color palette. Tagline A fast paced mini-game where you try to beat […]

In Memoria (WT 2017/18)

In Memoria Collaborative Project It tells the story of a game developer that suffers from chronic memory lost, who tries to cope with his disease by capturing memories in a game. Tagline ‘In Memoria’ lets the player explore a distorted game world inhabited by various memory bits and gives him some impression of how a […]

Distocean (WT 2017/18)

Distocean Collaborative Project You dream of the ocean often and it comes to life around you, water blurring your vision. Water floods your surroundings, currents bringing dangerous creatures closer to you. And as the light in the world grows thinner, you submerge deeper and deeper in the dark water. Tagline Only a camera screen is […]

Disintegration (WT 2017/18)

Disintegration Collaborative Project You are in your dream which is based on your own real deconstructed surrounding. Escape the nightmare despite all the obstacles making you lose your way. Tagline The game level is procedurally generated based on the player’s picture and sound input. Team Mohsen – Programmer Mario – Programmer Lisa (Lead) – Art/Sound, […]

Bowie – Journey of a bowerbird (2017/2018)

Bowie – Journey of a bowerbird Self-initiated Project You start as Bowie in his nest on top of a tree, and together you learn how to navigate through the branches. Arrived on the ground, you will collect items in order to build a bower. When Bowie has completed this first mission, something drastic occurs and […]

Boomin Joy (2017/18)

Boomin Joy Collaborative Project Boomin’ joy is a local multiplayer arena brawler game in which the player utilizes bomb-throwing, items and the environment to knock out other players. The game features easy to learn, hard to master arcade gameplay and an aesthetic inspired by nostalgia, childish fantasies and pop culture of the 90s. Tagline Finding […]

A Normal Day: Kiosk Simulator (2017/2018)

A Normal Day: Kiosk Simulator Rapid Prototyping In “A Normal Day: Kiosk Simulator” you play as an employee of a small convenient store. It is your job to tend to the costumers, clean up the mess they make and in general keep a good attitude. Sounds simple? Then you have never worked in a store. […]

Zero Damage (WT 2018/19)

AboutZero Damage is an Coop Action game in which you must change the destiny of an entire planet by flying people back to safety and restoring peace, causing Zero Damage. The player join the “Offset team” that aims to restore peace in the planet Cidalia where two factions fight for power and natural resources. The […]

Zentry (WT 2018/19)

AboutA mysterious Zen master living in a secret laboratory cloistered away from civilization developed a technology to investigate and teach the occult techniques of telekinesis. Take part in his experiment guided by his assistant robot and explore what you are capable of by solely using the pure power of your mind. Team Janine Janer – […]

Woodfarer (2018)

Woodfarer Collaborative Project As Woodfarer, explore the world, find lost spirits and save everyone. Use your compass and map to find your way and use your friends to clear your mind. Genre: Top-Down Roguelike Shooter Adventure Platform: PC Team Karina Pankov Eva Baginska Yasaman Farazan M.Sadegh H.Boroomand

Where is everybody (2018)

Where is everybody Collaborative Project A mean, bloodthirsty snake attacks the den of your peacefully living rabbit family and everybody fled in panic! Slip into the role of the hero rabbit on their rapid flight and dodge obstacles by digging your way through the soil or using all your bunny power to jump across everything […]

Waste Planet (ST 2018)

Waste Planet Collaborative Project Waste Planet is a first person narrative impact game in which the player is confronted with a possible dystopian future of our planet. Planet earth suffered immensely from the human inflicted climate change causing the temperature to rise through an irreparable greenhouse effect making the planet uninhabitable. The human race appears […]

Urban Heat (ST 2018)

Urban Heat Collaborative Project A two player mobile city-building game in which both players slip in a different role: One plays as the minister of climate, the other as minister of economy. The game plays within a city’s infrastructure and focuses on specific places in the city that ask for attention like urban housing-projects, construction-sides […]

Tukki & Champ (WT 2018/19)

AboutIn “Tukki & Champ” a chameleon rides a toucan and they compete for food in an asymmetrical, local 2-player matchup. The game is set in a two-dimensional jungle from a sideview perspective. A number of insects float around the scene. The players compete to catch them first. “Tukki” can flap his wings to control his […]

The Rapid Treasure Escape (2018)

The Rapid Treasure Escape Collaborative Project Ahoy mateys and welcome to “The Rapid Treasure Escape”!In this fast-paced racing game, you are sharing a gamepad with a friend to control two trickster pirates on the run. Swooshing down a river in a little rowing boat packed with gold and diamonds you try to escape from a […]

The Painter’s Perspective (ST 2018)

The Painter’s Perspective Serious Games Project The project seeks to provide a minimally invasive method of engaging with paintings outside of the traditional means of the established museum etiquette. The game will enhance the museum experience by augmenting the series of interactions viewers traditionally make with each painting, incorporating educational elements in the form of […]

The Noiseless Channel (ST 2018)

The Noiseless Channel Collaborative Project The Noiseless channel is an attempt to create an experimental transmedial work based on Rosa Menkman’s “Glitch Manifesto” and other contents of the 4th semester lectures of the Media and Game Studies Module. With the projects foundation topic being “Experimental Games”, the center of the project is a game that […]

The mind: Heist (ST 2018)

The mind: Heist Collaborative Project The Mind:Heist is a procedurally personalized aesthetic experience where the player (sub)consciously shapes the environment via biofeedback. It strives to charter the possibilities of personalized gameplay, emotional worldbuilding and truly meaningful interaction. Tagline Create and shape a world purely with the power of your mind! Platform: PC + NeuroSky Mindwave […]

The Laurel & Hardy Murder Case (WT 2018/19)

AboutTwo mutants sharing a single, shape-shifting body, are trapped in a lethal TV show where they are forced to fight radioactive monsters in tight, twodimensional arenas. Players jump around, use the characters’ unique abilities, survive for as long as possible, and most importantly: put on a show for the people at home, as the score […]

The Bridge (WT 2018/19)

AboutThe Bride is an app that has been developed in collaboration for the Deutsche Museum that features a series of minigames for the visitor to discover. The first game sets the player into a mission to combat increasing amounts of waste that is currently cluttering the orbit of the earth as a satellite with a […]

Ted’s Quest (2018)

Ted’s Quest Collaborative Project “Ted’s Quest” is a story of a Teddy bear, who lost his limbs and in the quest of getting them back so that he can go back to his owner. Throughout the game our objective is give that feeling of Teddy, where he is uncomfortable and mostly powerless, yet determined to […]

Step (2018)

Step Collaborative Project Take on the role of an everyman and help him find appreciation in the little things in life. In this endless runner, players can interact with several game objects on screen. In doing this, they will find new ways to interact with the environment through dancing and visualize the world in a […]

StarKillers (2018)

StarKillers Collaborative Project In the far future, interstellar daredevils play a star-killing sport. Pilot your spaceship and protect your star while trying to collapse those of the other players. Tagline Exciting and chaotic co-op and versus multiplayer,with excellent game feel. Genre: Multiplayer Arcade Shooter Platforms: Winnitron Arcade Cabinet and Windows PC Team Chad Comeau (Game […]

Speed Cracker (ST 2018)

Speed Cracker Adaption Project Tagline Put your VR glasses on and hack the mainframe before security gets to you! Platform: Google Cardboard Genre: Arcade Shooter/Runner Team Diego Saldivar (Game Designer/Programming/Level Designer) Monplaisir (Music)

The Side Effects of Being Human (WT 2020)

The Side Effects of Being Human Collaborative Project Glennthrìghde, or as they prefer to call themselves, Glenn, is a Fae, but their goal is to live among humans. Except that part where they tried it, and it didn’t work, because Fae simply don’t work like humans, especially when it comes to emotions. Now Glenn is […]

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 […]

Marc Wittmann: Time Perception

Marc Wittmann studied psychology and philosophy in Munich and Fribourg. He also holds a doctorate and habilitation in medical psychology. Marc Wittmann works at the Institute for Frontier Areas of Psychology and Mental Hygiene.

Team

Psychologists from the German Institute for Addiction and Prevention Research at Katholische Hochschule NRW (Deutsches Institut für Sucht- und Präventionsforschung), work together with game designers from the Cologne Game Lab (CGL, Technische Hochschule Köln) and the Department of Developmental Psychology at University of Amsterdam. Katholische Hochschule NRW (coordination)German Institute for Addiction and Prevention ResearchProf. Dr. […]

Guest Lecturer

Steffen P. Walz: That tricky (But Hopefully Rewarding) Relationship Between Games & The Digital Landscape

Steffen P. Walz is an award-winning game & interaction designer, an internationally recognized scholar & book author, a business consultant & an entrepreneur with a background in computer-aided architectural design, cultural anthropology, creative web direction, TV satire writing, entertainment media production as well as attempted pop music stardom. He is now a Professor of Design/Art […]

SKRP! (ST 2018)

SKRP! Collaborative Project Skrp is a story driven exploration, puzzle game that features a multitude of changing game mechanics and an art style inspired by 20th century analogue arts as well as printing media. You start your journey as a simple dot and make your way to become a more complex shape. Find out what […]

Shattered (ST 2018)

Shattered Collaborative Project Shattered is about a bird living nearby a beautiful mountain. The player takes the role of the little blue bird and starts the game by searching for his brother. Once reaching the village, he uses his magical bell to defeat the dark creatures threatening his fellow birds. To find the source of […]

Project ARG (ST 2018)

AboutProject ARG is an alternate reality game created for the upcoming first semester. The game is designed as an introduction to CGL and the world of games. It contains of various puzzles with clues hidden inside, meant as a transmedia adventure. The people solving all the clues first will be rewarded with a price in […]

Onyx (ST 2018)

Onyx Collaborative Project The plot of Onyx revolves around a father taking his own life due to the loss of his daughter. The discovering of this takes place across several layers of reality, these being an 8bit campfire which has been created by the man, a three dimensional fireplace which is a VR chatroom, and […]

On And On We Ran Away (WT 2018/19)

AboutOn and On We Ran Away is a single-player adventure game intended to be developed for PC / Mac and the Nintendo Switch. It tells the story of Martine, a refugee, who fled from Kosovo to Italy when the Kosovo war started in the late 1990s. After becoming pregnant, Martine decides to reunite with her […]

No Pen No Paper (2017/18)

No Pen No Paper Collaborative Project A tool for playing and creating pen and paper role-playing games, including its own dedicated story & setting. Platform: Windows & Android Genre: Mixed Reality Team Artwork: Elena Oesterling UI Design / UI Graphics: Mathis Oster System, World Design: Kurt Rexrodt System, Backend Programming: Tom Schildhauer (Lead) Adventure Design: […]

No Brainer (ST 2018)

No Brainer First Year Collaborative Project (BA) The No-Brainer wakes up on a cold table in a laboratory and realizes their brain is gone. Accompanied by the voice of the mad scientist who stole their brain they proceed through the lab in search of it. In each lab room they find a different brain which […]

NEAT – Art (2018)

NEAT – Art Second Year Experimental Games Project (BA) NEAT Art is an experiment on teaching a self-learning algorithm to create images, based on “Neuro-Evolution through Augmenting Topologies” (a technique conceived by Ken Stanley in 2002, full paper). Opposed to other instances of AI producing creative works, where existing data sets are used, the NEAT […]

L.A.M.E. (WT 2018/19)

AboutL.A.M.E. is a unique mix of different genres of gaming in an asymmetric local multiplayer setup. One player takes on the role of the attacker and plays a first-person shooter on the big screen while the other sets up challenges on a mobile phone.The first-person player tries to destroy four generators in the level […]

kunstr (2018)

kunstr MA2 Serious Games Project This is a demo created for illustrative purposes as a proof of concept for the Wallraf-Richartz Museum. It is a vertical slice that demonstrates how a “serious game” could be used to spark cultural interest in teenagers. At present only two of the artworks in their collection are available for […]

K.U.P.E. (WT 2018/19)

About“We live in a universe of freedom and peace. Glued together by a power, an almighty power. But like everything old and lasting, it’s meant to break. Now the days of fear have come, and our cube will collapse. Thus, I have gathered you, my team.” -the Boss The K.U.P.E team is a team of […]

Jessika – Underneath the system (2018)

Jessika – Underneath the system (2018) Impact Games As a hacker the player is tasked by an anonymous customer to infiltrate the computer of Jessika and perform a background check. By utilizing a search engine the player has to navigate a server structure and find files containing Jessika’s biography. (S)he will find different types of […]

High Rise (2018)

High Rise Collaborative Project High Rise is an arcade puzzle game about a world where the constant raising fog of the industry forces you to build a city towards the sky. The inhabitants of your vertical city need sunlight to be happy. The businesses, that produce the goods for your people, need day workers and […]

HEART_DRIVE (ST 2018)

AboutIn HEART_DRIVE, you will assume the role of J08-N, an artificial intelligence sent on a dinner date with an unassuming stranger to prove its ability to blend into human society.Using a keyboard, you can type the sentences J08-N will speak and watch events unfold in the game’s branching narrative with three different endings. Will you […]

Gabors Gambit (WT 2018/19)

About“In the near future, where holodecs and holograms grant us never seen before presentation techniques, we fall back to the basics. We play boardgames against each others, but now they´re floating in glass pyramid devices! And Angerfist punches his hard baselines while there is a lightshow that blows your mind away!? And is this a […]

Future of Yesterday (WT 2018/19)

AboutExplore an exemplary apartment full of new technology as it was imagined during a time that the most of us only know from old movies and classical music. In this single player, sandbox style game it is up to you how and in which order you try out all the things that your environment provides […]

Tom Putzki

In 1997 Tom Putzki founded Piranha Bytes Software GmbHn in Bochum, the development studio for the GOTHIC series. He then became a co-founder of Phenomedia AG, known for the game “Moorhuhn” in 1999. He is currently a member of the advisory board of the Game Developers Conference Europe in Cologne. Since the beginning of 2006, […]

Forget Me Not (WT 2018/19)

AboutThe game is envisioned as a puzzle-platformer for the PC. The player has to traverse a variety of levels in order to reach the end. He achieves this by switching between up to 3 characters and using their abilities in conjunction as well as combination with each other. The game contains 27 one-screen levels, following […]

Bernard Perron

Bernard Perron is a Full Professor of Cinema at the University of Montreal, Canada. His research and writings concentrate on video games, interactive cinema, the horror genre, and on narration, cognition, and the ludic dimension of narrative cinema.

Enotita (WT 2018/19)

AboutAs Zeus looked upon earth he saw the most beautiful woman of Phoenicia, the princess Europa and fell in love with her. To avoid the suspicious gaze of his wife Hera he transformed himself into a beautiful bull and charmed the princess to fall in love with him as well. Soon his wife Hera found […]

Eden (WT 2018/19)

AboutEden is a mobile multiple choice adventure based on a short story dealing with the fear of loss in our technological age. The player takes control over four different characters in an hour-long “choose your own adventure”-kind of game, forming intimate relationships and experiencing a heartfelt narrative from multiple perspectives. A sweet and simple yet […]

Blue Moon (ST 2018)

AboutA story of people being in a tough time, regaining what belongs to them. The story progresses through a collection of mini-games, simulation elements, and dynamic dialogue system in a 2D top-down perspective. The game targets for the young learners who love to explore story through interactive gameplay in a computer. Team Rakibul Hasan Toor […]

Blindgate Forest (ST 2018)

AboutBlindgate Forest was once a popular tourist region and an, by camping fans, often visited holiday destination. Unfortunately, the Blindgate Forest lost a lot of its popularity due to reported evidence of occultic practices around the summer of 2009. A group attributed to the occult, spread fear and terror with their gruesome practices of sacrificing […]

Blind Archer (ST 2018)

AboutHunted by the corrupted horde, you beat your way through the undergrowth. After hours of running, you finally enter a clearing, but before you can catch your breath, you hear again the growl of your pursuers in the distance. You decide that the time has come to strike back, armed with bow and arrow, you […]

All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace (ST 2018)

About“All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace” is an isometric action-adventure with a strong focus on environmental puzzling set in a post-cyberpunk cityscape constructed of organic-looking buildings, alleys and creatures. Instead of focusing on the established narrative and visual tropes of Cyberpunk, the game aims to recreate the core feeling of the literature that inspired cyberpunk: […]

AETHER (WT 2018/19)

AboutAether is a two player local co-op game, where each player gets to play as one of the four elements: fire, water, earth or air. The players are divided by the shadow world and connected by the string, that forces them to not go too far apart. The players should work in harmony so that […]

A Bond Unseen (WT 2018/19)

AboutA family of fantasy creatures lived peacefully inside a giant tree. Suddenly, they were torn apart by the death of an old owl, who brought all of them together in the first place. Overwhelmed by their sorrow, they ran away into the unknown. Only Eon stayed behind and swallowed his own sorrow to reunite the […]

Would You (ST 2019)

About“Would you… ?” revolves around decision-based gameplay. Players are given the choice to be intimate with a selection of different suitors, with the goal to get as many satisfaction points as possible. The first and most obvious strategy for winning is to be intimate with as many suitors as possible. However, the game is designed […]

What becomes of the Broken Hearted (ST 2019)

What Becomes of The Broken Hearted Collaborative Project Anxiety is sent to the broken heart of Diego, a man whose heart is broken after a breakup with their partner. The heart has been broken into3 sections, all governed by one negative emotion each: Anger, Fear, and Sadness. Anxiety’s task is to subdue these emotions by […]

Tomorrow Never Knows (ST 2019)

It’s just a normal Sunday in the summer of 1967, and Leonard doesn’t have to go anywhere. But wasn’t it Sunday just yesterday? Doesn’t every day just feel the same, his wife telling him all the same things she already said before, radio playing the same songs… Something is not right. Is it the same […]

The Orange Cube (ST 2019)

The Orange Cube was created by a group of four artists. The collection of mini games was created by experimenting with other game titles through changing their name into a wordplay and then translating that into a literal game mechanic. Can you guess all the original titles? Tagline A collection of four mini games with […]

The Conjurers (ST 2019)

AboutIn The Conjurers, you will take on the role of witches and warlocks and summon a cardinal demon to bind its soul and augment your magical prowess to tackle more difficult challenges. You can create and customize your character with magic staffs, elemental runes and arcane robes that influence your abilities. During combat, you must […]

Simplyfight (ST 2019)

AboutSimplyfight aims to make the 2D fighting game formula as simple and accessible as possible by breaking inputs down to just a single button, while keeping the traditional fighting game metagame intact. Tagline Simplyfight is an experimental fighting game that takes traditional 2D fighting gameplay and simplifies it to its basic roots Team Luca Baumann […]

Say my name (ST 2019)

AboutSay My Name emulates a conversation with a personality fragment assisting the player with basic therapeutic concepts and reflection questions. Additionally, it provides a safe space for players to familiarise themselves with the context and tone of therapy. Players create a personality line-up based on the OCEAN model, learn about cognitive dissonances and conceptualise an emergency […]

S.I.T. (ST 2019)

AboutS.I.T. is controlled entirely via keyboard to input command lines that let you interact with a unique operating system and the game world. Command robots inside the AI factory by using a damaged fox unit to communicate with them and unveil bits of the factories past and progress through it. Try coming up with creative […]

Pitch Black (ST 2019)

About“Pitch Black” is a sci-ﬁ survival horror game without visuals. In this game the player will play as a blind marine who is in a research lab on different planet. The player has to pass through corridors and a horde of monsters to get out from the place. A navigation system is attached to his […]

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 […]

MMIW (ST 2019)

AboutThe game (full name: MMIW – Murder and Missing of Indigenous Women in Canada) is about a fictional character Ramona Jean Augun. She went missing on Tuesday November 7, 2000 near Telkwa, British Columbia, her body was found 46 days later near Morice town. The player through different mechanics should be able to follow her […]

Mirare (WT 2019/20)

Mirare Collaborative Project You enter Virtual Reality to play a board game you soon lose in. You are told you need to make your pieces stronger. Each piece represents a character you must bond with to improve.Then for a week you get sent messages from these 3 characters. How many times and in which way […]

InVector (ST 2019)

AboutInVector is a browser-based educational impact game targeted at European high school students in 7th to 9th grade, which will be used to enhance a school curriculum. The game aims to raise awareness about major vector-borne diseases that are at risk to spread into Europe, thus educating about the diseases and enabling the users to […]

Grief (ST 2019)

AboutHave you ever lost someone? Have you ever felt like falling? Have you ever felt like chasing a ghost? Have you ever felt like you want to destroy the world? Have you ever felt like drowning? Have you ever fought for your life? Our game tells the story of loosing of a loved one and […]

Food Safety (ST 2019)

AboutA cooking game with the target of safely preparing a meal: It’s not the cooking prowess that counts, it’s the methods. Tagline Decreasing human costs of contaminated food Team Dasha Cherkasov – Project Lead, Game DesignLena Eggermann – Game ProgrammingLukas Esch – Game ArtMelissa Perl – Game ArtDarja Staub – Game Art Gameplay Video

Flood Zone (ST 2019)

Flood Zone Collaborative Project A city builder inspired by real world work. Organize the rebuilding of a village. Teach the people. Genre: Serious Game Platform: PC Team Henri Knutsen Jonathan Mannshoven Lukas Künz

Evershift (ST 2019)

AboutYou’re thrown in a situation with no context. Figuring out what’s happening, what you are supposed to do, and how well you do it, are the only things that matter. “Evershift” takes place in a forest that it’s constantly changing based on the player’s performance. It makes players draw their own conclusions as to what […]

Emissive Journey (ST 2019)

AboutWander through a ghostly ruin and activate vital lights by using light sensors in a real life model of the game world. Collect the essences of each level to progress. Use a real flashlight to burn down or even reveal objects to open blocked paths. Tagline Welcome to Emissive Journey, an explorative experimental game where […]

DUAT (ST 2019)

AboutDiscover the secrets of a lost world either alone or with a friend (one player on the mouse another on the keyboard) in this short experimental adventure using a dual control system that separates the player and the character. Just as you’d choose dialogue options in a text adventure, you can perform actions to make […]

Dough Nuts – Go nuts (2019)

Dough Nuts Collaborative Project Dough Nuts –Go Nuts!challenges you to control an intrepid piece of dough. It has to find its way into an oven, in order to get baked. But the path leading there is not an easy one: sharp objects, deep sinks and high shelves stand on the way. To overcome all that, […]

Corruption (WT 2019/20)

Corruption Collaborative Project Capitalizes on trend of boardgames becoming narrative experiences, more serious and less ludic, trend of dark narrative horror games, experience a story instead of a detached mechanic. Tagline A Mixed Reality Boardgame. Genre: Science Fiction, Horror, Exploration, Narrative Team Yannik Renz (Game Design & Team Lead) Isaac Baltsch (Game Design) Angelo Wedel […]

Blinded (2019)

Blinded Collaborative Project The game is set in a city that experiences a blackout. Subsequently, no electricity or internet is available anymore. You play as a hacker that tries to fix the city, taking back the infrastructure piece by piece by solving different puzzles.Your hacker opponent is your former girlfriend, who caused this blackout to […]

Sebastian Mittag: Studio Fizbin – Project & Studio Presentation

In 2011, Sebastian Mittag co-founded Studio Fizbin, where he has been working as a game director ever since and is responsible for game design, story, and concept. He also teaches cross-media and interactive storytelling at various universities. Studio Fizbin focuses on story-based interaction with exciting and unique characters and worlds.

Bernard’s Bakery (ST 2019)

AboutIn Bernard’s Bakery the player is put in charge of a cute bakery, producing pastries to sell over the course of a day. Depending on quality and quantity, some goods are not bought and thus are discarded. Reflection on the daily amount of waste will then lead to adjustments in production for the next day […]

Baatar (ST 2019)

“Baatar” is an atmospheric impact adventure game set in the world’s coldest and most polluted capital that aims to raise awareness for the fates of affected children and environmental issues all around the globe. It includes affiliate links to corresponding support organizations and lets the player experience a day through the eyes of two local […]

Asunder (ST 2019)

Past regrets can be a heavy burden. That’s what the protagonist of this game painfully realizes as some of their own regrets leave them feeling disjointed. In the game this means their avatar lacks several body parts and connected abilities. As the player you have to guide the protagonist through the surreal worlds of their […]

ARhoy! (WT 2019/20)

ARhoy! Collaborative Project ARhoy! Is an interactive 3D augmented pop-up book about what friendship is and how to embrace conflict to aid the development of self-reflection in children aged 5-7. Tagline A children’s book about friendship and how to embrace conflict. Platform: pop-up book Genre: interactive, 3D augmented children’s book Team Frederyk Sperling (Project Lead […]

Frans Mäyra: Meaning and Agency in Game Cultures

Frans Mäyrä is a Professor of Information Studies and Interactive Media, with a specialization in digital culture and game studies at Tampere University, Finland. He is the founder and head of Tampere University Game Research Lab. He is currently teaching, researching, and heading numerous research projects in the study and development of games, interactive media, […]

We Run (WT 2020)

We Run Collaborative Project Playing the 3D first-person platformer We Run, the player experiences a challenge of the classical conception of goal and control in a non-linear, hard to maneuver game world overthrowing certainty and robustness of identity. Levels bring an explorative component to the game by being multilinear in their layout. As We Run […]

Arne Ludwig: Virtual Reality

Arne Ludwig is a Media Enabler and Digital Producer based in Cologne / Germany. He has been working for more than 20 years as a producer for the film and media industry. He is an alumnus of the Cologne Media Arts Academy (KHM) and studied International Production postgraduate at internationale filmschule köln (ifs). Arne founded a film production […]

Vive l’Execution (WT 2020)

Vive l’Execution Collaborative Project Players assume the role of the republic’s new chief executioner. The player will be presented with an infinite row of randomly generated suspects and will have to decide on a case-by-case basis whether to let them move on or to execute them by using their list of laws to cross-reference the […]

Underground Berlin (WT 2020)

Underground Berlin Collaborative Project You are invited to be a part of something big. An honorary member of the Rats. But are you worthy? Wait. What are the Rats anyway? Well you shall find out soon enough as you follow a bunch of odd characters as they experience strange phenomena throughout the Berlin underground. Solve […]

Martin Lorber

Martin Lorber studied musicology, philosophy, and ethnology at the University of Cologne. Since 2004 he has been working as PR Director and youth protection officer of Electronic Arts. For several years Martin Lorber has been primarily concerned with cultural, social, and political issues related to computer and video games; among other things, he initiated “Clash […]

Those Days (ST 2020)

Those Days Collaborative Project Those Daysis asingle player adventure/explorationgame for Windows. You play as Flo, an introverted, video game addicted 25-year-old man. When a pandemic forces the world into lockdown, not much changes in his life. The same can ́t be said about Fern, his neighbor. Besides the lockdown, she has a broken leg and […]

The Last Roll (ST 2020)

The Last Roll Collaborative Project With the world ravaged by a deadly virus and resources slowly dwindling, you’ve managed to fight your way to the final round of a one-on-one underground dice gambling competition — the victor of which gets to go home with a near-endless supply of toilet paper. Players get to make branching […]

Benedikt Kraus: History of E-Sport and current evolutions

Benedikt is a passionate esports veteran, tech nerd, gamer, and digital native. His 20 years of experience in esports and his entrepreneurial spirit have led him to various leadership positions at ESL in areas such as Production, Business Development & Sales, Advertising, and most recently Influencer Marketing.

The Bestowed City (ST 2020)

The Bestowed City Collaborative Project The Bestowed City is an impactful puzzle game about ignorance by those who could havehelped ultimately shattering the hopes and dreams of refugees in need.To support the theme of fatalistic futility, the narrative goes full circle; the boy arrives at thecamp at the beginning and leaves it at the end […]

Silly Socks (ST 2020)

“Silly Socks” is an online casual mobile game that helps people get in touch together and share playful moments during social distancing times. As an impact game, “Silly socks” is designed to be played through digital means and can be played in an analog way to encourage people to gamify their daily house chores. The […]

Lutz Koepnick

Lutz Koepnick is the Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor of German, Cinema, and Media Arts at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, where he also chairs the Department of German, Russian, and East European Studies and serves as the director of the joint-Ph.D. program in Comparative Media Analysis and Practice (CMAP). He received a Joint-Ph.D. in 1994 in German […]

Hartmut Koenitz: Enabling Discourse in the 21st Century – Narrative Representations of Complexity

Prof. Dr. Hartmut Koenitz is a Professor/lector for Interactive Narrative Design at HKU University of the Arts Utrecht, researching Interactive Digital Narrative in Video Games and other emerging digital formats. His areas of interest center around new expressive forms using digital technology. This includes narrative in video games as well as interactive art pieces and installations.

Quarantine Companion (ST 2020)

The measures to slow the spread of the Coronavirus, while saving lives, have a huge negative impact on our daily and social life. Quarantine Companion seeks to reduce the stress induced by these measures, and provide playful activities and new routines to do while distancing. Three tasks based on expert recommendations for coping with the […]

Prism Soul (WT 2020)

Prism Soul Collaborative Project Some may consider the world to not operate logically. Things seem to happen randomly and for now reason. However, in truth, everything is connected by an ever-moving chain reaction of cause and effect, with only a small part visible for one individual. For those seeking to broaden their horizons and understand […]

Plantarium (WT 2020)

Plantarium Collaborative Project You are on a “Space-Discovery-Mission” to find new planets for humankind to live on! Discover new galaxies and solar systems, with lush and thriving worlds and help reinhabit them with cute little anthropomorphic plants. Maintain a good overview of your achievements with the “Adventure-Log” and collect useful data! Tagline “Take care of […]

Job, Joris & Marieke: Storytelling, Character Animation – Finding Weird Ideas

Job, Joris & Marieke is a Dutch animation studio founded by Job Roggeveen, Joris Oprins, and Marieke Blaauw. Oprins and Blaauw studied product design and Roggeveen graphic design. In 2007 they founded their animation studio in Utrecht. Oprins and Blaauw are mainly responsible for narration and animation, while Roggeveen is dedicated to illustration and music. […]

Outface (WT 2020)

Outface Collaborative Project Outface is a 2D single player puzzle-escape room game drawn in line art style for puzzle and escape room fanatics. There are two worlds; a magical, fairy and calm ‘Normal’ world, and a dark, lonely and terrifying ‘Strange’ world. The player needs to switch between them to interact with object in order […]

Out of the Mist (2020)

Out of the Mist Collaborative Project You awaken in the depths of a temple. Everything is now quiet, and only whispers remain of what used to be. The noises of life are gone and the temple surrounding is crumbling under its own weight. Thousands of years have passed since you last saw this place. When […]

Metamorphrog (ST 2020)

Using only your mouse cursor, move around a frog and eat things to grow bigger and explore vast and varied environments, each with their own look and sound, in this 5-10 minute experimental ambient game. You start the game in a small pond as a tiny tadpole, but soon you will outgrow your pond and […]

Celia Hodent: Introduction to UX and cognitive science in game design

Celia Hodent has a Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Paris 5 Sorbonne (France). She’s specialized in cognitive development. Celia is the GDC UX Summit Chair and an adviser for the GDC UX Summit. She cares about ethics and kicked off the Ethical Games initiative with academics and game developers.

Jussi Holopainen: Game Design Research

Jussi is interested in play, technology, public and semi-public places, performance arts, and claustrophobia. Currently, he supports the Ph.D. research team by leading the publishing and conference discussion in the fortnightly GEEloquium – a regular meetup between Ph.D. researchers to discuss research strategies, methodologies, and techniques.

Mayhaemster (ST 2020)

Mayhaemsters is a competitive multiplayer game for up to 4players where players control hamsters on paper airplanes asthey fly around on a continuously morphing beach while tryingto shoot each other down.Meanwhile, randomly appearing items cause the four majorbutton commands – Attack, Dash, Use Item and Self-Destruct -to be remapped to different buttons over and over […]

Magnum Opus (ST 2020)

Magnum Opus is a game in which the player explores the different elements that make up abstract painting, created by a well-known artist, as well as creating a link between art and music. The player controls the game by pressing a specific button which will cause a layer featuring one type of element of the painting, […]

Local Paper Small Town (WT 2020/21)

Local Paper Small Town Collaborative Project How does a local paper really reflect a town and its residents? In which ways does old media feel more real than modern technology? In mixing both a newspaper and a virtual model of a town, we hope to explore the commonalities and differences in how both manifestations reflect […]

Auriea Harvey & Michaël Samyn (Tale of Tales): Video Games are not Games

Auriea Harvey (USA/BE) received a B.F.A. in Sculpture at the Parsons School of Design in New York City, New York. In 2002, she founded the independent game development studio Tale of Tales with Michaël Samyn in Ghent, Belgium, where they still live and work. Tale of Tales is best known for experimental video games such […]

Level with me (ST 2020)

Have you ever wondered what developing a game is like? We invite you to take a peek behind the curtain and experience the development of a first-person shooter.Play through the different development stages of one level from the shooter and experience the progression of various game elements. Follow the thought processes of a fictional developer […]

Juggernaut Legacy (WT 2020/2)

Juggernaut Legacy Collaborative Project The game consists of two fractions that try to succeed each other. This is done by gathering Personal Points (PP) which are summed up to the total of all Team Points (TP). The Team with the most TP at the end of a fixed term wins. Genre: Community and location based […]

@home between balconies (ST 2020)

@home between balconies Collaborative Project You just started university and moved into your first own flat. One morning you turn on the radio: “Corona-Crisis in town has gotten worse. We are facing a lockdown to protect healthcare systems”. Now trapped in the apartment you step out on the balcony to get some fresh air. Looking […]

Sabine Harrer: Plantations of Play – Colonial Botony in Videogames

Sabine Harrer is a media artist, game researcher, and author of the book Games and Bereavement (transcript 2018), currently affiliated with the Centre of Excellence in Game Culture Studies in Tampere, Finland. She has taught widely game production & design, cultural media studies, and English studies at the University of Vienna, IT University Copenhagen, and […]

Patrick Gladys: Natural Environment Art – Foliage Creation

Patrick Gladys began his career at Crytek where he contributed to projects like Crysis 3, Ryse: Son of Rome, and others. In 2015 he joined DICE in Stockholm to work on the visually acclaimed Star Wars: Battlefront. After completing Battlefront 2 he moved back to Germany for the ambitious Star Citizen at Cloud Imperium Games […]

Future Box Pinball (ST 2020)

Future Box Pinball is an experimental Pinball machine. It’s mixing reality with a digital game on a physical playing field. A Pinball machine with spiced up gameplay and traditional pinball elements and controls. Tagline The Future of Pinball Team Kevin Karl Walter – Project Lead and ArtSebastian Gerena Cubillos – ArtArthur Balthasar Nepomuk Kehrwald – […]

Future Box (WT 2020/21)

Future Box Arcade Game The Core Concept of ´Furure Box´ is using a transparent monitor to overlay the digital world over the real world and combining the physicality of real pinball with effects only possible in virtual pinball. Tagline: A mixed reality pinball game combining digital elements with real world objects. Genre: Pinball Production Year: […]

Freakz (2020)

Freakz Collaborative Project (lucid game) Humankind has always excluded and despised the different. Locking them away, banishing them from society – there has never been a space for Freakz. Special people with special abilities, different from the rest. Excluded from society, Freakz have developed their own home, a beautiful space of their own called: Circus […]

Seth Giddings

Dr. Seth Giddings is an Associate Professor for Digital Culture and Design at the University of Southampton. Seth is a media and cultural theorist and occasional media artist. He teaches the theory and practice of digital media. Seth studied fine art at Bradford College and Goldsmiths College, University of London, has an MA in Visual […]

Imke Fehrmann: “Animation, Social Engagement & Jugaad”

Imke Fehrmann has been producing Animation and Visual Effects for more than 25 years. She has been managing and producing innovative projects all around the world, building, and leading creative teams everywhere. She is passionate about the art of animation and the people who create it. Imke’s global experience in animation and VFX production combined […]

Firewood Bundle (ST 2020)

You’ve just downloaded the Firewood Bundle, a collection of three games by a small studio. Play through these classics and discover there’s something more connecting them than just a theme. Included in the bundle are two games: Smokey Snacks and Picnic Boom. Smokey Snacks is an endless scroller where players guide a wisp of chimney […]

Equinox (ST 2020)

In Equinox, the player controls a nameless avatar, merely a vessel to project themselves onto, and walk through a level to pick up three tarot cards, representing the tarot spread of past, present and future. They get to pick their own interpretation via voice recognition with whatever resonates with them, walking through the level until they have found all of […]

DELIVER – E (2020)

Deliver – E Collaborative Project A young child, stuck inside and separated from anyone but their immediate family, decides to send her grandmother a letter. Not being able to go outside, the child tasks their toy robot with the delivery. On it’s way, the robot meets a mailman overloaded with packages who asks for its […]

Gerald Farca – The Video Game Dystopia: Strategies of Persuasion and Player Involvement

Prof. Dr. Gerald Farca teaches and researches in the field of game design with a focus on game studies/culture, interactive narratives as well as character and world design. His aim is to creatively combine theoretical principles with practical applications of game design. In 2018 Gerald completed his Ph.D. in English Literature and Game Studies at […]

VR-Time Travel (2021)

About “VR Time Travel” (VR-Zeitreise) is a virtual reality experience at the Deutsches Museum Nuremberg. It is an interactive VR experience for up to four players as a contextualizing final exhibit of the Zukunftsmuseum (Museum of the Future). The VR-Zeitreise (VR Time Travel) at the Deutsches Museum Nuremberg is an room-scale, shared-space virtual reality multiplayer […]

Chickpocalypse (WT 2020)

Chickpocalypse Collaborative Project A self-contained room where you have limited boSmart Sliderundaries for moving. Enemy waves that gradually become stronger. Interaction with the game world by using your own body. Tagline: Interaction with the game world by using your own body. Genre: Fast paced ludic action VR game TeamPoyraz (Art \ Game Design)Baris (Art)Hanafy (Art)Najeeb […]

Fabian Erlinghäuser

Fabian Erlinghäuser works as an animation supervisor for the animation studio Cartoon Saloon in Ireland. He has over 14 years of experience as an animator and illustrator and has animated for such renowned clients as Disney and Warner Special Marketing. Fabian Erlinghäuser has already illustrated for numerous publishing houses, is a freelance illustrator for the […]

Blue Spring (ST 2020)

Blue Spring Collaborative Project Search for your owner as a cat in a city struck by pandemic. Tagline A cat’s journey represents the strange and almost surreal situation many players find themselves in today. Platform: PC, possible console version Genre: Single player, narrative exploration game Team Isabel Grünberg (Designer/Project Lead) Richard Glumm (Designer) Anne Goossens […]

Alien Space Cats (ST 2020)

At the beginning of all, there was nothing but a cat, a usual cat with no extra special powers. It couldn’t levitate, glow, and had just four legs and two eyes. But once, this cat stranded at a cafe inside of a planet which had a wonderful garden with mysterious dangerous plants. The owner experimented […]

Alexander Carôt

Alexander Carôt is a media computer scientist and freelance artist. In 2004, he completed his studies with an engineering diploma and received his doctorate in engineering sciences in 2009. In 2010 he was appointed professor of media informatics at the Anhalt University of Applied Sciences. The topics of his research and teaching range from empirical […]

aaAdventure (ST 2020)

aaAdventure is an arcade game collection that features 4 little games, which focus on your microphone as the only input control! All you need is a working microphone and your beautiful voice. There is not much to say, just jump right in and start experimenting with your voice, different instruments or simply scream at your […]

A month of Sundays (ST 2020)

A month of Sundays Collaborative Project Join in and control Louse Rath, a young, workaholic and unlucky technophobe of a man with a middle-aged temperament who fell into a situation of isolation during the pandemic in a flatlet in Cologne. Tagline In a month of Sundays is a third-person point and click adventure game with […]

Emily Grace Buck: Working in Kognito – Creating Narrative for Health Simulations

Emily Grace Buck is a freelance game narrative person. She is currently working as the narrative director for The Waylanders with Gato Studio, as a writer on multiple interactive TV shows, on her own projects including a mentorship program with her own company and on Buckshot Interactive. Previously, Emily was at Telltale Games, where she […]

Yu and Mi (ST 2021)

Yu and Mi Yu and Mi is an augmented reality game for Android mobile devices. In the game, the player has to assemble sensor casings by collaborating with a virtual YuMi IRB 14000 robot. This project has been developed for MILKY-PSY, a German research project that studies the acquisition of psychomotor skills in immersive environments. […]

Wakusuru Sunshine (ST 2021)

In Wakusuru Sunshine, players get a birds-eye-view over a miniature cube-shaped planet populated by blob creatures. Interactions are handled by a unique controller of the same form acting as a direct representation of the environments the player will interface with. On a basic level, rotating the real-world cube will also rotate the in-game planet, but […]

Things go missing (ST 2021)

The game plays around the feeling of the “Doorway effect” and simply misplacing things. Players slip into the shoes of our main character and get to explore the little and colorful world where things go missing around the neighborhood. What is going on here? And… Is everything going to disappear? Tagline Things Go Missing … Platform: […]

The Strive (ST 2021)

The Strive The Strive” uses classic gaming language to get the player to think about concepts like alterity,meritocracy and privileges. The game features a single 2D platforming level, which must betraversed in 6 minutes. In order to do so, the players must customize a character, choosing theirsex, skin color, sexuality and gender, as well as […]

The Orb (ST 2021)

THE ORB In “THE ORB” the player is tasked with experimenting on a strange entity. Adjust parameters and watch for reactions, and use your seven days wisely to uncover the mysteries of the Orb. Tagline: Uncover the mysteries of the Orb Platform: PC (Windows) Genre: Experimental Puzzle Experience TeamIuliia Chesnakova (Art)Florian Brüggemann (Design)Richard Glumm (Design) […]

The Dream of Yourself (ST 2021)

The Dream of Yourself “The Dream of Yourself” is about the discovery of the “other” in yourself, through a spiritual exploration of your subconsciousness. Throughout the game players go through different states of being in a first-person experience. From the “worm” to the “crawler”, the “angel” and then into transcendence. Each state of being comes […]

The Big Banger (ST 2021)

The Big Banger “The Big Banger” is an AR physics-based application focused on the laws of motion. Students need to launch planets through a virtual environment they can build themselves within the real world in order to let them collide with a target and make it explode. To do this, they need to input the […]

Small Steps (ST 2021)

Small Steps In this game the player steps into the role of the young student Nova, who is thinking about their stay abroad with Erasmus. While contemplating their travels they listen into conversations of others to get valuable tips for living abroad eco-friendly and sustainably. Tagline: A game about sustainable behavior on a semester abroad […]

Sir Kit’s Solar Power Trip (ST 2021)

Sir Kit’s Solar Power Trip The augmented reality card game installation offers an overview of solar power through playful experimentation. The titular pompous mascot Sir Kit guides players through three minigames, each highlighting a different aspect of solar power: solar cell functionality, solar’s sociopolitical context, and logistical dynamics of running a city on solar. Players […]

Opening Minds (ST 2021)

Opening Minds The Visual Novel questions the role a player has in a narrative game. As the main mechanic, the player can pass a mysterious Mask, which is also source of conflict, between three characters. Whoever has the Mask is controlled by the player. However, as the player has much less information about the story […]

On My Way (ST 2021)

On My Way “On My Way” is a sweet and meaningful interactive story about the journey, not the destination. Shape your experience with the help of a handy travel journal, and discover how you can help make the world a better place. Tagline: A game about eco-friendly travel Platform: Web GL Genre: Impact Game | Visual Novel | […]

Floor 44 (ST 2021)

Floor 44 Floor 44 is a Queer “Choose-Your-Own-Adventure”, Immersive-Theater-Play With Transmedial Real-World Influences, or in other words: Theatre-Karoke with a Transmedial scavenger hunt, choices and puzzles. Three players take over the role of the actors, while one player will be “the director”, a benevolent guide, moderator and in-universe character. The Director will read the scene setup […]

BeOrdinary (ST 2021)

BeOrdinary In BeOrdinary the player experiences a day in the life of Tom Miller, a guy in a position of privilege. As the day goes on, he encounters several situations of discrimination, neglect, and misogyny. Tom has a certain tendency to react which is determined by a special card deck but ultimately it’s up to […]

Detachment (ST 2021)

Detachment Detachment is a story-driven game about an old man trying to preserve what is left of his memories, especially about his wife, Alma. The project’s theme was “A Blank Page,” and we thought addressing one of the most unfortunate neurological conditions (aka Alzheimer’s) would be fitting. We did lots of research and poured our […]

Alterity (ST 2021)

Alterity: A Ludonarrative Experience. Our project is not a traditional game. It is a “ludonarrative experience” as we call it. It is a collection of levels tied together by a common theme and most importantly their differences. The player can select to play any level at any point in a non-linear fashion.Since this semester we […]

words (WT 2021/22)

words ‘words’ is a story-driven puzzle game where you will explore various interior environments that reflect the theme of the narrative. While exploring, you will also solve diverse puzzles that are directly linked to the theme of the story. Each time you open a door, there will be new environments and puzzles with unique challenges […]

Smoke and Mirrors (WT 2021/22)

Smoke and Mirrors Enter the dreams of a kid and solve magical puzzles with the enchanted spotlights, on the stage of magicians! Tagline: Puzzle platformer with colored lightrays and appearing blocks. Platform: PC Genre: Puzzle Platformer TeamAlif Ahsan Nibir (Programming)Chunhui Luo (3D Art)Katharina Haunert (Game Design, Programming)Leon Moses Schauer (Project Lead, Game Design)Sara Mohamed Alkotkat […]

Resting Cats (WT 2021/22)

Resting Cats Resting Cats is a game about a deceased cat who is continuing living in the house as a ghost. As the player moves into the house, he discovers the ghost and its backstory. This cat was formerly a street cat and was living with an old man who, even though he meant well, […]

Genie Escape (WT 2021/22)

Genie Escape This is a short platformer about a genie trying to escape a burning teapot. Play around and master the movement of the genie to overcome the obstacles of the level. Tagline: Platformer about mastering the movement of the genie. Platform: PC Genre: Platformer TeamLina van den MeulenhofCarlotta BönigVin BotthinLara Maria MüllerRita Gurgždaitytė Gameplay […]

Battles of Oz (WT 2021/22)

Battles of Oz In a group of four adventurers, the player has to fight enemies using normal attacks or unique traits that are randomly assigned to each character at the beginning. Embarking on the epic quest to slay the witches, the player also has to manage resources like items. For people familiar with the original […]

Blog: Jessika – CGL Alumni published their first game

Jessika – CGL Alumni published their first game The three CGL-alumni – Pierre Schlömp (story design & game mechanics), Seren Besorak (design of the pictures & sounds/ initiator of the project) and Sarah Abouzari (game programming) published their first game: Jessika. The computer game Jessika lets players slip into the role of a nameless hacker […]

Podcast: 10 Jahre Cologne Game Lab (DE)

Podcast: 10 Jahre Cologne Game Lab (DE) Prof. Dr. Gundolf S. Freyermuth Katharina Tillmanns Freyermuth, G. | Tillmanns, K. (2020, October 23) 10 Jahre Cologne Game Lab WDR 5 Scala – Netzkultur

Podcast: Games und Wissenschaft – Wie die Spielszene erwachsen wird (DE)

Podcast: Games und Wissenschaft – Wie die Spielszene erwachsen wird (DE) Prof. Dr. Gundolf S. Freyermuth Games und Wissenschaft – Wie die Spielszene erwachsen wirdInterview with Prof. Dr. Gundolf S. Freyermuth (German only)

Student Projects

PROJECTS

Student Projects

Conception (WT 2020/21)

Conception Project Conception follows the journey of Alex, an artist who experiences creative block. They struggle through the creative process to create a painting. Alex experiences inspiration, doubt, agony, epiphany, and catharsis. As a player you are playing in Alex’s mind. You complete puzzles in order to help Alex through the stages of the creative […]

Contract Lecturers

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 […]

Prof. Markus Wiemker

Markus Wiemker studied Sociology, Philosophy, and Psychology with a focus on Media and Cultural Studies at the University of Technology RWTH Aachen in Germany. He has been teaching Game Design and Game Studies at various schools and universities in Germany, Austria, and Singapore and also developed Game Design curricula for institutions in Europe, Southeast Asia, […]

Maja Weber

Maja Weber is a freelance 2D/3D digital character artist and hobby writer who specializes in creating characters from written or painted concepts, modeling, texturing, body and face rigging, animation, and integration into game engines. She is also very interested in motion-capturing techniques, both for capturing the body and the face, as well as 3D scanning […]

Cyril Voiron

Cyril Voiron is celebrating his 20 years in the video game industry. He spent his first 10 years at Infogrames/Atari in marketing, brand management and publishing roles as Vice President of Brand Management. After an attempt to create his own development studio, Cyril joined the development studio Ubisoft Blue Byte in 2012 to lead their […]

Sarah Ulzhöfer

Sarah Ulzhöfer is a digital artist (2D/3D) and hobby photographer. She enjoys working with both 2D and 3D, such as concepts, 3D modeling and sculpting, texturing, and especially lighting. She also has some experience with Animation and Sound Design, though she sees herself as an environment artist. Sarah thinks, that she is probably most proficient […]

Andreas Suika

As an Evangelist at Epic Games, Andreas helps developers create successful games and applications with Unreal Engine 4. Andreas has 20+ years of experience in different roles. He worked as a Level-, and Game Designer and Creative Director on titles like THE SETTLERS and ANNO. He co-founded a mobile game publisher and later a game […]

Timo Stampa

Timo grew up in the South of Germany and discovered his passion for 3D and film as a teenager. His first working experiences were at »Faceshift AG«, a face motion capture company, and later at the TV company »Your Family Entertainment AG«. He finished his Bachelor’s degree in »Media and Information Technology« at the University of […]

Jens-Peter Schliemann

Jens-Peter Schliemann studied mathematics between 1988 and 1996 and started to develop games in 1993. In 1995 he received the first game author scholarship, which was established in the same year by the Game Author’s Guild, the Friedhelm Merz Verlag, and the German Game Archive. After finishing his studies, he began to design games full-time. […]

Magdalena Proszowska

Magdalena Proszowska was born in Tarnów, Poland where she finished OSSP (Middle and Secondary school with art profile). Currently, she is living and working as a Senior concept artist in Düsseldorf, Germany for Ubisoft. Art is her career and hobby. She spends every possible moment cultivating it.

Zein Okko

Zein Okko is the founder and managing director of Goodwolf Studio and works there as a narrative designer. Besides the administrative part, he is mainly responsible for writing the story, dialogues, and characters. In addition, he also takes care of the visual design of their games, as well as composing soundtracks.

Prof. Rolf Mütze

Rolf Mütze (born 1972) studied visual communication at the University of Applied Sciences in Münster, as well as computer arts at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. In 2001 he joined the VFX and postproduction company das werk and worked as a digital artist. Three years later he moved to London and worked […]

Krystian Majewski

Krystian Majewski is currently studying design at KISD (Köln International School of Design), TH Köln – University of Applied Sciences while working as a freelancer for various clients. Before, he was working for NEON Studios in Frankfurt and for the advertising agency SchulzKommunikation in Darmstadt. He is also a game designer and is part of […]

Anne Laaredj-Campbell

Anne Laaredj-Campbell is an instructor for special purposes in English at the Language Learning Center at the University of Applied Sciences in Cologne. Her teaching subjects include “Language and Culture”, “Sustainability: From Individual to Global”, and “English for Academic and Professional Purposes”. At the Cologne Game Lab, she teaches the following undergraduate courses: “Study and […]

Dirk Krause

Dirk Krause is a developer, consultant, and author. He worked for over 20 years in agencies as a technical director and led teams of developers for major projects. After another seven years as head of an innovation lab for trend research and prototype development, he founded his own company, Curious Electric GmbH, which deals with […]

Prof. Dr. Hartmut Koenitz

Prof. Dr. Hartmut Koenitz is a Professor/lector for Interactive Narrative Design at HKU University of the Arts Utrecht, researching Interactive Digital Narrative in Video Games and other emerging digital formats. He is also an artist and sometimes a car mechanic. His areas of interest center around new expressive forms using digital technology. This includes narrative […]

Jan-Philipp Koch

Jan-Philipp Koch has a B.Sc. in Computer Science where he specialized in the entertainment industry. He now has experience working in games and film and absolutely loves both. Currently, he is working at LAVAlabs Moving Images as a Technical Artist / Software Engineer. His daily challenges range from maintaining the Maya tools pipeline and scripting in MEL/Python to rigging […]

Youngju Kim

Youngju Kim is a game designer and an artist based in Seoul/Cologne. Her practice exists across video games, interactive installation, and interactive storytelling utilizing social media. She also designs and delivers game-making workshops and writes on the subject of alternative games. She is a co-founder of a game studio, Loopntale.

Christiane Hütter

Christiane Hütter analyzes, creates, and changes complex systems with the means of game design and storytelling. Her works (at the interface between art and public space) are diverse and invite active participation: From fictional organizations, city-wide games, playable installations, and absurd interventions to urban game festivals, game design camps, and worldbuilding workshops for politicians. Carolin […]

Grapplefoot (WT 2020/21)

Grapplefoot You play as “Grapplefoot”, an ancient strongman who was cryogenically preserved. Now unfrozen in the future, you have become the subject of a series of simulation experiments run by the SimuTECH corporation. Swing around the level with your grappling hook and use your wall run ability to beat the level as fast as possible, […]

Prof. Dr. Joachim Friedmann

Prof. Dr. Joachim Friedmann is an author, concept developer, and creative producer for screenplay, comic, and game Diploma studies in cultural education at the University of Hildesheim. He received his doctorate (Dr. Phil.) from the European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder) for his work on “Transmediales Erzählen: Narrative Gestaltung in Literatur, Film, Graphic Novel and Game”. […]

Waldemar Fast

Waldemar Fast is a Character Animator. He has ten years of work experience in feature films and commercials. His main expertise is in the field of 3D Character Animation, 2D Character Animation, Character Modeling, Storyboard, and Previz. Waldemar graduated from the International Filmschool Cologne (ifs) where he received his diploma in Animation and VFX in […]

Alexander Daus

Alexander Daus found his way to film through his first theater internships and short films, where he worked as a director, author, and producer. In 2006 he moved to Berlin. There he completed two internships in television films and supported various short films as a set producer, concept artist, screenwriter, and script doctor. In 2008 […]

Ilja Burzev

Ilja Burzev is an interdisciplinary 3D artist and designer with a strong focus on games and interactive experiences. After his graduation from the Köln International School of Design, he worked as a freelancer on commercial and experimental games and VR experiences. Ilja was the Project Lead and Artist at Cologne Game Labs project Virtual Bauhaus […]

Andrew Brunton

Andy Brunton is a character animator turned technical artist and hyper-casual game maker. He has animated on small, medium, and AAA game titles including Black & White 2, Fable 2, and Battlehand. He lives and works in Glasgow, Scotland.

Peter Bickhofe

Peter Bickhofe lives in Cologne and as a freelance art director, he is passionate about working on all topics that are new and challenging. Even though he is into classic design jobs, pure graphics, good typography, and coding have always been a concern for him. The possibility to bring his own design to life through […]

In the media

Here you find an extract of the scientific contributions of CGL members in blogs, podcasts, videos and other media.

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 […]

Team

Team Goethe Institute Boston:Annette Klein – Project Lead Cologne Game Lab:Prof. Björn Bartholdy – Project LeadIlja Burzev – Creative Lead

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 […]

Ecrire pour le jeu (2000)

Ecrire pour le jeu (Fr) Emmanuel Guardiola Comment écrit on un jeu ? Comment le présenter ? Quelles sont les étapes de la conception de son scénario ? Quelles sont les spécificités dramatiques du jeu ? Ecrit en collaboration avec les plus grands auteurs de jeux, cet ouvrage pratique permet d’accéder facilement aux techniques de ce nouveau métier qui […]

Podcast: Queere Charaktere in Videospielen (DE)

Podcast: Queere Charaktere in Videospielen (DE) Dr. Sonia Fizek Wie sieht die Spielewelt aus, wenn sie nicht nur weiß und männlich ist? Vor den Monitoren sitzt schließlich ein diverses Publikum. Die Fans sind nicht selten weiblich, homo, trans. Claudia Friedrich hat sich zum Start der Gamescom umgehört. Fizek, S. (2020, August 25)Queere Charaktere in VideospielenWDR5 […]

Blog: ALL WORK AND NO PLAY

Blog: ALL WORK AND NO PLAY ARE GAMES BECOMING THE FACTORIES OF THE FUTURE? Dr. Sonia Fizek Industrialisation and automatisation were expected to fulfil the human dream of spending fewer hours working allowing us to devote more time to non-labour activities, such as playing. The machine was supposed to relieve us from the drudgery of […]

Talk: VR/AR/MR for Impact

Talk: VR/AR/MR for Impact Prof. Dr. Emmanuel Guardiola Summary/Description Presentation given by Dr. Emmanuel Guardiola at Game for Change (G4C) conference about VR/AR/MR for impact on 2018. Emmanuel, G. (2018, February 15)VR/AR/MR for Impact.Game for Change.https://vimeo.com/255891929

Blog: From Serious Games to Games for Impact

Blog: From Serious Games to Games for Impact Dr. A. Czauderna While the literal meaning of the term “serious games” has been disliked by a lot of game researchers and game designers for many years, it is still most commonly used when it comes to „games with a purpose beyond play“ (Klopfer et al. 2009). […]

Conference Proceedings

Here you can find articles published by CGL researchers.

Articles

Here you can find articles published by CGL researchers.

Chapters

Here you can find articles published by CGL researchers.

Books

“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 […]

Prey & Promise (ST 2022)

Prey & Promise Prey & Promise is a 2D point and click adventure game. Step into the shoes of Reese, a down on his luck scam artist seeking to change his fortune. When he joins a group of conmen he finally gets a chance to go big time. Solve intricate puzzles and explore your ideas […]

One Whisp (ST 2022)

One Whisp The game takes place during a house party where the MC tries to recover a phone they forgot there. The MC feels uncomfortable among crowds and certain situations can raise or lower his hope bar. If the hope hits zero you lose and the character gives up. To prevent this worst case you […]

Miri is Thirteen (ST 2022)

Miri is Thirteen Miri is Thirteen and full of hope. Especially now that she’s got a major crush on the coolest guy at school! Who is going to be at the big pool party this afternoon! Which she absolutely needs to prepare for! Miri is Thirteen and full of anxiety as well. Play this game […]

Lost Adrift (ST 2022)

Lost Adrift Play as a grieving father who embarks on a journey to get closure from his daughter’s tragic death. As you look inside the cabin where you used to spend your days, you begin to enter an abstract world, filled with the father’s thoughts, nightmares and trauma regarding the incident. Solve puzzles and uncover […]

Lone Signal (ST 2022)

Lone Signal This is a short exploration game about the wonders and terrors of outer space. Set foot on a beautiful new planet and discover the mysteries of the secret civilization hidden within. Tagline: Walking Simulator about looking at the environment and puzzling together their secrets. Platform: PC Genre: Walking Simulator TeamLiz KaesemannOliver Mino SturmKatharina […]

What About Fish? (ST 2022)

What About Fish? Our planet Earth is made up of water for more than 70%. It is home to a vast range of extraordinary marine animals, most of which are still unknown to us. If Earth is a spaceship orbiting the solar system, sea animals are the protective crew of this spaceship. Protecting marine life […]

BUILDventure (ST 2022)

BUILDventure “BUILDventure” is a game developed to show how immersive, engaging, and fun an educative game can be! Arriving in an Italian village, the player must gather business proposals and information on how to choose the best one. By talking to people, playing minigames, and even understanding the village’s traditions and festivals, students will also […]

Ship Happens (WT 2022/23)

Ship Happens “Ship Happens!” is a light-hearted, yet fast-paced PvP party game, in which players in teams of two jump into the role of pirates that steal from ships using grappling hooks. It is targeted toward sociable players from any age range, that enjoy laid-back competition and want to experience humor through gameplay. While merchant […]

Ghoul: The Ritual (WT 2022/23)

Ghoul: The Ritual The game revolves around a couple who gets in an accident, when unconscious the woman gets kidnapped by cultists, the man wakes up from her scream and now has to look for her in the forest. This was made in 2 weeks in unity to enhance our skills more and to learn […]

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 […]

Phantasmagoria: Escaping Ethereality (ST 2023)

Phantasmagoria: Escaping Ethereality Uncover the mysteries of invisible cities in this challenging maze runner game. Embark on a journey through mesmerizing mazes inspired by the enchanting cities described in Italo Calvino’s novel, “Invisible Cities.” Dodge illusions, avoid traps, and more. Everything is procedural, so it offers a new experience every time you run.Play the normal […]

Arcane Revolution (ST 2023)

Arcane Revolution Arcane Revolution is a fantasy Tabletop RPG played by three to six players and a Game Master. Arcane Revolution fuses impactful narrative choices with impactful mechanical choices through its ground-breaking Roleplaying Mechanics. Additionally, Arcane Revolution reduces the bureaucratic load of managing character by replacing pen and paper with boardgame elements, such as playing […]

Finding Euphemia (WT 2023/24)

Finding Euphemia Finding Euphemia is a feminist, narrative-driven original card game based on the book Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino. Play as someone whose desperate search for their missing sister leads them to a strang city where things aren’t what they first seem. Be a good employee of SENTIRE, a mysterious service provider, or risk […]

Kids Help Project (ST 2023)

Kids Help Project Become a hero and save lives! “Kids Help” guides players through the entire process of CPR in the form of 4 innovative mini-games, utilizing voice, touch, and motion controls. Available for mobile devices, tablets, and PC. The game was developed by a group of BA6 students in a collaborative project in the […]

The SLM Project (ST 2023)

The SLM Project In the SLM-Project, the visitors of the Siegerlandsmuseum canlearn more about Johan Maurits. This impact game’s goal is to challenge existing biasestowards Johan Maurits and give the players all the information they need to form afact-based opinion. This is done playfully to engagingly convey the information to the targetaudience. The game is […]

From Champagne To Murder (ST 2023)

From Champagne To Murder This game experiments with a network-based Dialog System, the Dialog Web, and sets it into the context of a detective game. This Dialog System is a deviation and expansion from the standard Dialog Tree into a more open and free structure, pushing the feel of the game into the open-world direction. […]

Master’s thesis: The Environmental Concept Art Process and Visual Design of Snow White in Cyberpunk

The Environmental Concept Art Process and Visual Design of Snow White in Cyberpunk The research in Can Başdogan‘s master’s thesis was dedicated to the increased importance of environmental concept art in audio-visual media. As productions aim for greater visual richness to enhance immersive experiences, the production timelines increase. To balance visual quality with cost efficiency, […]

Master’s thesis: Riziki

Riziki The globalization of African music, driven by platforms like Spotify, is influencing media worldwide – but its integration into video games holds untapped potential. In his master’s thesis George Odongo Ahere explored how African music can revolutionize rhythm game design. By analyzing current games and developing an original prototype, he identified how culturally rooted […]

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 […]

Conferences

Disclaimer

Disclaimer Despite careful control of the content, no liability can be assumed for the content of the WWW offer of the TH Köln | Cologne Game Lab. Accordingly, no guarantee can be given for the correctness, completeness and applicability of the information contained. The respective publishers are responsible for the contents of linked external offers. […]

Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy We are very delighted that you have shown interest in our enterprise. Data protection is of a particularly high priority for the management of the Cologne Game Lab, TH-Köln – University of Applied Sciences. The use of the Internet pages of the Cologne Game Lab, TH-Köln – University of Applied Sciences is possible […]

Imprint

Imprint The Cologne Game Lab is an institute of TH Köln which is subject to public law and represented by Prof. Dr. Stefan Herzig as president. TH Köln – University of Applied SciencesCologne Game LabSchanzenstraße 2851063 KölnGermany Contact person: Judith Abend – Public Relations The facts and opinions expressed by individual contributors on this website do not necessarily […]

APPLICATION PROCESS

APPLICATION PROCESS

Entry Requirements: practical media skills, knowledge and experience; Individual interest, intrinsic motivation and personal ambition to deepen media practical and media theoretical examination of non-linear audio visions; the practical ability to work independently and in a team on creative projects; the media-theoretical ability to participate in scientific discourse; the command of the English language in […]

APPLICATION PROCESS

APPLICATION PROCESS

Entry Requirements: The admission requirements for the Game Development and Research (Master of Arts) program are as follows: The successful completion of a university degree with the degree “Bachelor of Arts” or “Bachelor of Sciences” or with an equivalent or higher degree such as Diplom, Magister, Master or Staatsexamen in any field. Proof of at least 12 […]

Podcast: Ein Kreuzfahrtschiff auf Kurswechsel (DE)

Podcast: Ein Kreuzfahrtschiff auf Kurswechsel (DE)A podcast by Kulturforum Witten Katharina Tillmanns u.a. Podcast: Ein Kreuzfahrtschiff auf KurswechselFolge 1 #1 no end to the road Jan Bardelle discusses this with Christian Emmel, Alissa Krusch,Henning Mohr, Katharina Tillmanns and other supporters of the new program. (German only)

INTERVIEW SCHEDULE

INTERVIEW SCHEDULE Dear CGL applicants, First and foremost, we would like to thank you for your interest in the Cologne Game Lab. We received all your documents, which were duly examined by our Aptitude Assessment Commission. Now the first phase of our application process is over and it is time for the interview round. Below […]

APPLICATION PROCESS

INTERVIEW PROCESS

Dear CGL applicants, First and foremost, we would like to thank you for your interest in the Cologne Game Lab. We received all your documents, which will be duly examined by our Aptitude Assessment Commission. Now, the first phase of our application process is over and it is time for the interview round. In the […]

APPLICATION PROCESS

INTERVIEW PROCESS

Dear applicants, First and foremost, we would like to thank you for your interest in the Cologne Game Lab. We received all your documents, which will be duly examined by our Aptitude Assessment Commission. Now, the first phase of our application process is over and it is time for the interview round. In the Interview […]

INTERVIEW SCHEDULE

INTERVIEW SCHEDULE Dear CGL applicants, First and foremost, we would like to thank you for your interest in the Cologne Game Lab. We received all your documents, which were duly examined by our Aptitude Assessment Commission. Now the first phase of our application process is over and it is time for the interview round. Below […]

APPLICATION PROCESS

INTERVIEW PROCESS

Dear applicants, First and foremost, we would like to thank you for your interest in the Cologne Game Lab. We received all your documents, which will be duly examined by our Aptitude Assessment Commission. Now, the first phase of our application process is over and it is time for the interview round. In the Interview […]

INTERVIEW SCHEDULE

INTERVIEW SCHEDULE Dear CGL applicants, First and foremost, we would like to thank you for your interest in the Cologne Game Lab. We received all your documents, which were duly examined by our Aptitude Assessment Commission. Now the first phase of our application process is over and it is time for the interview round. Below […]

Team

Team The EPPSA consortium consists of: The Good Evil GmbH, Cologne ART+COM, Cologne TH Köln (Cologne Game Lab) Team Cologne Game Lab: Katharina Tillmanns, M.A. – Project Management / Creative Director / Game Design Fee Bonny, M.A. – Production & Media Didactics Jonas Zimmer, M.A. – Programming, Game Design, Media Didactics & Evaluation Carmen Johann, […]

Protected: INTERVIEW SCHEDULE

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

APPLICATION PROCESS

Protected: INTERVIEW PROCESS

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

Team

Team Cologne Game Lab Project Lead – Prof. Dr. Gundolf S. Freyermuth Project Management – Dr. Philipp Bojahr Project Management – Fee Bonny, M.A. Project Management – Jonas Zimmer, M.A Project Management – Dr. Laura Frings Game Design – György Droste, Rebecca Nöll, Youngju Kim Art Direction – Ilja Burzev Game Art – Hady Aymen, […]

APPLICATION PHASE EVALUATION

B.A. Digital Games

FAQ

FAQs

FAQ

FAQs

FAQ

Student Council

Student Council All members of the CGL are dedicated to providing a harassment-free study experience for everyone, regardless of gender, gender-identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, ethnicity, age, religion or game preferences. We do not tolerate harassment in any form. CGL Students, Faculty & Staff In 2018 the first CGL-Fachschaft was […]

Open Lab

Open Lab At the end of each term, our students gather one last time to show what they have done during the semester and present their finished games. The final presentation of the Bachelor semester projects goes hand-in-hand with a public get-together where some of the Master students also showcase their games and other projects. […]

Publications

APPLICATION PHASE EVALUATION

B.A. Digital Games

Research Projects

APPLICATION PHASE EVALUATION

B.A. Digital Games

APPLICATION PROCESS

APPLICATION PROCESS

Application Process Entry Requirements: The admission requirements for the “Master of Arts in 3D Animation for Film & Games” program are as follows the successful completion of a university degree with the degree “Bachelor of Arts” or “Bachelor of Sciences” or with an equivalent such as Diplom, Magister, Master or Staatsexamen in the fields of […]

Research @ CGL

At the Cologne Game Lab, academics from various disciplines conduct research – in their respective fields such as Game Design, Game Art, Sound Design, Game Informatics, Game Economics, and Game Studies, but very often in interdisciplinary teams. Our understanding and practice include classic basic research and applied projects (R&D) as well as academic publications and […]

APPLICATION PHASE EVALUATION

B.A. Digital Games

DiSpielGeo (2019-2021)

About Digital Games for Learning in Geography Education From pollution of the oceans to climate change to conflicts over resources – geography lessons deal with numerous societal challenges. In a successful lesson, students learn on the one hand to understand these topics better and to evaluate them critically. On the other hand, the lessons pursue the aim […]

FAQ

FAQs

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 […]

Graduation Ceremony

Graduation Ceremony At the end of each summer term the Cologne Game Lab holds its annual Graduation Ceremony for the graduates of all BA and MA study programs. Following a warm welcome by the two co-directors of CGL, Prof. Dr. Gundolf S. Freyermuth and Prof. Björn Bartholdy, graduates from the Bachelor or Master programs can […]

the Good Evil

the Good Evil The Good Evil GmbH was founded in early 2013 by Linda Kruse and Marcus Bösch. Both of them graduated from the Cologne Game Lab with a Master of Arts in Game Development and Research and previously gained many years of experience in the film and media industry. The Good Evil GmbH is […]

Massive Mini Team

Massive Mini Team Massive Miniteam is one of the most remarkable and up-and-coming game development studios from the regional Cologne area. Despite the studio’s young age with its foundation in 2018, its success and reputation led to its acquisition by THQ Nordic’s daughter company HandyGames three years later already. The team has a proven track […]

Team

Team Cologne Game Lab Project Management / Academic Lead: Prof. Markus Hettlich Blue Byte GmbH (excerpt) Technical Director: Achim Moller Producer: Marc Braun Senior Game Designer: Andre Quass

Team

Team Cologne Game Lab Lead Researcher: Prof. Dr. Gundolf S. Freyermuth Project Management / Game Design: Dr. Hanns Christian Schmidt Game Design & Programming: Dario D’Ambra, M.A.

Team

Team The EPPSA consortium consists of: The Good Evil GmbH, Cologne ART+COM, Cologne TH Köln (Cologne Game Lab) Team Cologne Game Lab Project Management / Game Design / Media Didactics – Katharina Tillmanns, M.A. Production & Media Didactics – Fee Bonny, M.A. Programming and Media Didactics & Evaluation – Jonas Zimmer, M.A.

Team

Team Cologne Game Lab Project Management – Katharina Tillmanns, M.A. Game Design / Art Direction – Carmen Johann, M.A. Rheinische Fachhochschule Köln Project Management: Dr. Stefan Ludwigs Research Assistant: Leo Friedrich Rheinische Akademie Köln Project Management: Andreas Rummrich Content & Didactics: Dr. Anja Yakeleba Content & Didactics: Dr. Stephan Gantner Content & Didactics: Ina Siedentop

Bildwerte (2012)

Bildwerte – Visualität in der digitalen Medienkultur Gundolf S. Freyermuth / Lisa Gotto (eds.) With the transition from industrial to digital culture, new visual media are emerging – but they do not come out of nowhere. They emerge gradually, in a complex interplay of technological and social, aesthetic and epistemological factors. The contributions in this […]

Serious Games, Exergames… (2013)

Serious Games, Exergames, Exerlearning. Zur Transmedialisierung und Gamification des Wissenstransfers Gundolf S. Freyermuth / Lisa Gotto / Fabian Wallenfels (eds.) The close connection between playing and learning precedes the formation of human life in evolutionary terms. With digitalisation, it now reaches completely new qualities: computer games compete with the older narrative-audiovisual media such as theatre, […]

Lernen als soziale Praxis… (2014)

Lernen als soziale Praxis im Internet.Objektiv hermeneutische Rekonstruktionen aus einem Forum zum Videospiel Pokémon André Czauderna André Czauderna beschäftigt sich mit Lernprozessen im Internet am Beispiel eines Forums zum Videospiel Pokémon. In vier objektiv hermeneutischen Sequenzanalysen rekonstruiert er die Strukturmerkmale, die den Prozess des Lernens – verstanden als soziale Praxis – im Rahmen der untersuchten […]

Rethinking Gamification (2014)

Rethinking Gamification Mathias Fuchs, Sonia Fizek, Paolo Ruffino , Niklas Schrape (eds.) Gamification marks a major change to everyday life. It describes the permeation of economic, political, and social contexts by game-elements such as awards, rule structures, and interfaces that are inspired by video games. Sometimes the term is reduced to the implementation of points, badges, and leaderboards as incentives […]

New Game Plus (2014)

New Game Plus: Perspektiven der Game Studies. Genres – Künste – Diskurse Benjamin Beil / Lisa Gotto / Gundolf S. Freyermuth (eds.) The volume “New Game Plus” presents a diverse selection of current methods and approaches in computer game research. The contributions ask: Which topics dominate game studies, since many formerly central debates still have historical […]

Games | Game Design… (2015)

Games | Game Design | Game Studies: Eine Einführung (german) Gundolf S. Freyermuth (Hg.) Wie stiegen Games zur zentralen audiovisuellen Ausdrucks- und Erzählform der digitalen Kultur auf? Wie entstanden die Verfahren ihrer künstlerischen Produktion? Und wie formierte sich die wissenschaftliche Analyse der sozialen Wirkung und kulturellen Bedeutung des neuen Mediums? Diese grundlegenden Fragen und Aspekte digitaler […]

Games | Game Design… (2015)

Games | Game Design | Game Studies: An Introduction (engl.) Gundolf S. Freyermuth (ed.) How did games rise to become the central audiovisual form of expression and storytelling in digital culture? How did the practices of their artistic production come into being? How did the academic analysis of the new medium’s social effects and cultural meaning […]

Jonas Zimmer

Prof. Dr. Jonas Zimmer

As a programmer with a background in cultural studies, Jonas Zimmer works as a research assistant mainly in the field of expanding cultural systems by means of new technologies. After graduating from the University of Cologne with a Master’s degree in Media Cultural Studies/Media Informatics, he worked for several years as a leading programmer in […]

TriTrie Games

TriTrie Games TrieTire Games is a micro-indie developer team, creating narrative experiences from Cologne, Germany. Currently we are working on our interactive found-footage novella „Jessika – Underneath the system“. Their game “Jessika” has have been nominated for „Ubisoft/Blue Byte Best Newcomer Award“ at the Deutscher Entwickler Preis 2018. At Digility 2018 they have won 1st […]

Ludopium

Ludopium Ludopium is an independent game studio based in Cologne, Germany that specializes in music games and ludic audiovisual installations. The team consists of an international group of highly inventive game developers with backgrounds in different areas of media production. Ludopium aims to build artistic experiences that invite players to listen, play, and interact while […]

Slow Bros.

SLOW BROS. SLOW BROS. is a small indie studio based in Germany dedicated to thoughtfully bridging analogue and digital worlds in the form of interactive experiences. It was founded in 2015 by long time friends Onat Hekimoglu, Ole Tillmann, Fabian Preuschoff and Daniel Beckmann. The studio member’s diverse backgrounds including video game production, filmmaking, carpentry, […]

Goodwolf Studio

Goodwolf Studio Goodwolf Studio is a game developer, with a focus on merging gripping stories with novel gameplay. The founders met during their master studies at the Cologne Game Lab and have been developing games together since 2014. Inspired by titles like “Thomas Was Alone” or “Tales from the Borderlands” they decided to realize and […]

Su-Jin Song

Su-Jin Song is a PhD student at the Kunstuniversität Linz and teaching and research associate in the field of media and game studies at the Cologne Game Lab of TH Köln. Su-Jin Song’s research in media and game studies explores the close connection between storytelling, design, and theory with a special focus on topics such […]

Khaleel Asyraaf Mat Sanusi

Khaleel is a researcher and developer at the Cologne Game Lab. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Games Technology from the Limkokwing University of Creative Technology (Malaysia) and a Master’s degree in Media Informatics from the Saarland University (Germany). For his research, he explores the potentials of utilising sensors in the context of learning by […]

Prof. Odile Limpach

Professor Odile Limpach teaches economics and entrepreneurship at the Cologne Game Lab and also manages the Incubator of the CGL. Additionally, she is co-founder of the accelerator SpielFabrique and works as Strategic Consultant for serious games and cross-media projects. Between, 2007 and 2014, Odile was the managing director at the German entertainment software studio Blue […]

Dr. Vanessa Ossa

Dr. Vanessa Ossa is the conference manager at Cologne Game Lab. Her current research interests include participatory culture, comic book fandom, and fictional characters in (digital) fan communities. She is a member of the German Society for Comic Studies (ComFor) and currently serves as editorial staff for their website and as part of the executive […]

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. Roland Klemke

Prof. Dr. Roland Klemke

Roland Klemke is a computer scientist focusing on the technical side of game development including general and advanced game programming techniques, artificial intelligence, game physics, and cloud-based game architectures.

Laura Frings

Dr. Laura Frings

Laura Frings is the research manager at Cologne Game Lab and also manages the Master’s program 3D Animation for Film & Games, a joint program by CGL and ifs köln. She received her Master’s degree in Comparative Literature as well as her PhD in English Studies from the University of Bonn. Her teaching in the […]

Prof. Nannette Kaulig

Prof. Nanette Kaulig

With her classical and digital animation backgrounds, Nanette Kaulig has set her focus on teaching Life Drawing and 3D Animation at the Cologne Game Lab. In addition, she offers basic introductions to classical animation and layout drawing, acting for animation, digital 2D animation, and painting as well as giving a more general, practical insight into […]

Prof. Dr. Greta Hoffmann

Greta Hoffmann has been appointed as Professor for Game Design with Focus on Independent Games. She is a game designer and researcher who works on digital and analog games that transform unpopular educational topics (e. g. waste sorting, financial education) into small, digestible, and fun adventures. Her research focuses on in-depth research of specific design […]

FAQ

FAQs

APPLICATION PROCESS

APPLICATION PROCESS

Application Process Entry Requirements: Completed university studiesThe prerequisite for admission is a university degree with at least a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Sciences degree in Digital Games as well as in comparable subject areas such as Game Arts, Game Design, or Game Programming. Graduates of only six-semester Bachelor’s programmes are required to make […]

Dr. André Czauderna

Dr. André Czauderna

André Czauderna is program manager for BA and MA Digital Games. He is also responsible for CGL´s network of international partner universities as well as Erasmus coordinator. His teaching covers player research, educational games, qualitative methods, and academic writing. His research interests include educational games, digital games as political education, game design education, learning in […]

Emmanuel Guardiola

Prof. Dr. Emmanuel Guardiola

After 15 years in the video game industry, focusing on game design methodologies, Emmanuel Guardiola took up a professorship at the Cologne Game Lab at TH-Köln. With a Ph.D. in computer sciences, he drives research in game design.

APPLICATION PROCESS

APPLICATION PROCESS

Application Process Entry Requirements: The admission requirements for the Game Development and Research (Master of Arts) program are as follows: The successful completion of a university degree with the degree “Bachelor of Arts” or “Bachelor of Sciences” or with an equivalent or higher degree such as Diplom, Magister, Master or Staatsexamen in any field. Proof of at […]

MODULES

Modules In the “Advanced Game Development” (Modules: Core Elective 1 – 2), students take two out of three electives: “Game Arts”, “Game Design” and “Game Programming”. Furthermore they study “Sound Design”. At the same time, they start to prepare their Master’s project (Modules: MA Project Prep & MA Project Dev), receive theoretical-historical instruction in “Advanced […]

Fee Bonny

Fee Bonny

Fee Bonny is a researcher, supervisor and editor in transmedia based in Cologne. Currently, she is the scientific coordinator for the “No End to the Road“-Fellowship and works on an empirical reception study and development of the project NOLI. Before, she worked for the “Zukunftsmuseum”, a virtual reality experience at Deutsches Museum Nuremberg. She studied […]

Prof. em. Dr. phil. Gundolf S. Freyermuth

Gundolf S. Freyermuth is an academic, writer, and editor whose scholarship in Media and Game Studies centers on linear and non-linear audiovisuality, transmedia, and digital culture. He co-founded the Cologne Game Lab at the Technical University Cologne in 2010, now a leading European institution for games education and research. He retired in 2025.

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. Since 2020 Fizek has been holding a professorship in Media and Game Studies at TH Köln, Cologne Game Lab, where she is also the Head of Research. Additionally, she is the co-editor-in-chief of the […]

TEACHING AREAS

Dr. Philipp Bojahr

Dr. Philipp Bojahr

Philipp Bojahr is a postdoctoral researcher and lecturer at the CGL working in the field of game studies and game design with a focus on new media applications in museums and other cultural contexts. As part of his tandem position, he also works in this field on a practical level at the Siegerlandmuseum in Siegen, […]

MODULES

Modules The further education Master “Game Development and Research” integrates academic research with artistic practice in a project-oriented approach. With this synergistic blend of theory and practice, the MA GDR fosters future-oriented (academic and artistic) discourse and research in non-linear audio-visual media. Project work plays a central role in the MA GDR. The program exposes […]

Prof. Bernd Diemer

Prof. Bernd Diemer

Bernd pursued his degree in Interactive Art and Media Theory to become an artist, but instead has been making AAA computer games for the last twenty years. He has creatively led and directed the creation of original IPs like Crytek’s Crysis, Guerrilla Games’ Horizon: Zero Dawn, and the development of franchise sequels like DICE’s Battlefield […]

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.

M.A. OVERVIEW

M.A. Overview Basic Facts: 4 semesters (2 years) Combinable with part-time job (required attendance: Mondays all day and Wednesday evenings) Language of instruction: English Start: late September Number of students per year: 20 Tuition Fee (on top of semester fees): 1.500€ (EU-citizens) / 2.500€ (non EU-citizens) Semester Fee: about 300€ (for details, please see here) […]

Katja Aller

Katja Aller is the program manager for the interdisciplinary MA Game Development and Research. She holds a joint master’s degree in German and Comparative Literature from both Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn (Germany) and St Andrews University (Scotland) and is a co-organizer of the Young Academics Workshop. As a former literature scholar, she has a soft spot […]

M.A. OVERVIEW

M.A. Overview Basic Facts: 3 semesters (1 ½ years) Language of instruction: English Start: second half of September Number of students per year: 15 No tution fees Approach: Strong focus on a single research & development project (45 ECTS in total) Two Electives: Game Arts, Game Design, Game Programming Sound Design Media & Game Studies […]

APPLICATION PROCESS

APPLICATION PROCESS

Application Process Entry Requirements: The admission requirements for the “Master of Arts in 3D Animation for Film & Games” program are as follows the successful completion of a university degree with the degree “Bachelor of Arts” or “Bachelor of Sciences” or with an equivalent such as Diplom, Magister, Master or Staatsexamen in the fields of […]

MODULES

Modules The curriculum of the Master’s program 3D Animation for Film & Games is divided into project and theory modules, while the module “Experience Assessment,” which covers the application process, precedes the program. In the semesters one to three, the strong project orientation of the program is apparent, as 14 out of a total of […]

OVERVIEW

Overview Basic Facts: 4 semesters (2 years) Combinable with part-time job (required attendance: Mondays all day, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings) Language of instruction: English Start: late September each year Number of students per year: up to about 20 students Fees payable before each semester: Tuition fees (on top of semester fees): 1.500€ (EU-citizens) / 2.500€ […]

APPLICATION PROCESS

APPLICATION PROCESS

Application Process Entry Requirements: practical media skills, knowledge and experience; Individual interest, intrinsic motivation and personal ambition to deepen media practical and media theoretical examination of non-linear audio visions; the practical ability to work independently and in a team on creative projects; the media-theoretical ability to participate in scientific discourse; the command of the English […]

Modules

MODULES

TEACHING AREAS

Mathias Mehr

Mathias’ tasks at Cologne Game Lab is the management and developing of the IT infrastructure. He studied at the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster with a Master Degree and also worked there in the Campus IT. Before he did a 3-years apprenticeship as “Fachinformatiker” and directly following he worked several years in his training company as an […]

Alexandra Hühner

Alexandra Hühner

Alexandra first got involved with CGL when she worked for the Clash of Realities in 2017 and finally joined CGL in 2018 as an Office Manager. She studied German Studies, English Studies and Philosophy (M.A.) at the University of Cologne and spent a whole academic year under the ERASMUS/SOCRATES programme at the University of Warwick […]

Susanne Bühler

Susanne Kaiser

Susanne began working as a nurse not only in Germany but also throughout her travels that took her – amongst others – to Shevgaon, India where she worked in a hospital, and Kenya, Africa where she volunteered in an orphanage and yet another hospital. For 25 years she flew around the world as a stewardess […]

B.A. OVERVIEW

B.A. Overview Basic Facts: 7 semesters (3 ½ years) 3 possible areas of focus: Game Design, Game Arts and Game Programming Language of instruction: English Start: mid-September Number of students per year: 35 No tution fees Approach: In the course of the BA “Digital Games” students should acquire artistic-scientific as well as technical-practical knowledge and […]

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 […]

Impact Evaluation

Impact Evaluation An independent analysis, funded by All Children Reading, was conducted on the beta-version of Antura and the Letters by Integrated International in collaboration with the Create Lab at New York University. Definite evidence of improved learning among children as well as areas of improvement in the game were provided in a detailed report, […]

Antura and the letters

Erasmus+ Project

Erasmus+ Project Antura Erasmus +: Interactive Learning Game for Refugee and Migrant Children’s Inclusion: The ANTURA ProjectContact: Franziska Funken ff@colognegamelab.de The latest ANTURA project is an Erasmus+ initiative aimed at helping refugee and migrant children adapt to their new environments through a learning game. Launched in December 2023, the project brings together partners from Germany, […]

Pilot Project (Arabic)

Antura and the Letters (Arabic) The pilot project Antura and the Letters was developed (2016-2018) as a winner of the international competition EduApp4Syria. It was developed by a consortium led by the Cologne Game Lab (Germany), Video Games Without Borders (Spain) and Wixel Studios (Lebanon). The team consisted of over 60 people from 7 different […]

Events

APPLICATION

The application phase for all study programs for the coming winter semester is over! The evaluation process starts now! You can find out more about the content & structure of the study programs here: B.A. Digital Games | M.A. Digital Games | M.A. Game Development & Research | M.A. 3D Animation

Register

Samples

Maps & Directions

Press & PR

Clash Of Realities

Research Department

Study Programs

Contact

Press Coverage

Press Releases

News

Friends of CGL e.V.

Institutional Partners

Industry Partners

Academic Partners

Exchange Partners

Collaborative PhD Programs

M.A. 3D Animation for Film & Games

3D Animation for Film & Games MA excerpt

M.A. Game Development & Research

The Cologne Game Lab of the TH Köln offers the four-semester Master’s program Game Development and Research since the winter term 2010/11. The paid English-language and interdisciplinary advanced training program is designed to educate pioneers of the digital content industry and is aimed at young media professionals – designers, filmmakers, visual artists, authors and creative […]

M.A. Digital Games

Digital Games MA excerpt

B.A. Digital Games

Digital Games BA excerpt

InfoHour

info hour excerpt

Global Game Jam

Global Game Jam The Global Game Jam (GGJ) is the world’s largest game jam event which takes place in various locations around the world. The event was initiated in 2008 by the International Game Developers Association (IGDA). GGJ traditionally takes place on the last weekend of January and stirs a global creative buzz in the […]

Dutch Hour

Dutch Hour Every Thursday from 5-6 pm, students and staff of the Internationale Filmschule Köln and Cologne Game Lab meet in a relaxed atmosphere to catch up and exchange ideas. The event was founded by two Dutch IFS students who wanted to bring a “Happy Hour” tradition from their home country to build community among […]

Clash of Realities

The Clash of Realities international research conference on the art, technology and theory of digital games is providing the opportunity for interdisciplinary exchange and dialogue.

Staff

Lecturers & Researchers

Professors

Contact

Press

Research

Alumni

Student Projects

Student Workgroups

Partners

Postgraduate

Undergraduate

Study Programs

Campus Life & Networking

Faculty & Staff

About

Institute

The Cologne Game Lab Founded in 2010, the CGL has been on an expansion course for the last few years and is one of the most renowned educational offerings in the field of game development in Germany. With an extended team of nine professors, including internationally recognized scientists and artists, the new location at Mülheim’s […]

Sample Page

This is an example page. It’s different from a blog post because it will stay in one place and will show up in your site navigation (in most themes). Most people start with an About page that introduces them to potential site visitors. It might say something like this: Hi there! I’m a bike messenger […]

Yeti

Curious about the perks of remote work? The team of Antonia Hayler, Fernando Chan, Yadira Marin, and Seifeddine Mokaddem explore this question in their stop motion animation project titled “Yeti” The story follows the lovable character of Mr. Yeti, who is determined to revolutionize his family’s business by working from the comfort of his own […]

Tamasha

Streetfighting takes a whole new meaning in the VR project “Tamasha.” The team, composed of Mahee Pal, Akhil Mathew, and Hazem Zakaria, created a prototype of an interactive VR film with the help of Quill. Their project features two fighting dice in the slums of Bombay, an idea that writer and director Mahee had been […]

Mycelium

The discontinuation of manned space flight by NASA does not seem to be permanent, according to the team of Utkarsh Agnihotri, Omar Qandeel, David Seul, and Tarek Zaytouneh. They developed the prototype of the multiplayer game “Mycelium,” which explores the intergalactic conflict between humanity and the eponymous Mycelium network. Humanity sends its advanced armored units […]

Der Televisionär (2016)

Der Televisionär: Wolfgang Menges transmediales Werk. Kritische und dokumentarische Perspektiven Lisa Gotto / Gundolf S. Freyermuth (Hg.) Wolfgang Menge (1924-2012) was one of the most important screenwriters of the post-war German Federal Republic. Television plays like “The Dubrow Crisis”, “The Million Game” or “Smog” wrote TV history, series like “Steel Net”, “A Heart and Soul” or […]

Clash of Realities 15/16 (2017)

Clash of Realities 2015/16 Proceedings of the 6th and 7th Conference Clash of Realities (Hg.) Digital games as transmedia works of art – Games as social environments – The aesthetics of play – Digital games in pedagogy – Cineludic aesthetics – Ethics in games – these were some of the important and fascinating topics addressed […]

Playing Utopia (2019)

Playing Utopia. Futures in Digital Games Benjamin Beil / Gundolf S. Freyermuth / Hanns Christian Schmidt (eds.) Media narratives inform our ideas of the future – and Games are currently making a significant contribution to this medial reservoir. On the one hand, Games demonstrate a particular propensity for fantastic and futuristic scenarios. On the other […]

Games Studieren (2019)

Games studieren – was, wie, wo? Staatliche Studienangebote im Bereich digitaler Spiele Björn Bartholdy / Linda Breitlauch / André Czauderna / Gundolf S. Freyermuth (eds.) 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 […]

Ind. Videogame Developers (2020)

The Publishing Challenge for Independent Videogame Developers. A Practical Guide. Odile Limpach The Publishing challenge for Indie Game Developers defines what game publishing means for the Indie developer and offers a concise framework to tackle the decision of whether to self-publish or not. Furthermore, the text establishes a catalog of current known publishers with some […]

Zarla

In her first year as student of the Master’s program 3D Animation for Film & Games Antonia Hayler created Zarla. Zarla 1st semester | Individual Project | WT 2021/22Virtual Character Creation TeamAntonia Hayler 3D Character Artist

Choy the Cheese

In his first semester Mahee Pal created Choy Credence. Part Cheese, part android Choy works as a bartender at Spacebar (the watering hole of the fag end of the solar system). He wants to take the bar’s singer out for dinner but the cheese part of him stinks too much. The bigger problem is that […]

Whack a Mole

In an exciting venture into VR development, Rebecca Barona, Gamze Sunar, Mahdieh Tabatabaei, Tanya Fuks and Veda Sai Megana from the MA 3D Animation for Film & Games program have reimagined the iconic Whack-a-Mole game. This innovative 3D VR version boasts mischievously animated moles, brought to life through Motion Capture technology, providing a lively and […]

Virtual de-extinction

In “Virtual de-extinction: Creating Credible 3D Simulated Dinosaurs with Art-Science Collaboration for Configurable Immersive Experiences,” Yavuz Volkan Kutucu takes a leap in blending art and science to breathe virtual life into extinct dinosaurs. His master’s thesis revolves around crafting realistic 3D models of these ancient giants using CGI, grounded in the latest scientific discoveries. Kutucu […]

A Coral Story

Discover the breathtaking revival of The Great Coral Reef in Australia, as a miraculous cure brings marine ecosystems back to life. But when a turtle uncovers a shocking secret, the thriving corals’ true fate is exposed. Episode one from a future series of short films meant for Social Media platforms. Delving into pressing environmental problems […]

Zeek

As her first project Kendys Ortega developed Zeek, the time traveller. The automaton scientist, created by ancient civilization, lives in a future where humans are extinct. His motivation is to travel back in time to meet his creator race, that is why he wants to find a way to turn himself into a time machine. […]

Plague Doctor

The character designed by Nilesh Kishore as his first project is a Plague doctor by the name of Ben. Admired for his exceptional medical skills, he is betrayed by those he has pledged to protect as a doctor. Mourning the loss of his murdered family, he develops a time machine, only to realize that what […]

Bloom – A Journey Through Seasons

Have you ever dreamed of befriending a bumblebee dragon? Then you need to play “Bloom: A Journey Through Seasons,” a 3D platformer game that invites you on a journey of discovery and collaboration. Join Nym, the elf, and Buzz, the bumblebee dragon, to gather pollen in a world that resembles a pinkish fairy tale forest. […]

Min

Min is a creature created by memories, it can travel in time through the mind of people & its main goal is to remind us about the lovely details of life. It was the first project Rebecca Barona completed as part of her Master’s degree. Min 1st semester | Individual Project | WT 2022/23Virtual Character […]

Pulse of Fear

Venture into the shadows with “Pulse of Fear,” a VR walkthrough created in Unity that taps into the stark, emotional depths of German expressionist cinema to confront the issue of street harassment. Developed by Gamze Sunar, Mahdieh Tabatabaei, Megana Veda Sai, Rebeca Barona, and Tetiana Fuks for an adult audience, this experience is designed to […]

Beyond the Dusty Shelves

Uncover the hidden mysteries of “Beyond the Dusty Shelves,” where the library is more than meets the eye. Kishore Srinivasan, Nilesh Kishore Monver, Sajjad Lotfi, and Mahshad Farhangi invite you on a journey into the heart of this realtime rendered library. As the new librarian navigates through the corridors and browses the books, he seems […]

Bakthak

The Iranian myth of the “Bakthak” will be right down your alley if you enjoy an increased heart rate and have no trouble sleeping at night. A team of students consisting of Kendys Ortega, Narina Allakhverdian, Nicole Mynarek and Sina Rezaeinejad resurrects this ancient tale through the medium of 3D animation. Utilizing the cutting-edge capabilities […]

VR Re-construction of Max Ernst’s Sedona Site

This Master’s project by Savish Uttam revives Max Ernst’s iconic Capricorn sculpture in a detailed digital reconstruction. While the original is lost and museum replicas fall short of capturing its intricacies, this project uses historical references and photographs to create the most faithful version of the artwork to date. The experience extends beyond Capricorn with […]

Publishing-Strategien… (2020)

Publishing-Strategien für unabhängige Spiele-Entwickler. Kriterien und Leitfaden für die Wahl zwischen einem Publishingpartner oder einer Selbstveröffentlichung Odile Limpach (ed.) AbstractProfessor Odile Limpach gibt unabhängigen Entwicklern alles, was sie brauchen, um Ihr Videospiel erfolgreich zu vermarkten. Das Buch bietet eine Analyse vom Indie Spielmarkt, eine Kategorisierung von Publishing Leistungen, sowie Zugang zu den Learnings von jungen […]

Paratextualizing Games (2021)

Paratextualizing Games Investigations on the Paraphernalia and Peripheries of Play Gundolf S. Freyermuth | Benjamin Beil | Hanns Christian Schmidt (eds.) How did games rise to become the central audiovisual form of expression and storytelling in Gaming no longer only takes place as a »closed interactive experience« in front of TV screens, but also as […]

Playing at a Distance (2022)

Playing at a Distance. Borderlands of Video Game Aesthetic Sonia Fizek An essential exploration of video game aesthetic that decenters the human player and challenges what it means to play. Do we play video games or do video games play us? Is nonhuman play a mere paradox or the future of gaming? And what do […]

Mental Health | Atmospheres (2022)

Mental Health | Atmospheres | Video Games. New Directions in Game Research II Alvarez Igarzábal, Federico | Debus, Michael S. | Maughan, Curtis L. | Vozaru, Miruna | Zimmermann, Felix | Aguilar Rodríguez, Jimena | Song, Su-Jin (eds.) AbstractGaming has never been disconnected from reality. When we engage with ever more lavish virtual worlds, something […]

Playful Materialities. (2022)

Playful Materialities. The Stuff That Games Are Made Of Freyermuth, Gundolf S. | Beil, Benjamin | Schmidt, Hanns Christian | Rusch, Raven (eds.) AbstractGame culture and material culture have always been closely linked. Analog forms of rule-based play (ludus) would hardly be conceivable without dice, cards, and game boards. In the act of free play […]

Time and Space in Video Games (2023)

Time and Space in Video Games.A Cognitive-Formalist Approach Alvarez Igarzábal, F. Abstract:Video games are temporal artifacts: They change with time as players interact with them in accordance with rules. In this study, Federico Alvarez Igarzábal investigates the formal aspects of video games that determine how these changes are produced and sequenced. Theories of time perception […]

Spiel | Museum: Ein Brückenschlag

The Clash of Realities international research conference on the art, technology and theory of digital games is providing the opportunity for interdisciplinary exchange and dialogue.

Newsletter

Newsletter To make sure you don’t miss any news, dates and information about our projects, CGL sends out a newsletter every other month. You can sign up here:

Goethestrasse 56 (2021-2022)

Goethestrasse 56 – Learning German with Virtual Reality With the virtual reality learning environment Goethestrasse 56, a new approach to learning German at the A1 (beginner) level was realized in cooperation with the Goethe Institute Washington. The application, finalized at the end of 2021, allows primarily young users to immerse themselves in the everyday life […]

FemSTEAM Mysteries (2021-2022)

About FemSTEAM Mysteries – A Role-Model Game-Based Approach to Gender Equality in STEAM The Erasmus+ project “FemSTEAM Mysteries” is based on the values of gender equality and non-discrimination between men and women in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM), creativity, and innovative entrepreneurship. Through the adoption of an innovative approach, that […]

Advisory Board

Alumni

ubisoft bluebyte excerpt

Teams

Border Zone (2021-2023)

About Border Zone is an XR game app that takes visitors to Potsdam’s Park Babelsberg on a unique journey through the park’s multifaceted history at the time of German-German division. Using location-based XR technology, the project fuses past and present into a touching experience that brings lost or hidden traces of contemporary history back to […]

BUNG (2021-2022)

About BUNG – Developing nearly zero energy building skills through game-based learning The BUNG is an Eramus+ project with the aim of delivering knowledge, developing zero energy building skills, and encouraging energy-efficient behavior amongst building occupants through the development of an nZEB (nearly Zero Energy Building) learning game (BUNG game) that maximizes the learning effect […]

SOLVE (2019-2023)

About SOLVE – Development and pilot testing of an innovative game-based prevention intervention for adolescents with increased risk for substance misuse and dependencies. BackgroundIn this interdisciplinary project, psychologists from the German Institute for Addiction and Prevention Research (DISuP, Katholische Hochschule NRW, Cologne) in collaboration with game designers from the Cologne Game Lab (CGL, Technische Hochschule […]

ImTech4Ed (2021-2023)

About ImTech4Ed – Immersive Technologies for Education The Immersive Technologies for Education (ImTech4Ed) is an Erasmus+ project where researchers, educators, and game design students from Germany, Greece, and Cyprus contribute to design aspects of immersive solutions. ImTech4Ed aims at creating interdisciplinary and international collaboration among students, educators, and researchers from the participating disciplines in order […]

MILKI-PSY (2021-2023)

About Multimodal Immersive Learning with Artificial Intelligence for Psychomotor Skills 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. The research project “Multimodal Immersive Learning with Artificial Intelligence for Psychomotor Skills” (MILKI-PSY) designs an innovative environment for […]

NOLI (2021-2023)

NOLI – Auf der Suche durch die Zeit is a non-linear narrative in and with digital media: Empirical reception study and development of a didactic storytelling concept for elementary school The research collaboration is based on the question of the extent to which the multimodal transformation of the literary landscape has changed the requirements for […]

Migrants’ Chronicles (2020-2023)

About The Migrants’ Chronicles-project is a serious game teaching migration from Luxembourg to America around 1892. The team of the Cologne Game Lab (TH Köln) is responsible for the game, while the Faculty of Humanities Education and Social Sciences of the Luxembourg University and the Humanities Center of Carleton College is responsible for the content […]

ARUB (2022-2023)

Augmented Reality (AR) in inter-company training We have teamed up with BZB (Bildungszentren des Baugewerbes e.V.) who have initiated the project “ARUB” funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) via the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) as part of the special program “ÜBS Digitalisierung”. ARUB stands for “Augmented Reality […]

Cave Experience Center (2022-2023)

About The CGL and the municipality of Engelskirchen team to develop a concept for a virtual reality experience in the planned Engelskirchen Cave Experience Center. The holistically integrated VR experience gives up to 16 visitors in an area of ~250 m² the chance to slip into the role of cave explorers and experience the Windloch’s […]

somafest

SomaFest (2023-2024)

SomaFest is a 7-day festival with a public exhibition, specialist workshops, and industry meet-ups to explore full-body engagement as the future of XR. It took first place in August 2023 at Cologne Game Lab! SomaFest 2023 is over but you can already save the date for next year´s event: We will be back September 16-22, 2024. For […]

Fear//Anxiety (2021-2024)

About 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 […]

HyTea (2022-2024)

About HyTea – Model for Hybrid Teaching Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems can provide automatic, personalized and real-time feedback to learners in distance learning settings when a human expert is unavailable. AI feedback has the potential to be always available and can allow learners to practice deliberately and repeatedly at their own pace. Embedding AI feedback […]

Games Technology Network (2021-2024)

About Four universities in North Rhine-Westphalia have joined forces to establish the Games Technology Network (GTN). The Cologne Game Lab and the Institute for Information, Media and Electrical Engineering of TH Köln – University of Applied Sciences have teamed up with Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences (coordination), RWTH Aachen University and Düsseldorf University of Applied […]

MASDIGU (2022-2024)

About Materialgestütztes argumentierendes Schreiben mit digitalen Medien im sprachsensiblen Geographieunterricht: Entwicklung eines digitalen Adventurespiels zu einem Raumnutzungskonflikt in Köln (MASDIGU) // Material-supported argumentative writing with digital media in language-sensitive geography lessons: development of a digital adventure game on a spatial-use conflict in Cologne The interdisciplinary project MASDIGU focuses on the potential of digital games for […]

Erika-Fuchs-Haus 4.0 (2023-2024)

About The Erika-Fuchs-Haus – Museum for Comic and Language Art in the town of Schwarzenbach an der Saale and the CGL are aiming to merge museum, town and history with a game in the form of an innovative augmented reality application (AR application). In the first part of the research collaboration, they have jointly developed […]

Greening Games (2021-2024)

Greening Games Building Higher Education Resources for Sustainable Video Game Production, Design and Critical Game Studies (Principal Investigator & Project Coordinator) Within the framework of the “Greening Games” project, we will develop, test and distribute flagship didactic materials addressing the interdisciplinary nature of green digital gaming. These will be tested in selected higher education programs […]

The ISEDA Project (2022-2025)

About The issue of domestic violence (DV) continues to represent a significant challenge across Europe, with adverse consequences for both individuals and communities. In response to this situation, the ISEDA project (Innovative Solutions to Eliminate Domestic Abuse), coordinated by Cologne Game Lab from the TH Köln – University of Applied Sciences, has been launched with […]

Team

Team VR4VET is a cooperation between: Cologne Game Lab (CGL), TH Köln – University of Applied Sciences BZB Krefeld (Bildungszentren des Baugewerbes e.V.) NTNU Trondheim TU Delft Rotterdam Technology College NAV Trøndelag Trøndelag County Council The project is funded by the Erasmus+ program of the European Union.

Construction Sector VR App

About the Construction Sector VR app: The VR4VET Construction Sector VR app simulates a construction warehouse equipped with materials, tools, and safety gear. Users can practice tasks like building a wooden frame wall—adding insulation, housewrap, and vapor barriers—and assembling roof layers by understanding structures and laying tiles.The application can be used as supplementary material for […]

VR4VET (2022-2025)

VR4VET: Virtual reality in career guidance and counseling While COVID 19 has brought the need for digitization into even sharper focus, the pandemic also contributed to rising youth unemployment: More than 3 million young people in Europe between the ages of 15 and 24 are currently unable to find a job; the number of people […]

PREMIERE (2023-2027)

Co-creation for innovation – Preparing multi-actor projects All across Europe, rural areas are facing major social, economic, and environmental concerns and challenges. Innovative solutions are needed to help farmers, foresters, and other rural businesses or initiatives to meet the expectations of wider society, whilst at the same time running their own successful businesses and working […]

Humanitarian Game Network

Upcoming Webinar: Join Us for the fourth Humanitarian Game Network Webinar: Date: 15th of MayTime: 13:00 CESTGuests: Prof Dr. Stela Raytcheva and Mr. Yannick Schiefbein Streaming Link: Youtube We are excited to announce the next session of the Humanitarian Game Network‘s webinar series, where we explore the intersection of game design and humanitarian impact. We’re delighted to have our guests, […]

STRATEGIES (2024-2028)

STRATEGIES — Sustainable Transition for Europe’s Game Industries — is a Horizon Europe funded project that supports Europe’s game industries in realising their potential as drivers of sustainable innovation, contributing to achieving the goals of the European Green Deal and delivering an economy that works for people. The Project: Europe’s game developers are a vital […]

SOILSCAPE

SOILSCAPE: Spreading Open and Inclusive Literacy and Soil Culture through Artistic Practices and Education The Project: SOILSCAPE harnesses the power of Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs), artists, and civil society organizations (CSOs) to promote soil preservation across Europe and beyond. Working with experts from the worlds of soil sciences, arts, decision-making, and humanities, this project […]

The Antura Initiative (2016-2026)

About The Antura Initiative is an applied research program investigating the use of games for children’s education and psychosocial well-being. The approach utilised by the initiative deploys free, open-source, solutions based on mobile gaming technology. The Antura Initiative targets children between the ages of five and twelve, with a particular focus on ones having limited […]

Play!

The Clash of Realities international research conference on the art, technology and theory of digital games is providing the opportunity for interdisciplinary exchange and dialogue.

SomaFest

SomaFest is a 7-day festival with a public exhibition, specialist workshops, and industry meet-ups to explore full-body engagement as the future of XR. It took first place in August 2023 at Cologne Game Lab! SomaFest 2023 is over but you can already save the date for next year´s event: We will be back September 16-22, 2024. For […]