A Maze./Berlin Jury Selects Shortlist from Record Number of Submissions

Preparations for the 14th edition of the A Maze./Berlin Festival are in full swing. The jury has now selected a shortlist of projects to be showcased on-site—drawn from a record-breaking number of submissions. The winners will be announced on 16 May.

Following the withdrawal of founder and artistic director Thorsten S. Wiedemann, who will not be part of the upcoming A Maze./Berlin, preparations for the event are continuing at full speed. The organisers have now published the shortlist of works to be presented at the festival—chosen from an impressively large pool of submissions.

A total of 364 works from 72 countries were submitted across the fields of games, art, and playful media—nearly 60 of them even “beyond screen.” This marks a new record for A Maze./Berlin.

"For a festival that focuses on the fringes and the combinations of art house games and playful media in theatre, XR, performances, and other art forms, I couldn't be happier about the overwhelming number of diverse artists who have submitted their entries from even more countries around the world – not because more is better, but because it shows that people trust us as a platform for this particular combination of arts; that we are the meeting point for the community of this colourful international movement," says Matthias 'Mat' Löwenotter, Head of A MAZE. Awards.

The shortlist of A Maze./Berlin 2025:

A MAZE. Awards Nominees (2025)

• Breaking News by Danil Bialo, Tamir Herzberg, Evyatar Cohen (Israel)
• CHILDREN OF SATURN by Boie Thomsen and Nils Schulze (Germany, Austria)
• despelote by Julián Cordero, Sebastián Valbuena, Gabe Cuzzillo, Ian Berman (Ecuador, USA)
• Endoparasitic 2 by Deep Root Interactive (USA, Germany, Canada, UK)
• Flock by Hollow Ponds, Richard Hogg (UK)
• Flora by Flora (Spain, Peru, Colombia)
• Growth Spurt: A Meandering Intermission Into the Afterhours of a Miscalculation by Biagi Calicchia, Hanwen Xu, Hatim Benhsain, Isabelle Smith and Nichole Shinn (USA, China, Morocco)
• In Their Shoes by We Are Muesli (Italy)
• Karting K.O. by Bastien Loizillon and Lilonna Rondeleux (France)
• Keep Driving by Y/CJ/Y (Sweden)
• LIMINAL by Rowan Wood (Canada)
• Mouthwashing by Wrong Organ (Sweden)
• PROXIMATE by Cain Maddox (Australia)
• PRŠÍ by Herdek (Czech Republic)
• Pull Stay by Nito Souji (Japan)
• RiceBoy Dreams by Charles Hanil Roberge (Switzerland)
• ROAMance by Stanislaw Liguzinski, Ibrahim Quraishi, Julia Braenzel (Germany, Poland, The Netherlands)
• Some Goodbyes We Made by Safe Flight Games, Joey Schutz (Taiwan, USA)
• Soul Paint by Hatsumi & Monobanda (UK, The Netherlands)
• Space Sprouts by Schleuder Games (Germany)
• Synch.Live by Hillary Leone (USA, UK)
• Take Us North by Anima Interactive (USA, Mexico, UK, Guatemala, Colombia, Argentina, The Netherlands, Portugal)
• The Holy Gosh Darn by Perfectly Paranormal (Norway)
• THRESHOLD by Julien Eveillé (France)
• Tide Breakers by brainfruit (USA)
  
  

WINGS Award Nominees (2025)

• Cabernet by Party for Introverts (UK)
• Curiosmos by Céline & the Silly Stars (Belgium, The Netherlands)
• Discounty by Crinkle Cut Games (Denmark)
• IKEELYA by ALL DAY ALL NIGHT (Henrike Lode, Cukia Kimani) (South Africa)
• STREET UNI X by daffodil & friends (Canada)
  
  
  

Honorable Mentions

• Arctic Eggs by Kevin Brown  (USA)
• Children of the Sun by René Rother (Germany)
• Clone Drone in the Hyperdome by Lucas Pessoa de... (USA, Spain, Sweden, UK, Mexico, France)
• Crossing Lines by Leah Churchill and Mike Ren (USA)
• Death of the Reprobate by Joe Richardson (UK)
• individualism in the dead-internet age: an anti-big tech asset flip shovelware r̶a̶n̶t̶ manifesto by Nathalie Lawhead (Slovenia)
• PARADE by Allis Amaz, Ratvader, Kjell Håftén (Sweden)
• PortalVision by Robin Forster (Germany)
• The Dice Test by Stanley Baxton, Dagny "shredtune" Hella (UK)
• The M/S Cornelia II Incident by Matias Ekebom (Åland Islands)
• The Museum of Screens by Liz Alfos (France)
• the weird & the eerie by KATHARINA ERNST / THOMAS KÖCK/ ANNEA LOUNATVUORI / MARTIN MIOTK / ANDREAS SPECHTL / MICHAEL V. ZUR MÜHLEN (Germany)
• TÖLT by ENIGMA STUDIO (Ireland)
• TRIP by Bastinus Rex (France)
• Wednesdays by Pierre Corbinais, Exaheva, Christophe Galati, Virginia B. Fernson, Nico Nowak, Diane Landais & Florent Maurin (France, Belgium)