gameZfestival is back for its fifth edition with three days of talks, international guests, indie game studios, panel discussions, awards and an OpenMic. This year's topic is 'Game Over!' with focus on deaths in videogames. The Festival's Highlights are Jakub Dvorsky from Amanita Design (CZ), Ryan Green from Numinous Games (USA) and Transport Fever's Basil Weber (CH). Our conference track gameZ & ruleZ takes a closer look at motivational systems for non-human games. Yes, animals and robots want to play too! The abstracts you find here. Festival and conference will be accompanied by a playable videogame exhibition. 

Location: Zurich, Kunstraum Walcheturm Kanonengasse 20. Just off from Zurich mainstation (5').

Program: Friday, 10. November

  gameZ & ruleZ conference: Non-human Games & Motivational Design (Chair: Dr. Mela Kocher) [ Abstracts ]
13:30 Opening of Conference (Conference Commitee Kocher/Suter/Bauer).
14:00 Keynote #1: Michelle Westerlaken, Malmö University (SWE): Imagining Non-Speciesism: On Playful Encounters with Cats, Dogs, Ants, and Penguins.
15:00 Coffee break
  gameZ & ruleZ conference: Perspectives on Non-human Game Culture (Chair: Dr. Beat Suter)  [ Abstracts ]
15.30 Gordan Savicic (A): Animal upgrade – BioPong and other game experiments
15:45 Sonja Böckler (CH): Non-human Games.
16:00 Yanick Lukic (CH): Deep Learning as a Game Technology.
16:15 Coffee break.
 

gameZfestival: Game Over
17:00 Swiss Games Trailers 2017. Presented by Benjamin Andermatt and Philomena Schwab.
17:15 SGDA Junior Award 2017, presented by Luca Cannellotto, SGDA (CH)
17:30 Coffee break.
18:00 Opening of Videogame Exhibition "Game Over". Curated by GameLab ZHdK and Master Students Game Design ZHdK.
18:05 "Game Over" Video. Presented by Max Moswitzer and René Bauer.
18:15 Live Geek-Sofa. SRF Digital.
19:15 David Stark, Zarkonnen (CH). Airships. Conquer the Skies.
19:45 Micha Stettler, Stray Fawn Studio (CH). NImbatus, the Space Drone Constructor.
20:15 Basil Weber, Urban Games (CH). Postmortem Transport Fever - from zero ro Steam top seller spot one.
21:15 Keynote #2: Ryan Green. Numinous Games (USA). That Dragon, Cancer.

Program: Saturday, 11. November

  gameZ & ruleZ conference: AI & Motivational Design (Chair: René Bauer)  [ Abstracts ]
10:15 Coffee
11:00 ghack (Günther Hack)(A): NPC and Me. How to become a Non-Player Character.
12:00 Michael Cook (UK): "Are you real?" Lessons about Humanity from a Game-Designing AI.
13:00 Lunch
  gameZ & ruleZ conference: NPC's & Motivational Design (Chair: Dr. Mela Kocher)  [ Abstracts ]
14:30 René Bauer (CH): Little Computer People. Why it's important to be polite.
14:50 Daniel Bisig (CH): Mating Dance of Robots.
15:10 Sarah Celebioglu (D) & Livio Lunin (CH): Tough Love. Building NPCs That Matter.
15:30 Coffee break
  gameZfestival: Indie Games
16:00 Selected Swiss Indie Production of 2017: We welcome: momo pi | Devader | Modsork | Letters the Game | Between the Lines | Mundaun | Sea of Fatness | Dungeon VR | Shock Fighter | FLUX | Next Shape, Senalux (Pixel with Hat).
18:00 My favorite Game,  (but not my own). Panel moderated by René Bauer (CH). Our guests are: Roman Werner (TrapsAndTreasures, Amiga), Guido Berger (SRF), Martina Hugentobler (AirConsole), Renzo Thönen (Landwirschaftssimulator, GIANTS Software)
19:00 Game Business Talk 1: Flurin Jenal, Silvan Bauser. Struckd - Startup for a 3D game creation constructor.
19:30 Game Business Talk 2: Tabea Iseli, Livio Lunin. A New Indie Label - Ibex Games.
20:00 Keynote #3: Jakub Dvorsky (Amanita Design) (CZ): Samorost 3 - explore the woods
21:00 PinballZ - real virtual reality or digital game architecture in a box. René Bauer (CH)

Program: Sunday, 12. November

  gameZfestival: exhibition, events, open mic and awards
12:00 Meet the Designers: Exhibition "Game Over" open. Guided Tours with René Bauer and Max Moswitzer at 12:00 and 12:30.
13:00 Interactive Performance "Prügel" with Konglomerat M.I.D.I. (CH).
14:00 Open Screen. Show your new idea or prototype in the exhibition space. No registering required.
15:00 Open Mic. Swiss Game Designers introduce their new projects in 5 minutes.
 

Open Mic [Register via this form or by sending an email to info@gamezfestival.ch - Email-Title: [OpenMic] Content: [ProjectName / Project&Team / URL / opt: Video-URL ]

1.  Beat Kunz u.a., Fusion Robot GmbH, Sea of Fatness.
2.  Arno Justus, Selina Capol, Your Day - a game in comic panels. [Trailer]
3.  Yannic Hungerbühler, FLUX - a cooperative puzzle adventure with asymmetric controls.
4.  Andres Bucher, Julia Bohren, Gottlieb - an atmospheric adventure game based on a myth from the Swiss alps.
5.  Marcel Arioli, Sebastiaan Cator, Hölzli - das Brettspiel. [Teaser]
6.  Jeremias Baur, VR-Dungeon (Vive + Smartphone). [Steam Early Acess]
7.  Severin Walker, Dark Matters - a ccoperative spaceship adventure/ simulator.
8.  David Krummenacher, Bad Mowers - Competitive Lawnmowing.
9. Teodora Dimova, Super MariMoo - 2D Platformer.
10. Michel Ziegler, Mundaun - hand-pencilled 3D-adventure game set in a dark version of the Alps.
   
16:00 Best of FANTOCHE Workshop Games 2017 (Game Design & Animation), presented by Livio Lunin
16:30 Interactive Performance "Prügel" with Konglomerat M.I.D.I. (CH).
17:00 gameZfestival Awards 2017 for the most creative game. Presented by Philomena Schwab & Livio Lunin.
a) Best game mechanics
b) Best video game death
18:00 Finissage

Exhibition: game over [combined with conference]

Friday, Nov. 10 Opening + 18:00 - 24.00
Saturday, Nov. 11 10:00 - 24.00
Sunday, Nov. 12 12:00 - 19.00

Concept of the exhibition: "Game Over" focuses on deaths in video games as part of game mechanics, visual effects and storytelling. The "game over" screen is a harsh punishment for the player that forces him to restart the entire game. It is a death-penalty! Arcades used the convention of limited lives. Three lives were standard, allowing the player to die twice and still continue the pursuit. Only later you were able to insert more coins and continue your play-session without starting from zero. Over time games have gradually grown and relaxed this penalty. Many console games continue to use deaths of characters as part of the simple game mechanics trial and error, but they often offer more ways for the player to continue pursuit without being transported back to the beginning. And narrative big-production and indie games of recent years try to use more 'meaningful' gameplay interactions than trial and error and tend to render the old concept of deaths and several lives obsolete. The exhibtion "Game Over" shows games with different ways and meanings of dying in video games. Come and play the games. 

The text of the exhibition and all games with specific description (How they handle death and gameover) you find here: GameOverExhibitionAndGameDescription2017.pdf

Look also into the 10 minute video about video game deaths "GameOver - NPCs Nightmare" below.

Gameography: Battle Chess, USA, 1998. Klax, USA, 1989. Another World, France, 1991. Mortal Kombat, USA, 1992. Doom, USA, 1993. Crash Bandicoot, USA, 2001. September 12th, Uruguay, 2003. Prince of Persia, Canada, 2003. The Graveyard, Belgium, 2008. Chasm Spasm, UK, 2010. Super Meat boy, USA, 2010. Freedom Bridge, South Korea, 2010. Life Goes On, Canada, 2014. Grim Fandango (Remastered), USA, 2015. Dark Souls, Japan, 2016. First Strike, Switzerland, 2017. A Mortician's Tale, Canada, 2017. 

Video: "GameOver - NPCs Nightmare"

The video is a collage of different games through game history, showing how they handle the death of npcs, avatars. 

NPC Nightmare Game Deaths from gameZfestival on Vimeo.

Gameography: FinalFantasy, AnotherWorld, RedRedemption, SummerGames, Worms, Sonic the Hedgehog, Full throttle, Sniper Elite 4, Mortal Combat(?), Wizball, Golden Axe, X Man, Arkanoid II, Donkey Kong (Game & Watch), Dwarf Fortress, Battle Chess, Two Sons, It came from the desert, Super Mario 3D, Super Mario 3D, Another World, GTA, Inside, Inside, Limbo, Battle Chess, ..., Ghouls n Ghosts, Gauntlet II, International Karate +, Life Goes On: Done to Death, Zarch/Virus, Mine Storm, Nebulus, R-Type, Super Mario, Mortal Combat X, Jurassic Parc, Dragon's Lair, Super Mario, Another World, iCycle 2, Mortal Kombat, Another World, Rick Dangerous, Shadow Dancer, N+, War Heli, Metal Slug, Qix, Klax, Bomber Man, Farm Simulator, Full Throttle, GTA 

GAME CREATIVE AWARD

The award 2015 went to Robin Baumgarten with "Line Wobbler".
The award 2016 went to SUPER HOT Team for "SUPERHOT".
The award 2017 went to Nathalie Lawhead (Alienmelon) with "Everything is going to be okay".

WORST GAME DEATH AWARD

The award 2017 goes to the team Exidy with the game "Chiller" (1986)

Organisation

November 10 - 12, 2017; Zurich, Switzerland. The international gameZfestival is organized by the gameZfestival association, Game Lab and Game Design ZHdK. The Program has been developed by Beat Suter, René Bauer, Mela Kocher, Livio Lunin, Philomena Schwab, Tabea Iseli, Markus Rosse and Max Moswitzer from the GameLab of the University of the Arts Zurich. The exhibition was developed by Beat Suter, René Bauer, Mela Kocher and the Master students of Game Design ZHdK. Max Moswitzer designed Logo, Festival T-Shirts and gameZ merchandise. René Bauer and Max Moswitzer compiled the video "NPC Nightmare". Philomena Schwab coordinated the Swiss Studio booths. Stefan Schmidlin organizes the Open Mic and Open Screen. Benjamin Andermatt and Philomena Schwab put together the Swiss Games Trailers 2017. Markus Rosse is the photographer. Tabea Iseli is responsible for the Festival's whole Online Marketing. Maike Thies organized logistics for the exhibition and the booths. Students from Game Design ZHdK have collaborated in designing and installing the exhibition and festival spaces. And finally a big thank you to our sponsors. This year it is: the Swiss National Science Fund (SNF) for the conference and Pro Helvetia, Migros Kulturprozent and SGDA for the Festival and Indie Studios.