Talk & Play is a free event, taking place every two months, that provides the opportunity to game enthusiasts, players and makers to meet and exchange knowledge in a friendly, relaxed and safe environment.

Everybody’s welcome, regardless of their background and knowledge level: if you like games, we’ll make sure you have a good time! Important: this is NOT an event only aimed at developers.

Important: RSVP via Meetup is mandatory to attend the talks, due to limited seating capacity. Please note that registration won’t be required to attend the event from 21:00 for the game showcase part.  

HOW IT WORKS

The event is structured in two parts:

— TALK: Short game-related presentations + announcements from the community

— PLAY: All participants are welcome to bring games they’ve made or are still working on so that the audience can play them – a perfect opportunity to discover and play new games, collect feedback and, who knows?, maybe find collaborators for future projects.

THE HOST

Our host this time will be Alina Reder, game designer at It Matters Games and organiser of Femisphere, an event that highlights and celebrates diversity in the games industry.

THE TALKS

Gregory​ ​Kogos​: Hardware​ ​games.​ ​Easy​ ​to​ ​learn,​ ​easy​ ​to​ ​master.
Hardware​ ​games​ ​are​ ​usually​ ​unknown​ ​beasts.​ ​However​ ​when​ ​done​ ​right​ ​they​ ​are​ ​on​ ​the way​ ​of​ ​exciting​ ​and​ ​unconventional​ ​road​ ​to​ ​indie-game​ ​success.​ ​On​ ​example​ ​of​ ​the​ ​game RotoRing,​ ​audience​ ​will​ ​understand​ ​how​ ​to​ ​get​ ​started​ ​with​ ​making​ ​hardware​ ​game,​ ​how to​ ​iterate​ ​on​ ​its​ ​game​ ​design​ ​and​ ​eventually​ ​promote​ ​it​ ​and​ ​even​ ​make​ ​some​ ​money. Let’s​ ​take​ ​a​ ​deep​ ​dive​ ​into​ ​the​ ​world​ ​of​ ​unique​ ​hardware​ ​games​ ​and​ ​see​ ​what​ ​it​ ​offers.
—
Gregory​ ​Kogos​ ​was​ ​an​ ​infamous​ ​chef​ ​in​ ​the​ ​famous​ ​Ukrainian​ ​animal​ ​shelter, unprofessional​ ​joggler​ ​and​ ​aspiring​ ​klompen​ ​designer.​ ​Now​ ​he​ ​makes​ ​games​ ​and animates​ ​voxels.
facebook.com/RotoRing // @aronegal

Susan Ploetz: Playing art, larping bodies
Drawing from her work as an artist, somatic practitioner, and progressive larp designer, Susan Ploetz will talk about the relation of the body and imagination and their roles in art, larp and game design; and will also address the shifting roles of artist and audience in today’s emergent media landscape.
—
Susan Ploetz (US/DE) is an artist-researcher working with somatics, theory, writing, performance and live action role plays (larping) in different configurations. Her work deals with the overlapping spaces of protocols, material magic realities, movement-fed cognitions, perceptual expansions and emancipatory emotive dissonances. She has also presented work at such venues as Sophiensaele, ABC Art Fair, The Laporatory (Vilnius), Documenta 13 (Kassel); performa (NYC) and has taught at the UdK.
@susanploetz

Michael Liebe: Top 10 Kickstarter Do’s and Don’ts
Michael will share the top 10 do’s and don’ts when creating a crowdfunding campaign.
—
Michael Liebe is CEO and founder of Booster Space – an event specialist for games and virtual reality. Makers of #gamesweekberlin, VR NOW Con, Game Cinema and Womenize! Tech, Biz, Media. Booster Space is developer of DUEL VR – a Western themed multiplayer duelling game for roomscale VR. Since 2016 Michael works as Outreach Games Europe for Kickstarter and supports game developers on their campaigns.
michael-liebe.de // @liebe_micha

THE GAMES

Here’s the list of confirmed games that will be shown during the second part of the evening, from 21:00:

— All Walls Must Fall by inbetweengames
— Askutron – The Quiz Show Game by Goldsaucer Ltd.
— Before the Storm by Everture Studios
— Creeps by Unicorn Games
— Death Trash by Crafting Legends
— Duel VR by Booster Space
— Elemental Combat by Avrlon
— FRIPIT by Josia Roncancio
— Lingotopia by Tristan
— Memoarrr! by Carlo Bortolini
— MESHBALL by Sven Ahlgrimm
— Micro Mages by Morphcat Games
— Monkey Swag by Tiny Crocodile Studios
— Oddinary Highway by dash & dot game studio
— Proving Grounds by East Galaxy Gaming
— SpaceLab: Area42 by Alien Production
— Super Head Ball by Seth van Heijster
— Talkshow Simulator by Eric from waza and friends
— The Fermi Paradox by Jörg Reisig
— The Underground King by Alex Nechita + Alex Nae

Game showcase registrations are now closed. If your game is not on the list above you’re still welcome to bring it, but we can’t guarantee there will be space to show it – please check with a member of the team from 21:00.

AGENDA 

— 19:00 Doors (if you come earlier you’ll have to wait outside, as we need to prepare the venue)

— 19:30 Talks start

— 21:00 Game showcase & networking: play games and chat with their creators, or just hang around and meet new people

— 23:00 The end aka “Gone Home“
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Our Safe Space Policy encourages the behaviour at Talk & Play. We request that everyone who is affiliated with and participates to the event honours it.

Our event is documented in pictures (thank you Julian!) and videos (thank you Nomi!). Documentation is important for us, as it helps promote the event and attract a new, wider and more diverse audience (that’s how it worked so far at least). For those who’d like to attend, but don’t want to be appear in any pictures or videos, we’re going to distribute some neon stickers at the door that you can wear on your chest to make it clear that you don’t want to appear in any picture or video.

The event is free to attend, but donations are welcome. BerlinGameScene.com supporter packs (featuring an exclusive tote bag, badges, stickers, a Steam key of a game made in Berlin and a Game Science Center coupon) are also available for purchase at Game Science Center. Buying one really helps us!

FINAL NOTES

Do you have any questions? Would you like to give a talk in the future? Then get in touch!

Talk & Play is organised by BerlinGameScene.com.