Go north

How does A Maze’s first UK outing compare fo the Berlin original?

Although Berlin remains the home of A Maze, the arthouse game festival previously covered in E333 and E349, it’s done its fair share of travelling since the first event back in 2008. That has taken many forms: as part of other festivals; as game jams in Palestine, Brazil and Kenya; and exhibitions in Romania, Kosovo and Ukraine. The circumstances around A Maze Sheffield, however, are different – not just because it’s closer to the usual format, but also because it represents the repaying of an old debt.

In 2019, the organisation was in financial difficulty, prompting A Maze founder and artistic director Thorsten S Wiedemann to create a Kickstarter campaign. The single biggest supporter was James Brown, director at Boneloaf, the Sheffield-based developer of Gang Beasts. He was the sole backer at the 6,000 ‘Punks love their own party’ tier, which promised that A Maze would throw a one-night game party in your town or location of choice. Five years later, and with the collaboration of Edinburgh-based We Throw Switches and Yorkshire-based experimental game designer Alex Johansson, the result is A Maze Sheffield.