Next Level
Festival for Games

THE AGENCY examines surrogacy as an ambivalent phenomenon: Is the surrogate mother as a figure predestined to mark reproductive work as work? Why do we still pursue the dream of the genetically related child at all? And what does the figure of the child mean in these apocalyptic times?

Slip into the role of spies, drone experts, hackers or become a "street art artist". In Watch Dogs : Legion it is possible to play all characters, control drones, launch spider robots and use augmented reality capes!

Via tablet and headphones, the audience is guided across the Zollverein grounds and experiences the fusion of both levels in constant comparison of pre-produced audio/video material with the reality/live performance.

Democracy is a government simulation game first developed in 2005 by the British one-man indie studio Positech Games. In the fourth and newest part of the series, which will be released in autumn 2020, you play the president or chancellor of a democratic government.

In a gaming corner, visitors can use the switch console to retreat and lose themselves in the playable graphic novel. Players slip into the roles of various characters. The focus is on the question of how the freedom of society can be regained - and at what price.

From #solidarityisforwhitewomen to #MeToo, gaming culture provides an interesting case study to explore the experiences of women within the transmediated spaces of gaming. Drawing from ethnographic observations of gamers and games, this talk will trouble what it means to be a woman inside gaming as well as what feminist contributions to gaming can look like.

After everything ended, everything started. MengXuan is closing the festival with a self introduction as an avatar. Followed by a live presentation of her latest piece “Taì Chū 3030” - an after-death digital soul.