Road to Polaris 2025: Indie Game Showcase in Hamburg

Key insights

6 takeaways

01
The Polaris Convention in Hamburg will take place from October 10–12, 2025, featuring over 20,000 square meters of exhibition space and approximately 150 exhibitors.
02
Gamecity Hamburg is sponsoring a showcase of eight local indie titles, including Ed & Edda: GRAND PRIX, Mambio, Map Map, NeverLight, Super Chipflake Ü, The Amusement, The Regreening, and Vacunauts.
03
The Road to Polaris program is designed to provide Hamburg-based developers with professional networking, public exposure, and direct access to industry funding resources.
04
The Polaris Convention serves as a multi-disciplinary event combining gaming, Asian pop culture, stage shows, and workshops.
05
The Gamecity Treff networking event will be held during the convention to facilitate industry connections for local creators.
06
The initiative is part of a broader regional strategy to increase the international visibility and growth of the Hamburg game development ecosystem.

Summary

Gamecity Hamburg announces its participation in the fourth Polaris Convention, held October 10 to 12, 2025, at the Hamburg Messe, where it will host its largest joint booth to date under the "Road to Polaris" program. The purpose is to promote Hamburg's indie development scene, connect local studios with the public, and raise awareness of the city's games industry and funding landscape.

Eight Hamburg-made titles span a broad range of genres and audiences. Tivola Games presents Ed & Edda: GRAND PRIX, a family-friendly racing game featuring Europa-Park mascots. Neurodactics offers Mambio, an educational math app for elementary school children, including those with disabilities. Pipapo Games contributes Map Map, a cozy cartography exploration game, while Nightless Games shows NeverLight, a dungeon-raiding game for up to three competing adventurers. SalsaShark Studios brings Super Chipflake Ü, a Switch-oriented 3D collectathon platformer with a merging mechanic. Curvature Games shows The Amusement, a narrative VR adventure set in an abandoned 1920s amusement park. Positive Impact Games presents The Regreening, a nature restoration sim, and Godcomplex Games shows Vacunauts, a 1-4 player co-op wave defense game.

Visitors can play the games, meet developers, and speak with the Gamecity team about development in Hamburg and available funding. The "Road to" program provides Hamburg studios free participation in national and international events through delegation packages arranged with organizers, supporting presentation, networking, and deal-making.

Polaris is a community convention covering gaming and Asian pop culture, spanning more than 20,000 square meters across two floors, with around 150 exhibitors, stage shows, competitions, workshops, and cosplay. A Gamecity Treff networking event was also scheduled for October 10. Related news items point to continued programming, including Games Lift incubator funding of €15,000 per team, prototype funding, Road to gamescom, and Portside Game Assembly 2026.