Going Live: What to Expect From Games Lift Graduation

Gamecity Hamburg previews the public graduation event for the first cohort of its Games Lift Incubator, scheduled as a virtual presentation on Tuesday, December 8, 2020, at 6 p.m. Because COVID-19 ruled out a physical audience, the event is open online to anyone via Eventbrite registration, with a selected group of industry veterans also watching. The three-month program, the first of its kind for the Hamburg initiative, is designed to accelerate game development, and the article builds anticipation by asking each team what it plans to show.

Five projects are profiled. Impawsible Games, a four-person team led by Nico Plötz, will publicly debut its metroidvania "Jonah Weingarten's Ninja Brigade," featuring a keyboardist-turned-action-hero in a Japanese folklore setting, along with improved graphics and official cover art. Solo developer Roman Fuhrer, whose Nintendo-inspired action-adventure "Leif's Adventure" has been in development for over three years and is available free on Steam, will reveal the game's hub world for the first time. His earlier milestone pitch was delivered as a playable level.

Ole Jürgensen and Leonie Brosz are developing "Crumbling," a VR game built around motion controls that mimics playing with action figures in a reactive world. Curvature Games, led by Dennis Briddigkeit, is working on the narrative VR adventure "The Amusement," which has a historical setting and distinctive art style, and the team feels ready to pitch to publishers soon, helped by its larger team size. Julia Reberg, working alone, will offer a first look at "Alchymia," a strategic roguelike in which players use alchemy to fight a zombie horde, a project that was only a rough concept when the incubator began.

Later site news indicates the program's continuation, including a 2026 call offering five teams 15,000 euros, workshops, mentoring and a 1,000-euro coaching budget, and the eventual release of "The Amusement."