The European Game Science Lab’s inaugural game jam proved to be a groundbreaking success, bringing together creativity and critical thinking across borders. Organized by Bug Gamelab with support from HTW Berlin’s DE:HIVE, this hybrid event connected over 100 participants—50+ students and staff from HTW Berlin and 50+ from Bahçeşehir University in Istanbul.

Focus on Biases in Gaming

The jam’s core mission was to reflect upon and verify workshop results concerning biases embedded in game rules and algorithms. This timely theme challenged participants to examine how games can perpetuate or challenge societal prejudices through their design choices.

Diverse Game Concepts Emerge

The created prototypes reveals an impressive diversity of approaches:

Social Commentary Games: Several projects tackled representation and identity, including games exploring gender roles and cultural perspectives.

Algorithm Awareness: Multiple teams created games that make algorithmic bias visible, transforming abstract concepts into interactive experiences.

Narrative Experiments: Story-driven prototypes examined how player choices and game narratives can reinforce or subvert social expectations.

System Critiques: Games that deconstruct traditional gaming mechanics to reveal hidden assumptions about competition, success, and player behavior.

Hybrid Innovation

The simultaneous Berlin-Istanbul format demonstrated that meaningful collaboration transcends physical boundaries. Teams worked synchronously across time zones, sharing ideas and building upon each other’s concepts in real-time.

This inaugural jam established a strong foundation for future European Game Science Lab initiatives, proving that games can serve as powerful tools for examining and addressing societal challenges. The diverse portfolio of prototypes shows how game design can become a lens for understanding and potentially transforming social dynamics.

The success metrics speak for themselves: 100+ engaged participants, dozens of innovative prototypes, and a new model for international academic collaboration in game research.

On 23 April 2025, DE:HIVE hosted the conclusion of the workshop series on ‘Identifying Prejudices in Game Rules and Algorithms’ launched at PLAY 2025 in Bologna in a hybrid format. The innovative, two-part workshop, organised by HTW Berlin (HTWB), brought together researchers and students to open a discourse on bias in games and generative AI.

The workshop series began during the PLAY – Festival del Gioco in Bologna from 4 to 6 April and concluded on 23 April at DE:HIVE in Berlin as a hybrid event. The partners from UniFi, IMT Lucca and HTW Berlin created a rich, multicultural dialogue on identifying bias in game systems.

Surrounded by hundreds of games and passionate players, our academic discussions gained a tangible, real-world context that cannot be replicated in a traditional conference room.

The Italian part focused on presenting theoretical frameworks and exchanging methods from different academic traditions.

Three weeks later, on 23 April, the workshop took place at DE:HIVE at HTW Berlin, where students also participated in the discourse. The results of the workshop will also be incorporated into the Game Jam taking place next weekend.

This discussion explored how algorithmic systems often reinforce existing social prejudices, but also offer unique opportunities to correct them.

Another discussion addressed culturally influenced prejudices. What seemed neutral to developers from one cultural context often had great significance in another.

The workshop series shows how international academic collaboration can address real-world challenges while educating the next generation of conscious creatives. By combining the cultural richness of the gaming festival in Bologna with the innovation ecosystem of DE:HIVE in Berlin, the project offered participants a unique learning experience that neither city could have provided on its own.

The success of this workshop series underscores the importance of international collaboration in addressing global challenges in digital culture. Given the continued growth and influence of the gaming industry on society, such joint efforts will become increasingly important to ensure that our digital experiences reflect our shared values.

We had a great time at PLAY 2025 in Bologna. The presentation of the European Game Science Lab at PLAY2025 in Bologna was very well received.

From April 4 to 6, 2025, the European Game Science Lab (EGSL) participated in the renowned “PLAY – Festival del gioco” in Bologna with a joint booth. The three partner institutions – DE:HIVE at HTW Berlin, the Game Science Center at IMT Lucca, and the Game Innovation Center (GIC) at the University of Florence – took advantage of this unique opportunity to present the innovative EGSL project to a wide audience.

The PLAY Festival provided an ideal platform for direct contact with game designers, developers, and representatives of the gaming community. Participation enabled the EGSL team to attract potential contributors to the project and establish valuable connections. The concept of the European Game Science Lab met with great interest and positive feedback among the thousands of festival participants.

The joint presence of the three partner institutions on site was considered particularly valuable. In addition to the public presentation of the project, important internal coordination and planning for upcoming activities could be carried out. A special focus was placed on the preparation of the workshop “Identifying biases in game rules and algorithms” (Activity 3.5), which benefits from the interdisciplinary expertise of all partners.

Participation in PLAY2025 had a positive impact on all ongoing project activities. Discussions with experts and the attention of the festival community led to important impulses and new perspectives for all areas of work at the EGSL.

The successful participation in PLAY 2025 confirms the relevance and potential of the European Game Science Lab as an important initiative for scientific research into games and gaming technologies. The further development of the project and the implementation of the findings in research work are eagerly awaited.

The European Game Science Lab (EGSL) officially kicked off at the end of October. At a hybrid kick-off meeting at the renowned IMT Lucca, all project partners came together to set the course for an exciting first year. The timing could hardly have been better, as the meeting coincided with the internationally renowned Lucca Comic and Games trade fair – an ideal platform for presenting this new European initiative.

Strategic planning for the coming year

On 28 October 2025, the EGSL partner organisations met for a hybrid meeting at the IMT Lucca. The annual planning and specific activities were discussed and coordinated in detail in a constructive atmosphere. This careful planning forms the foundation for all future initiatives of the laboratory and emphasises the professional approach of the partners involved.

Presence at Lucca Comic and Games

In the days following the kick-off, the European Game Science Lab took the opportunity to introduce itself to a wider audience. At the IMT Library’s exhibition at Lucca Comic and Games, the project was able to attract numerous visitors and inspire them with its goals. The trade fair, which attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors from the gaming, comic and pop culture scene every year, provided an excellent platform for making contacts and expanding the network.

Specialist lectures on socially relevant gaming topics

To accompany the exhibition, the IMT Lucca organised a high-calibre lecture programme that addressed the importance of games in our society. Two specialist lectures deserve special mention:

Ennio Biancini and Thomas Bremer gave an exciting outlook on the development of the Ludo-narrative Framework in their lecture – a promising approach that aims to bring narrative elements and game mechanics into a coherent theoretical framework.

In another presentation, Thomas Bremer and David Witzgall shed light on the challenges and opportunities that artificial intelligence brings to game development. In view of the rapid developments in the field of AI, this was a particularly topical and relevant subject that met with great interest.

Outlook

With this successful launch, the European Game Science Lab has laid the foundations for its future work. The combination of strategic planning, public presentation and professional exchange already demonstrates the scope and potential of this European initiative.

Anyone interested in finding out more about the European Game Science Lab should keep an eye out for further reports and upcoming events.