More initiatives of the Hamburg Kreativ Gesellschaft
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More initiatives of the Hamburg Kreativ Gesellschaft

Three Questions to: Octofox Games

The team of Octofox Games consists of five former students of the Games Master at HAW Hamburg who have been working together for a couple of years already. They were among the first teams to receive 80,000 euros through the Prototype Funding Program and have since worked on a prototype for their couch-coop game "Wild Woods". We asked them about their experience.

In this game up to four players take on the roles of brave cats, collecting resources and defending their wooden wagon on a dangerous trail through the forest. As applications for our next round of Prototype Funding are open right now, we wanted to check in with Octofox Games and asked them about their experience with the program and what they would like to tell potential applicants. 

We see a wide variety of creative ideas in the Prototype Funding Program. Please tell us: What's your idea/game in a nutshell and what about it do you think convinced the awarding committee?
Wild Woods has an easy to understand concept which we think helped a lot. "Collect Resources by day, keep you fire lit at night and protect your wagon with up to 3 of you friends!" Moreover, we had a specific goal for the funding - to make our prototype playable online. Also we have cute cats, that always helps. 

The program is open for all kinds of enterprises, students or newcomers so they can develop a playable prototype and receive further funding from a publisher or start a Kickstarter campaign etc. How did that work out for you? What was Octofox' situation while applying to the program and what have you achieved since?
We were on the look for a publishing/funding deal, which turned out to be pretty hard. Lacking the "online" part in our couch coop concept made it not interesting enough for most of them. We used the Prototype Funding Program to expand our core concepts, experiment a bit with our features and learned a lot about online technology. We were able to work a full year on what now has way more potential to be a success on the games market. 

What advice or tip would you like to share with people who think about applying for the Gamecity Hamburg Prototype Funding?
Just do it! We learned so much by just applying, because we needed to sharpen your focus on the game's core vision to produce the documents and questionnaires Gamecity asked us for. Which was good! Your game idea needs to be understandable and plausible. A greybox or any form of prototype might help, but you don't need it if you can explain your game idea in a vivid way. Keep calm and take your time to work through the application. It seems hard, but it is totally worth it. 


Applications for our first round of Prototype Funding for 2022 are open until April 11. The second round will open on August 29. Find all info on how to apply right here.


Want to know more about Ocotofox and their game Wild Woods? Follow them on Instagram or Twitter.

News

Queer Games Bundle 2023 - Our Top 5 Games

Pride Month 2023 has just started and so has the third edition of the Queer Games Bundle on itch.io. It features 460+ items from 293 creators exploring queer topics. This bundle supports queer creators and celebrates the diversity of their games. We took a closer look at the bundle and chose our top 5 games, which we would love to play.

Gamecity Treff - The 20th Anniversary in Review

For this special edition celebrating the 20th anniversary of Gamecity Hamburg and the esteemed Gamecity Treff, we met up with Hamburg's games industry at the Jupiter.

Daedalic's "The Lord of the Rings: Gollum" Out Now

Daedalic Entertainment is releasing the long-anticipated "The Lord of the Rings: Gollum", a new adventure mixed with action elements exploring the story of the iconic Lord of the Rings character today.

Radioactive Dreams releases Turbo Shell

After receiving the Prototype Funding in 2020, Hamburg-based Radioactive Dreams finally release the game "Turbo Shell".

Games Lift: No expiration date!

This year, Gamecity Hamburg's Games Lift Incubator is doing the same as in previous ones: it's evolving.

Prototype Funding 2023: 410.000 euros for 6 Projects from Hamburg

Gamecity Hamburg funds 6 digital game prototypes with 410,000 euros in its 20th anniversary year.

Application Start for Games Lift Incubator 2023

Developer teams can now apply from May 2 until June 20 for our Games Lift Incubator. This is their chance to get professional input on their game ideas and to successfully develop and market their game projects.

Games Lift Insights 2023: Workshop with Cassia Curran on May 16

At this Games Lift Insights workshop, indie devs will get an impression of what awaits in the incubator with a talk on "Basic Market Analysis for Indies" by Business Development and Strategic Advisor Cassia Curran. The Gamecity Hamburg Team will share insights into the Games Lift Incubator and application process as well.

Networking after the speeches and panel discussion at Hamburg City Hall / Photo by Marcelo Hernandez

Celebrating 20 Years of Gamecity Hamburg at the Hamburg City Hall

At the invitation of the Senate of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, the games industry celebrated 20 years of Gamecity Hamburg in the City Hall.

Kristin von der Wense (Daedalic Entertainment) was one of the experts in the 1:1 feedback sessions

Pitch Level Up 2023 in Review

At our second edition of the Pitch Level Up participating devs, founders and students got valuable insights and tips from our industry experts on pitching and optimizing their pitch decks in talks and 1:1 feedback sessions at the Hamburger Ding.

20 years supporting Hamburg's games industry!

Founded in 2003, Gamecity Hamburg was the first public funding institution for the games industry at the state level in Germany. We want to celebrate 20 years of supporting and being part of the wonderful games industry in Hamburg.

ROCKFISH Games CEO Michael Schade

ROCKFISH Games releases EVERSPACE 2

After five years of development and two years in Early Access, the single-player space shooter EVERSPACE 2 from Hamburg-based studio ROCKFISH Games will be released on April 6. In an interview with CEO Michael Schade, we talked about the long journey to the game's release and the studio's experiences.

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