CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: GAMES AS ART FESTIVAL 2026 (DEADLINE, JULY 1 2026)
Tampere University / Games As Art Center
October 9–11, 2026 | Tampere, Finland (fully hybrid)
Submission deadline: July 1, 2026
Submit here or email: info@gamesasartcenter.com
Tampere University and the Games As Art Center invite submissions of artistic games for the inaugural Games As Art Festival, October 9–11, 2026. The festival accepts work from anywhere in the world and will run fully hybrid across the Paidia space at Tampere University and online.
The organizers are seeking digital games and live action role-playing works with clear artistic intent. The festival sits in the lineage of A MAZE. / Berlin and The Overkill Festival: selected digital works enter a curated playable area; each artist receives a 15-minute presentation slot followed by Q&A with a panel of game makers, artists, and academics drawn from Finland and internationally.
What they are looking for, concretely: games that treat beauty as a design problem. Games that stretch what a game can be formally. Games that carry emotional weight or communicate something true about human experience. Games with a point of view on something that has consequences.
That is four criteria, not a checklist. Work that satisfies one of them with conviction will interest the organizers more than work that gestures toward all of them.
Submissions may be finished works or prototypes, provided the game is playable at the time of submission. Festival settings reward brevity: works playable within 60 minutes are ideal. The curators will prioritise artists who can join them in Tampere in person, though full remote participation is available.
A student submission track is under development. Instructors with strong graduating cohorts are encouraged to reach out directly.
Submit via this form by July 1, 2026. Digital games may also be shared via link or sent to info@gamesasartcenter.com.