The next generation of #SwissGames is ready to make its mark. With its new promotion model for interactive media, Pro Helvetia offers extensive support for 23 projects in the field. A first call for applications produced 103 projects, submitted by established game studios as well as newcomers fresh from university. The projects’ stylistic scope ranges from pixel art via pop fantasies to hand-drawn games for platforms such as mobile, PC, console and virtual reality. The seven-strong international jury was particularly impressed by the high quality of the creative output made in Switzerland . «On my look-out for the next world hit in game experience, I’ll be keeping a sharp eye on the Swiss independent scene», concluded juror Erin Reynolds, creative director at the renowned game studio Flying Mollusk in Los Angeles.

The 23 projects selected will receive support in connection the Arts Council’s newly developed «Culture and Business» programme, which tests new models of coordinated promotion to help young talents gain a foothold in the design and interactive media market. «The Swiss game designer scene is both young and promising, and requires support to be able to fully unleash its potential», says juror Jason della Rocca, co-founder of Execution Labs in Montreal, a consultancy for game design start-ups.

(Photo: Tourmaline, «Oniri Islands (Part 1)»)

Five games supported by Pro Helvetia:

GRANT FOR THE PRODUCTION OF A PROTOTYPE

«Colorful Darkness» by David Roulin
Hacker Seiko Shiro takes us into her world where friends can turn into enemies and characters pursue their own, unpredictable agenda. A challenging and visually attractive game combining several traditional genres such as «point and click» and «platformer».

«Mundaun» by Hidden Fields GmbH
This entirely hand-drawn game represents a horror trip through the Swiss Alps. In a first-person perspective we visit spooky alpine huts and shafts with the aim of uncovering the secret behind grandfather’s mysterious death.

PRODUCTION GRANT

«Don’t Kill Her» by Jérémy Cuany
Another game with all visuals drawn by hand, set in a highly poetic fantasy world. There’s this woman who seems to have passed away, and there’s you, her murderer…

«FAR: Lone Sails» by Okomotive GmbH
Already in prototype form FAR created a stir at international trade fairs, so it’s high time for the game to go into production. In terms of style, it’s steampunk meeting post-apocalypse. Gamers have to manoeuvre an outlandish vehicle through the desert and discover traces of long-lost civilisations.

«Nimbatus – The Space Drone Constructor» by Stray Fawn Studio
Nimbatus is an action game set in space. Players construct their own drones and have to hold their own in galactic adventures.