She Got Game 2025: selected participants

Denise Meier, based in Winterthur

Nawarak is going to be a multiplayer Real-Time Strategy game that breaks up its genre by using non-colonial* aspects. Players share one goal: save the whales that are vital for maintaining the fragile ecosystem in an arid and barren desert. Sandstorms constantly change the environment, so players need to react to their surroundings. Plenty of mean but non-violent actions create fun and diversified gameplay in each session.
* In game design, non-colonial refers to creating games that avoid or challenge colonial narratives, mechanics, and structures (territory expansion or cultural domination).

Mentor: Dajana Dimovska

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Elina Crespi, based in Lausanne

Metamorphoses 2 is a 2D adventure and puzzle game that explores an organic machine representing a harmony of opposites: a duality between machine and human. By travelling through the game’s various dimensions, the universe evolves. The goal is to figure out whether the machine should adapt to the human or the human to the machine.

Mentor: Violetta Leoni

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Emma Grosu, based in Prilly

Video games allow players to escape into narrative worlds where they hold ‘all the power.’ In ESC, the game’s character seeks to escape their own reality. This reversal examines the notions of freedom and constraint in video games, drawing a parallel to the limits of our existence. What would happen if a character became aware of their situation, realising that they are not in control of their movements but are, instead, imprisoned by them?

Mentor: Sofia Battegazzore

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Lena Frei, based in Basel

Skyfarm is a cozy (relaxing and low-stress) single-player 3D farming simulation game, set on a post-apocalyptic urban rooftop and based on permaculture principles. Players can tend to their garden and create self-regulating ecosystems to harvest food and increase biodiversity. Also, they can talk to fellow rooftop gardeners and exchange materials to unlock new plants, zones and garden elements.

Mentor: Steph Darrah

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Léonie Courbat, based in Lausanne

Hoc Modo Fit (provisional title) is a 2D video game for computers in which you cook for a rich merchant in medieval Europe. Through the eyes of Aelis, a young girl living in the 13th century, players can learn how to prepare different medieval recipes. From everyday meals to more complex and fancy dishes, the game lets players discover the richness of European medieval cuisine.

Mentor: Sofia Battegazzore

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Lisa Alexandre Manolache, based in Geneva

Wulo is a 3D puzzle cozy game that welcomes players into an ever-changing forest filled with quirky animals. As the forest’s guardian spirit, players will need to guide themselves based on their hearing and find the forest dweller in need of assistance, be it to get out of a cage, or prepare a tasty food basket to have during winter hibernation. Wulo’s mechanic allows players to enter focus mode where they will hear every animal’s cry and be able to guide themselves by listening.

Mentor: Dajana Dimovska

Ines Barkaoui, based in Benarous, Tunisia

Alienated is a first-person survival horror focused on exploration, environmental storytelling, and survival mechanics. The story explores the strained relationship between a young woman and her controlling, terminally ill mother while dealing with a mysterious stalker who terrorises her. Players can navigate unsettling environments and manage limited resources.

Mentor: Chriss Vasquez

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Mennat Allah Salama, based in Cairo, Egypt

Surviving Cairo is a cultural game based on the ironic aspect of the daily lives of people in Cairo. The game concept is based on meme texts such as ‘Egypt is not for beginners’, encapsulating the humorous cultural and traditional customs of Cairo’s inhabitants. It also reflects the urbanisation of the city and how its elements contribute to its residents’ ironic lives. 

Mentor: Dasha Nasonova

Lishan Wei, based in Shanghai

Thank You for Your Application is an interview simulation game that reflects real-life career topics in a humorous form. After 15 rounds of interviews, players do not match the requirements for the position. They are transferred as a junior interviewer to review the candidate’s resume according to the company’s requirements and send appropriate thank you letters.

Mentor: Steph Darrah

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Mari Ma, based in Shanghai

Dance of Theseus is a strategic dress-up game set in the glamorous world of monster ballrooms. The players can craft new body parts, assemble themselves for themed events, and win dance battles. Other activities include recruiting minions and romancing bosses. The theme of the story echoes the Ship of Theseus myth and asks players how many body parts must they replace before losing their identity.

Mentor: Violetta Leoni

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Yuan Zhao, based in Chengdu

Cat At Home is a story-based 2D side-scrolling puzzle game featuring a cat as the main character. The game takes place in a villa, where players assume the role of a cat that has just entered the house. As a cat, players can meet animals with different personalities, solve one problem after another, and ultimately resolve a crisis that has emerged at home.

Mentor: Poornima Seetharaman

Manisha Pathania, based in Kharar

Chakra Chronicles will use the game development engines Unity and Unreal to bring its mythological world to life. Players, acting as the protagonist Arin, will master Chakra-based powers while navigating immersive levels, solving puzzles, and battling Asuras—malevolent beings from a shadow realm. In a world inspired by ancient Indian mythology, the land of Aryavarta (upper dimension) thrives on the balance of Chakra energies. This balance is disrupted when the Asuras breach the barrier between worlds.

Mentor: Yasemin Günay

Cristina Mariana Venancio Nieto, based in São Paulo, Brazil

Roller Heist is an action heist game in which players use roller skates and a paintball gun to recover pieces looted from their native countries during the period of colonisation that are now on display in European museums. The idea is to skate through museums, avoid security guards, and return pieces to their original location while moving around in style.

Mentor: Sithe Ncube

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Cindy Sasaki, based in São Paulo, Brazil

Our Arms, Your Home is a 2.5D, relaxing cooking, interactive fiction game in which players help in the kitchen at Anastácia’s guest house while also helping to manage the small business and its loyal guests. This game aims to showcase the richness of Brazilian culture, formed by a blend of indigenous traditions and influences from all over the world, through the preparation of various dishes from Brazilians’ daily routine and the experience of a tasteful and nostalgic narrative.

Mentor: Chriss Vasquez

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Florencia Sampietro, based in Buenos Aires, Argentina

Demeter: The Harvest Dies With You is a visual novel based on Greek Mythology for PC and Mac. Players are meant to follow Demeter as she searches for her daughter, looking for clues in point and click segments and making choices that change the outcome of the story.

Mentor: Yasemin Günay

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Nathaly Kalantar, based in Lima, Peru

Perú Party VR is a Peruvian dancing virtual reality videogame that seeks to share more about the country’s musical diversity to the world, by making people dance in immersive Peruvian sceneries. This project works with independent singers from Peru who create ‘fusion’ genres, also known as combinations of modern and traditional rhythms of Peruvian folklore music. Players are meant to dance along to songs in a 3D world and beat their own score.

Mentor: Violetta Leoni

Aluta Null, based in Johannesburg, South Africa

The Bill Of Rites is a 2D platformer about the struggle between entitlement and survival. Players control a zombie-like girl chasing a bill of money, symbolising the elusive pursuit of financial success. Set in a surreal, shifting world, the game challenges players to manage energy and face systemic obstacles. It explores themes of endurance, sacrifice, and rebellion. The title plays on South Africa’s Bill of Rights, reimagining survival as a painful journey marked by systemic barriers.

Mentor: Sithe Ncube

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Beauty Anyanwu, based in Abuja, Nigeria

Up You Go is a 3D parkour platformer featuring a fearless female adventurer navigating blocks, and containers to reach towering heights. Each level offers environments challenging players’ creativity and adaptability with progressively difficult terrains. The game blends strategic platforming with an immersive atmosphere that evolves with each stage, encouraging exploration and skilful navigation in an ever-changing world.

Mentor: Allison Yang Jing

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Estelle Makhoba, based in Pretoria, South Africa

Dungeon Crawler is an Action Role-Playing Game in which players assume the role of a baby trapped in their own daycare dungeon. By utilising their imagination, players can bridge the gap between reality and fantasy, solving intricate puzzles, and stopping a goblin horde.

Mentor: Dasha Nasonova