Parlour games 2.0

Save Hamburg of the future from the consequences of climate change with a virtual following. Or perhaps you'd rather be part of a memorable performance in the mansion of the greatest magician of all time? Sounds crazy? It is - and therefore highly recommended! As part of this year's "VRHAM!" festival, students from the Ernst Busch Hochschule in Berlin and three young up-and-coming artists from France are presenting two extraordinary VR works. The two residencies were organised by "VRHAM!", Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein and the EU project "Create Converge" - the winners can now be seen at the festival from 7 to 9 June (Cocotte-Minute) and 10 June (BE B:E:R:N:D). The special thing for both groups: they received a week of support in advance from virtual reality professionals Salt & Pepper Hamburg and VR pioneer and artist Michel Reilhac. This gave both groups almost a week to work on the story, dramaturgy and realisation and to perfect their projects with external input.

BE B:E:R:N:D

The game, whose name came about by chance during a chat, mixes virtual reality, augmented reality and text-based retro adventure to create a new gaming experience. Developed by students at the Ernst Busch Drama School, the story is actually set in Berlin. For VRHAM, however, the action was relocated to Hamburg. The task: to do nothing less than protect the beautiful Hanseatic city from the consequences of climate change. The playing field consists of a map of Hamburg, over which the character moves to various locations during the course of the game to solve tasks. The game is played by four people, with each participant receiving different information. For example, one of the players plays the navigator, who carries instructions from a screen to the group, while someone else with VR glasses immerses themselves in the augmented reality world and sees things that remain hidden from the other players. Teamwork is therefore required to successfully master the game.

Cocotte-Minute" by three up-and-coming artists Gabrielle Roque, Louis Wade and Teddy Aymard from France is not a game, but rather an interactive narrative. A film noir trip with VR glasses, in which you are drawn directly into the story as a character. You take on the role of an illusionist, clairvoyant, hypnotist, journalist or pickpocket and explore six areas of a magical mansion. Participants must decide whether to follow the main story or be guided by the numerous subplots. However, it is impossible to explore everything as a character. In this way, all participants have their own personal, immersive VR real-time narrative.