City of Dreams and Fears – Learning Sessions

The Goethe-Institut Hongkong and the French Consulate of Hong Kong are excited to partner with the School of Creative Media, the City University of Hong Kong for the project “City of Dreams and Fears”. This initiative explores games as a powerful medium to narrate and represent futuristic visions of cities, their urban spaces, icons, and histories through innovative game mechanics and world-building. The project is co-funded by the Franco-German Cultural Fund.

The project consists of two parts: Learning Sessions, where interdisciplinary lecturers, workshops and activities are organised to provide inspiration and reflection on contemporary societal, environmental and political issues; and a 48-hour Game Jam where participants are invited to co-create storyboards and game prototypes that reflect on cities as shared spaces and address ecological and social challenges of modern urban life.

More information about the project here.

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HONG KONG APOCALYPSE: Worldbuilding Workshop Experience

Date: 31 October 2025 (Friday)

Time: 15:00 - 17:00

Venue: Room M6075, Level 6, Run Run Shaw Creative Media Centre, City University of Hong Kong.

Facilitator: Jing Wong

Maximum capacity: 25

Inspired by 'The Quiet Year', Jing adapted this real time map drawing world building game to a post-apocalyptic Hong Kong context, adding a narrative twist to it by assigning a role of a Reporter to each team, and for better or worse build a better world or live a nightmare in this parallel universe.

Jing Wong is a Transmedia Storyteller, who graduated from Central St. Martin College of Art & Design (First Honours) and Central School of Speech and Drama in Theatre Design & Directing respectively. He created Fashion Theatre brand Daydream Nation with his sister and won Italy Inside White Award. He joined indie music label People Mountain People Sea in 2010 and Frenzi Music in 2017, played at Music Festivals such as the Clockenflap and Adelaide’s OzAsia Festival in 2016, Seoul's Zandari Festival in 2017 etc. and released 7 Albums. Jing also created Music Theatre Monologue “A Spy in the House of Love” in 2018 at Art Centre, and Music x Tap x Theatre production “The Drifters” at Hong Kong Cultural Centre with HAB’s Arts Capacity Fund in 2021. He’s now doing a PhD at City University on Immersive Interactive Storytelling, and created his Game Theatre production “A Joyful Christmas on Doughnut Island” in 2024. He is now developing a new game theatre production “When the World is Your Enemy” inspired by world-building games.

Enrollment: https://forms.gle/UEdPFytumdNWpjN88

Enrollment deadline: 29 October 2025

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Paths of Play and Possibility: Sharing sessions by Game Jam mentors

Date: 5 November 2025 (Wednesday)

Time: 15:00 - 18:00

Venue: M6050, Level 6, Run Run Shaw Creative Media Centre, City University of Hong Kong.

15:00
Alternative Controls
Speaker: Emilie Breslavetz

Alternative controllers are original, handcrafted gaming interfaces siding between video games and digital arts. Their design, manufacturing, and distribution methods differ greatly from those of the industry. A closer look at this alternative way of creating and thinking about video games that opens new paths to playfulness.

Emilie Breslavetz is a game designer and playful artist making experimental video games, alternative controllers and interactive installations. In her work, she combines game development with digital and artisanal manufacturing methods such as woodworking, electronics, sewing, hacking, misuse, etc. to create tangible, analog and interactive devices, therefore opening up to a new range of creative and fun possibilities in the field of digital arts.

16:00
Mechanical Storytelling
Speaker: Henrike Lode

Great game stories don’t just happen in cutscenes - they live in the mechanics. Narrative design is about more than words; it’s about shaping player actions, controls, and feedback to make emotions tangible. In this talk, we’ll explore how mechanics can carry meaning through examples like Florence, Papers, Please, and Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, where systems evoke feelings of love, loss, and moral tension. You’ll leave with practical insights on using mechanics, UI, and diegetic design to tell stories that players don’t just watch - they live.

Henrike Lode (aka Riker) is a narrative game designer obsessed with mechanical storytelling, diegesis, and transformative text. Riker is Game Director at ALL DAY ALL NIGHT and previously served as Lead Game Designer on Nyamakop’s upcoming title Relooted. Riker has lectured on Game Design at universities in South Africa and Europe, holds a Master’s in Game Design from ITU Copenhagen, and has participated in 40 game jams, including co-organizing the Nordic Game Jam for five years.

17:00
Mystical Interface
Speaker: Hochi Lau

As technology becomes more obscure and intuitive, there are gaps in understanding that are bridged by magic and imagination, there is also more room for interpretations in how any tool delivers what it promises. This talk looks into magical tools, ritual tools, and modern tools to think about the functional, symbolic, and faith value embedded in the tools.

Lau Hochi is an interdisciplinary artist that creates devices and situations. He is interested in how interfaces organize and pace everyday life. He creates situations that examine and aestheticise the everyday experiences. His works were shown in LA Artcore, Japan Media Art Festival, Ars Electronica Festival, Sónar Festival, and Miller Institute for Contemporary Art.

Registration: https://forms.gle/kKGeJ9X9BYMJJZmh8

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Game Jam

Application Deadline: September 30th 14:00 HKT

Accepted applications will be notified by mid-October via email.

Project Details: https://tinyurl.com/cdfhk2025

Requirements

• To be at least 18 years old
• Willingness and commitment to participate and contribute to your team
• Respect the Code of Conduct & Content Policy
• Openness to working together with your teammates and mentor to continue building your prototype after the Game Jam
• Participation in the closing presentation this December to share your team’s work with the public

Mentors

Emilie Breslavetz

Henrike Lode

Lau Hochi

Organizers

Goethe-Institut Hongkong

Consulate General of France in Hong Kong & Macau

School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong

The Deutsch-Französischer Kulturfonds / Fonds culturel franco-allemand