This week Trift 32 is a games lab. At “Game Jam! Turn your art into a game”, young people are developing their own digital games, and their heroine lived in Celle Castle more than 300 years ago. On Sunday, 18 October, from 6 pm they will show what has come of it.
The theme of the week was kept secret until the start. On the second day it was revealed: Sophia Dorothea, the princess from Celle. At the Residenzmuseum in Celle Castle, Juliane Schmieglitz-Otten told the participants who once lived in the castle, what roles people played at court and what they went through. The young people brought their cameras and captured rooms, details and impressions that are now the starting point for their own ideas.
From photo to game
Back at Trift 32 all of this turns into art. The participants draw and paint characters, sets and objects, which are then digitised and built into a game. From photo to sketch, from sketch to painting, from painting to a playable game.
Three groups are working on three different games. They are supported by Katharina Gröschner, Andreas Scherren and Laura Malavé, who bring their experience in game design and game development.
Three groups, three games: brainstorming at Trift 32. Photo: Zandra Gröschner Rico del Valle
Behind the scenes
Nobody builds good games on an empty stomach. That is why three volunteers shop every day and cook fresh meals for the whole group.
Ludmila Volk, Maria Guadalupe Hirsh and Alwin Gröschner cook fresh for the group every day. Photo: Zandra Gröschner Rico del Valle
Come along and play
On Sunday, 18 October 2026, from 6 pm the young people will present their three games at Trift 32. Everyone is welcome to play the games, look at the artworks and talk to the young developers. Admission is free.
The Game Jam is funded by the programme “Wir können Kunst” of the Federal Association of Visual Artists (BBK) as part of “Kultur macht stark. Bündnisse für Bildung” of the Federal Ministry of Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth. Partners are the Oberschule Westercelle and the Residenzmuseum in Celle Castle. Thanks also to the district of Celle for its support.
Cover photo: inspiration day at the Residenzmuseum in Celle Castle, the Game Jam participants with Juliane Schmieglitz-Otten. Photo: Zandra Gröschner Rico del Valle
About the project