Euphoric.

Thank you for being there. Thank you for being YOU. Edition number six was fabulous, golden, and impossible to sum up.

It was such a joy to share BIG CAKE with you all. Happy birthday, Joe! Thanks also to Audrey for the delicious cookies, and to Pearse for bringing Cody’s scrumptious croissants.

One last summer blast next month before we take a short break. DO NOT MISS UGE #7 on Sunday 12 July.

Photographic highlights are above and below, with thanks to Yan Cong and Pearse Anderson.

You can also follow and gossip about us on Instagram and Bluesky. Feedback keeps UGE vital, so if you have any thoughts, we would really, truly appreciate hearing from you.

Works featured in edition #6

• Beware of the Cartographer! by Quentin Vijoux and Tohu Bohu Games

  • If you read French, check out Quentin’s latest graphic novel, La Sculptrice

  • You can find some of his other books at the Amsterdam francophone bookstore La librairie du chat noir (Rijnstraat 14)

• Travelling Light by Studio IDUN (releasing October 2026!)

• Ghost Rococó by Lucas Lugarinho — this one was a UGE exclusive. Don’t worry, we’ll bring Lucas back ;)

• For a Moment by Flin van Asperen and Fanaar Rashid

  • Also check out Fanaar’s new game Potluck!, which will be shown at HKU Exposure in Utrecht on 26-27 June.

• Puck Verras

  • Don’t miss Puck’s graduation show June 25-28 at HKU Utrecht! Tickets here.

  • You can read Puck’s thesis, W(O)ANDERING WORLDS, here…

  • …and you can sign up for the Long Distance LARPing / VR workshop weekend she talked about here! This is 3-5 July.
    

Community updates

• 18 June, 6pm+ | *Hit Lag is a new series of collective gameplay sessions, hosted by artist Sara Fumaça at the Sandberg Instituut. The first session will feature Fumito Ueda’s ICO. RSVP here.

  • This feels especially poignant with the recent announcement of Ueda’s new game. Not sure yet how we feel about him making a shooty-shoot gun game.

• Thijs van Loenhout (Benches, UGE #2, Feb 2026) gave a talk at GodotCon Amsterdam on embracing “seamful” design. You can now watch it on YouTube.

• Designer Pearse Anderson is running a few games this month: The Game of Midsummer Feasts, a culinary history TTRPG, on 21 June (afternoon), and Torn History, something “unique and strange”, on 24 June (evening).

• Plum Road Tea Dream (UGE #2, Feb 2026) has a release window! “July 2026”. Just put a giant red circle around the entire month to play UGE's GOTY.

• Game Poems Magazine Issue 2 is now accepting submissions. Deadline is 1 July. Issue 2 will be featured in a future UGE!

• Our friends at the Vondelbunker have a date set for edition #2 of Indie Bunker: 2 July, 7pm onwards. More details on their Instagram soon.

Recommendations from edition #6

• Manifesto Jam 2026 on Itch: incredible collection of manifestos on the state of games in 2026. So many highlights, just follow your heart and read them all.

• MAKE GAMES! Show them at UGE! Consider using:

  • Wareware.rip (the creators will be speaking at UGE soon)

  • flickgame.org (here’s a fun example)

  • VisunovOS

• Map Map: A Game About Maps: you’ll never guess what this game is about (spoiler: it’s maps)

• I AM NOT WHAT REMAINS might scratch the same psychedelic nightmare space as Ghost Rococó

• Queering the Map, a community-driven “counter-mapping” platform with queer stories from the world. Often moving, powerful, and emotional.

• “Interactive Propaganda: The Historical Revisionism of First-Person Shooters”, by Data Male — “interesting video essay, connected to Ghost Rococó.”

• The Amsterdam Board Game Design Prototyping Night happens regularly at the OBA near Centraal station. Next one is 25 June!

Until the 12th of July.
Happy Pride Month, everyone 🏳️‍⚧️🌈✨

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