Sublime.

It was so good to see all of you. Many new friends, many familiar faves. Thank you for bringing enough warmth and energy to power the Amsterdam summer for a few more days. We summoned the most chaotic edition of UGE yet.

More chaos is imminent. [Switches to “Monster Voice Effect”] Watch your inboxes for a special announcement later this week. UGE #9 will unfold across September 18 to 20.

Photographic highlights above and below thanks to Chris Chen, Darya Andijan, and Puck Verras.

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 #8

• Future? No Thanks!, by Molleindustria

• VisunovOS, by Alexandria van Eekelen

  • You can read a digital version of Lexie’s publication CLICKY! here on itch.

• coalescent || tidal rapture, by Hatim Benhsain and Hanwen Xu

• Brand Nacht, by Evita Julia

• The Mzansi Climate Justice Game Jam, by Internet Teapot

• Unruly, Undead, Un Un: a place safe from all of this chaos, by Riccardo Santalucia

  • You can watch the film here until the end of August!

• Thanks to the 50 Unread Messages team for bringing back (by popular demand!) their dance game “Project Acro”

• Thanks to Niek and Timo for showing us Kippen, their cute new card game. Coming soon to a UGE lineup ;)

• There were two other prototypes: RSP: Protocol and another whose name we didn’t catch (apologies!). If you were showing these games, please get in touch and we’ll add links!

Community updates

• Pigeon: A Love Story (UGE #3, March 2026) is out now! The Amsterdam map made it to 1.0!

• Plum Road Tea Dream (UGE #2, Feb 2026) is out!

  • The Plum Road Tea Dream theater performance is back at the Brakke Grond on Sunday 6 September. The performance will be in English. Highly recommend checking this out!

  • Creator Samuel Baidoo will also be part of a group show, “The Nature of Remembering”, at W139 from 4 September onwards.

• Our friends at the Benelux Speedrunner Gathering (UGE #5, May 2026) just wrapped a successful BSG 2026 Annual! They raised €7,868 for Stichting Mind.

• UGE fam Thijs (UGE#2, Feb 2026) and Alessia have announced “Be Our Quest”, a new radio show featuring monthly conversations on games as a material, social, and cultural practice. Episode 1 drops soon - follow them on Instagram!

• Jana Romanova (UGE #5, May 2026) is mentoring an in-person larp game jam at Nerdlab in Gent, Belgium. Consider applying! It’s fully funded, with accommodation, food and travel covered. This is part of a longer project, “Long Distance Larping”, that Puck Verras (UGE #6, June 2026) helps organize via Sickhouse.

Recommendations from edition #8

• Brandmeester is a really interesting new documentary about Amsterdam’s fire service, and the deep-rooted stickiness of its male-dominated “old-guard” work culture.

• The ultimate “undisciplined feeling” game might be Natasha Sebben’s upcoming Psychotic Bathtub.

• If you’re interested in “realistic” solarpunk world-building after Paolo’s talk and playing Future? No Thanks!, check out this book on the architecture of housing co-ops.

• Lexie recommends Electric Zine Maker for all your freaky zine needs.

Until the 18th of September,

[uge]