Nils Deneken

Nils Deneken is part of the studio Die Gute Fabrik, who are responsible for games like Where is my Heart?, Sportfriends, and Johann Sebastian Joust. Their new creation Mutazione is nominated for the A MAZE. Awards 2020. Enjoy the interview.

A MAZE.: How would you describe yourself?
Nils Deneken: Around 1,85 tall, 40 years, brown receding hair, blue eyes, big nose.

A MAZE.: Are you a wild heart? If yes, what makes you think you’re a wild heart?
Nils Deneken: No, but I’d like to think I am.

Nils Deneken

A MAZE.: Why did you start making games or playful media works?
Nils Deneken: Games are still so unexplored and filled with possibilities to create something new. It’s a field where we can still be part of defining its language, which feels pretty exciting to me.

A MAZE.: Who (or what) is your biggest inspiration? Think beyond games too - musicians, writers, filmmakers, artists, scientists, …
Nils Deneken: I don’t really know how to answer this question without sounding like a 40 year old fan boy, which is just too sad.

A MAZE.: Where can we find this in your work?
Nils Deneken: Maybe if you take a closer look at Mutazione you can tell me and I can tell you if you’re right.

A MAZE.: What message(s) are you sending out with your works?
Nils Deneken: Make love, not war. Oh, and also: take care of our planet, it’s only borrowed.

A MAZE.: Is there a repeating pattern in all of your works the players may experience?
Nils Deneken: Yeah, I’m good at creating a mood.

A MAZE.: What influences your work more: Past (history), present (contemporary) or future (scifi) and what are your sources?
Nils Deneken: I guess that depends on the project. I do like to draw influences from past styles though. Here it’s more obvious which designs have survived to become classics and which ones were just sins of their time.

A MAZE.: What does responsibility towards your players mean to you as an artist?
Nils Deneken: There are so many layers of responsibility when creating a game, I don’t know where to start.

SCreenshot of Mutazione

A MAZE.: What impact is the current pandemic having on you and your work?
Nils Deneken: I worked less since we had the children at home during the lockdown. Can’t say how or if it will impact my work on a deeper level yet.

A MAZE.: If there is something wrong in the field of games / playful media, what would you fix first?
Nils Deneken: I’d like to “fix” the public perception of what games can be, that there’s a wide range of games that cater to different tastes, just like film and literature does. I want games to be judged and discussed with a similar ambition and critical vocabulary as those other art forms, even if that means that the games we perceive as the pinnacles of this medium will get slaughtered. I want a critical discourse about games that doesn’t only focus on game mechanics, but the whole experience. I believe that this kind of recognition would challenge game creators, have them reflect over their work on a different level and push them in new interesting directions.

A MAZE.: What are the three games someone who never played a game before should play? Why those?
Nils Deneken: I often asked myself the same question and this is my unfortunate conclusion: People that have never played a game are normally not interested in games. They will not care about our masterpiece game suggestions. I might be wrong in a few cases though, so here are suggestions of awesome games for three different types of non- gamers: Kentucky Route Zero, QWOP, Proteus

A MAZE.: How do you relax and find balance?
Nils Deneken: Relax: walk, explore, garden, listening to music while cooking, watching, reading, playing Balance: work - family - friends - alone time; move - rest

A MAZE.: What are the main challenges for artists in your country to sustain themselves?
Nils Deneken: I have no idea, I don’t know that many artists.

A MAZE.: How do you see interactive arts in 10 years from now? In 2030! Tell us your vision.
Nils Deneken: The year is 2030. The world is ruled by a few tech corporations who own and trade in everyone’s personal data. The majority of the planet’s wealth and resources are controlled by 0.5 percent of the world’s population… hmm, seems like not much has changed in the last 10 years. Sorry…

SCreenshot of Mutazione