The tradition of violin-making, the art of oratory, folklore tales, the Val Camonica, the Divine Comedy and the massacre of Kefalonia. These are the themes of the projects selected from among the 18 submitted to the fifth edition of Bologna Game Farm, the video game competition dedicated this year to promoting Italy’s cultural heritage.
The call for entries, open for the second consecutive year to studios across Italy, is organised in collaboration with the City of Bologna’s House of Emerging Technologies (CTE COBO), thanks to funding made available to beneficiaries by the Metropolitan City of Bologna.
The call forms part of the broader framework of the national ‘House of Emerging Technologies’ project promoted by MIMIT and involves a partnership between the Houses in Bologna, Matera and Pesaro, with the aim of broadening the scope and effectiveness of the Bologna Game Farm@CTE COBO 2024 call. This marks an important first collaboration between the Hubs and the local authorities participating in the national initiative, building on the strategy implemented by MIMIT to strengthen the public ecosystem supporting the emergence of new, highly innovative entrepreneurship.
“Bologna Game Farm has provided the impetus for the creation and consolidation of a regional ecosystem supporting the video games sector: the establishment of specific two-year ITS courses to train professionals in the gaming sector, alongside partnerships with Unibo, Unimore, ABABO and private companies in the sector, make it a one-of-a-kind project. The partnership with CTE COBO and the other three CTE centres has enabled us to give it an even broader national reach. Furthermore, thanks to its regular participation in the most important international trade fairs, Bologna Game Farm has become part of international networks comprising other incubators and accelerators, with regular meetings for discussion and cross-pitching sessions between teams accelerated by BGF and those from other accelerators,” says Rosa Grimaldi, delegate for Cultural and Creative Industries for the Municipality and Metropolitan City of Bologna.
The video game proposals presented by the winning teams were varied and particularly original. They are:
“Beatrix”, by Tambù Srl (Milan): a narrative B2C video game for PC that reinterprets the Divine Comedy from an innovative female perspective. The player, taking on the role of Beatrice, travels through settings inspired by 14th-century Italy and its iconic locations, featuring architectural and artistic elements that evoke carefully reinterpreted late medieval works and frescoes. The narrative is enriched by quotations and characters drawn from Dante’s work and Christian mythology. The setting evokes not only the beauty of Italian art but also the historical and cultural context that inspired it, reinforcing the link between tradition and innovation.
“Hyperarousal”, by AION Interactive Srl (Milan): a first-person psychological video game set in Val Camonica, combining exploration, cosmic horror and non-linear historical storytelling. The game allows players to experience the world through the dreams of the protagonist, Garlo, a young man who returns to his family home to rediscover his roots. In these dreams, the player travels through crucial periods in the area’s history (from the Chalcolithic period to the Second World War), exploring real-life locations reconstructed using advanced technologies such as photogrammetry.
“Super Sofia”, by Mash & Co Srl (Taormina): a 2D side-scrolling platform video game for children, combining adventure, culture and fantasy. In each story, Sofia – a young girl in a wheelchair – and her friends help the protagonists of the legends fulfil their destinies by solving puzzles and overcoming obstacles. From Colapesce to Emepdocle and on to Sikelia, the stories collected by the great folklorist Giuseppe Pitrè come to life again in Super Sofia, transformed into interactive and engaging experiences.
“Rome: City of Cards”, by Open Lab Srl (Florence): this is a management and strategy video game set in late Republican Rome, combining city-building mechanics with a political card game. The player takes on the role of a freedman administrator, tasked with managing the city during a complex and dynamic period. The game is divided into two phases: in the Senate, players engage in debates using a card system inspired by Roman rhetoric (Cicero in particular) to secure funding and approvals; in the second phase, they move on to carrying out public works, managing infrastructure such as aqueducts, bridges and sewers, whilst facing political obstacles and conflicts with powerful senatorial families.
“Stray Company: the long road of Acqui survivors”, by BM Interactive (Marco Bianchi, Cagliari): this is a virtual reality video game that recounts the escape of a group of Italian soldiers from the Acqui Division who survived the massacre at Kefalonia, which took place after the armistice of 8 September 1943. The protagonists make their way clandestinely up the Italian peninsula, moving behind enemy lines and engaging in guerrilla warfare against the retreating German forces. The player leads the company through a series of scenarios set in realistic locations (a hill, a farm, a village) that represent the symbolic stages of their journey through occupied Italy.
“Thrill Seeker”, by Audiozone Studios Srls (Piacenza): a 3D musical video game set in a suspended past, inspired by 18th-century Cremona, the birthplace of the great violin-making tradition.
The game aims to showcase Cremonese violin-making, recognised by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, through an immersive experience that combines rhythm and hand-drawn illustrations.
At the heart of the game lies an innovative rhythmic mechanic: the player moves in sync with the soundtrack, and the entire game world follows the beat of the music. The player’s actions generate notes and sound fragments in real time, drawn from traditional Cremonese stringed instruments, transforming the gameplay into a living, interactive musical performance.
Bologna Game Farm@CTE COBO 2025 reaffirms the commitment to fostering links between the video games sector, other productive sectors across the country and key players in the innovation ecosystem.
The video games market in Italy continues the positive trend seen in recent years. In 2024, the sector’s turnover grew by +3 per cent, reaching nearly 2.4 billion euros. The Italian industry is also in good health: compared with 2023, the number of companies has risen (+25 per cent), the number of employees has grown to 2,800 (+17 per cent) and the turnover of Italian companies has increased (+36 per cent). (Source: IIDEA, ‘Video Games in Italy in 2024’).
Emilia-Romagna is the second Italian region in terms of the number of development studios, after Lombardy, and the video game development sector forms part of the regional development strategies set out in the 2021–2027 S3 plan, within the framework of support for the cultural and creative industries.
This year’s call for proposals focused on video games that promote cultural heritage – both tangible and intangible – specifically those whose aim and purpose is to raise awareness of cultural heritage itself, with verifiable content (for example, literary works, the performing arts, music and cinema).
The call for proposals awards non-repayable grants in the form of expense reimbursements to companies and freelancers for the development of video games, totalling one hundred and fifty thousand euros.
In addition to the grant of 25,000 euros, the winners will be supported through a mentoring programme developed in collaboration with IIDEA, the trade association for the video games industry in Italy and the project’s technical partner. The Bologna Game Farm accelerator is based at the Serre di ART-ER in Bologna’s Giardini Margherita, an inspiring and functional space dedicated to innovative start-ups and serving as a hub for the regional ecosystem supporting business creation.
Bologna Game Farm is the gaming industry accelerator promoted by the Emilia-Romagna Region and the City of Bologna, an initiative coordinated by the City of Bologna and implemented with ART-ER as part of measures to support the cultural and creative industries, in collaboration with IncrediBOL! and with technical support from IIDEA, the Italian Interactive Digital Entertainment Association. A growing project: the first four editions successfully selected and accelerated twenty development teams comprising companies and freelancers: fourteen from Emilia-Romagna and six from across the country. Three of them have already signed a publishing deal, whilst the others are continuing with development with a view to self-publishing.
In the coming years, Bologna Game Farm, coordinated by the City of Bologna and co-funded by and working in partnership with the Emilia-Romagna region, will continue to support the video game development sector, establishing itself as a tangible professional opportunity within the cultural and creative sectors.