Bologna Game Farm, Emilia-Romagna’s public accelerator for B2C video games, has confirmed its participation once again this year in First Playable, Italy’s leading business event dedicated to the video games sector, scheduled to take place in Florence from 10 to 12 June 2026, organised by IIDEA and the Toscana Film Commission – Fondazione Sistema Toscana, with the support of the Region of Tuscany, in collaboration with the ICE Agency and with the backing of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
Bologna Game Farm will be present on 11 and 12 June with a dedicated stand in the exhibition spaces at the Palazzo degli Affari in Florence (Ground Floor Meeting Area – Table 9): a meeting point designed to provide direct insight into Bologna Game Farm, organise targeted meetings, encourage networking, discover new talent and develop new opportunities for collaboration.
On Friday 12 June at 2.30 pm, a talk entitled ‘Bologna Game Farm: Method, Results and Prospects’ will take place, during which the development of the project will be discussed, focusing on the methodology applied over the past five years, the results achieved and future prospects. The event will also feature a presentation of the eight winning video games from the sixth edition of the competition – the first to run over a two-year period – which were recently selected following the completion of the evaluation stages.
The Bologna Game Farm 2026 call for proposals, now in its sixth edition and with a regional focus, was open this year to businesses, freelancers and, for the first time, also to associations and individuals, with the aim of engaging and promoting the creative and design skills of professionals, students and enthusiasts who form part of the Emilia-Romagna gaming ecosystem.
A total of 31 applications were submitted from across Emilia-Romagna; this is the highest number of proposals received to date.
This edition will run over a two-year period and will be structured as a two-phase programme, co-funded by the Emilia-Romagna Region using ERDF 2021–2027 funds. The first phase, which will officially begin in June with the pre-acceleration programme and run until October 2026, will support the eight projects in developing a vertical slice, a presentation pitch, a business plan and a launch strategy. Subsequently, two teams will be selected who, in 2027, will carry out the full development of the video game and its launch plan, receiving a non-repayable grant of 15,000 euros each. Once again for this edition, the programme – which will take place at Le Serre di ART-ER – will include ‘open’ acceleration days for the regional gaming ecosystem and Open Days.
Below are the descriptions of the eight winning video games from the sixth and latest edition:
The video game “Poker Monsters” by Andrea Busani (Reggio Emilia) is a roguelike deck-builder for PC in which the player faces a series of battles against iconic monsters that pop up from the adventure book, positioned on the other side of the table. To tackle these challenges, the player will use strategy, magic stamps and a group of charming and heroic adventurers, who also appear in a pop-up style.
The video game “Mirror” by Elena Felici (Bologna) is a minimalist co-operative puzzle platformer featuring split-screen gameplay, in which two players navigate mirror-image environments within a single view, using their own skills and helping one another to reach the end of the level. The game stems from the idea of exploring collaboration as a form of inner dialogue: the two protagonists represent the two sides of the same coin, inspired by the concepts of Yin and Yang and the contrast between logic and emotion.
The video game “Box Box Box!” by Paolo D’Alessandro (Parma) is a single-player management game in which you run a racing team in a championship, where drivers make mistakes, cars break down and unexpected twists turn the standings on their head. The player is in charge of a team, with the aim of winning the championship by accumulating as many points as possible during the races.
The video game “Project: Ascesis” by Alessandro Agresta (Bologna) is a first-person horror-puzzle game in which the player can switch at any time between two realities: the real world and a mysterious metagame created by the protagonist’s wife. This duality is used to uncover hidden clues, solve complex puzzles and piece together a story rich in mystery, memories and secrets, all in the quest to uncover the truth behind the death of the protagonist’s wife.
The video game “In your light” by Pier Luigi Caracò (Bologna) is a 2D dark fantasy narrative adventure for PC. The player guides a father on the run with his son Aù, who is bound to a mysterious Light, through a post-apocalyptic world that has descended into a neo-medieval era following the collapse of a technologically advanced civilisation. At the heart of the game is the use of the Light as a narrative mechanic: it serves to reveal passages, activate environmental elements, confront threats and solve puzzles.
The video game “The Gaze” by Lorenzo Morselli (Reggio Emilia) is a first-person narrative horror experience in which the player takes on the role of a blind protagonist. The core of the gameplay lies in the sensory reconstruction of spaces: every interaction with the environment generates temporary textual ‘overlays’ that describe what is perceived through touch, smell and taste. These visual cues allow the player to mentally map the darkness, transforming memories into spatial coordinates. The experience is underpinned by a fundamental audio element, which acts as a perceptual compass.
The video game “A Perfect Location” by Alberto Calleo (Bologna) is a horror game that alternates between top-down navigation and first-person exploration. The player takes on the role of a location scout hired by a B-movie horror production company to photograph a list of locations for their next film. Players must drive to the specified locations, take the required photos and deliver the material.
The video game “Tarot Requiem” by Eugenia Carraro (Bologna) is a turn-based roguelike deck-building game in which the player controls Caelum, a spirit who summons the Arcana, trapped in the Astraverse: a symbolic plane governed by the archetypes of the Tarot and corrupted by a chaotic force known as the Entropico. The gameplay is entirely based on Tarot cards, including both Major and Minor Arcana.
Since 2021, Bologna Game Farm has been a project aimed at developing video game prototypes and product commercialisation plans, promoted by the Emilia-Romagna Region and the City of Bologna, coordinated by the City of Bologna and implemented with ART-ER as part of initiatives to support the cultural and creative industries, in collaboration with IncrediBOL!.
The objectives of Bologna Game Farm are to foster the growth of new professional skills and the development of video game products, whilst promoting links between the gaming sector and other productive sectors across the country within the innovation ecosystem.
“After five editions – three regional and two national – Bologna Game Farm has established itself as a well-established, nationwide project that has so far seen the selection and acceleration of 34 video games, including six already released on the market and others due for release shortly. The role of Bologna City Council and the Region as the creators and organisers of this initiative is fundamental to fostering relationships and synergies amongst all stakeholders in the ecosystem,” says Rosa Grimaldi, the Mayor’s Representative for Creative and Cultural Industries.
Thanks to its consistent participation in the sector’s most important international trade fairs, the project has also established itself at European level as a partner in networks comprising gaming incubators and accelerators.
For further information, please write to: bolognagamefarm@comune.bologna.it