COLLIDERS is our monthly meet-up for playful makers, enthusiasts, producers, artists, curators, and all people interested in game making. At Colliders we brainstorm, present our progress, give feedback, enjoy creations and, of course, we play!

Colliders purpose is to develop a local network around indie/arthouse game makers and playful artists. With Colliders, we want to support each other and create more opportunities for collaborations and exchange. 

Register here to receive the newsletter, let us know if you are coming or reserve a place to present your work.

Colliders has a different theme and game selection for each month. Stay tuned to know the theme, games and presentations of July.

📅 WHEN: Thursday 13th of November
📍 LOCATION: GrensFrequentie, Muziekkwartier 3rd floor, Willem Wilminkplein 1, 7511 PG Enschede
🕡 TIME: 18:30 to 22:00
Free entrance!

COLLIDERS playful makers meet-up

https://sickhouse.creativefunding.nl/project/crowdfunding



In the last two years, Sickhouse has had to relocate several times (sometimes right after our plans for the new building were finalized!) During this period, we’ve run our program at temporary locations from generous partners. Our strong and wonderful community 💜 has followed us through this challenging nomadic adventure, but we have really missed a home! This year, we have finally secured a permanent location, but we need your help to open its doors!

The discovery of asbestos in the building meant a huge setback. Paying for its removal drained our budget. Now that the asbestos is almost gone and we’re allowed back inside, we need your help to afford the much-needed renovations so we can open our doors at the beginning of 2026!


Through this campaign, we want to raise €30.000 to finish building our home. Your support will help us to:

: Installing new doors, isolating walls, and double glass so concerts, screenings and festivals can run without disturbing our neighbors.

and heating so we can welcome everyone in a safe environment.

creating suitable spaces for our artists in residency, a flexible stage that can host our many different events (live music, meet-ups, exhibitions), and a fun, safe, and welcoming public area for our community.

Every euro you donate brings us closer to opening our doors so we can host exhibitions, film screenings, concerts, game events, festivals, residencies, meet-ups and more all year long! We want Sickhouse to be a warm, flexible and safe space for a playful, adventurous, engaged and queer-friendly community. Will you help us build this space?

Our Crowdfunding is Running!

This week Shaman Garage is presenting their new project, 

, an arcade machine inspired by slot machines mixed with a post social media imaginary. This project is supported by Cross-Tic, Planetart and Sickhouse.



 is an installation that tricks its users to invest time in a simple yet addictive game. Through this altar, players worship a living imagery that demands frustration, competition, and obsession. It will keep you wanting to start over, never leaving the machine. Shaman garage invites us to “play” at doomscrolling. Is it fun? Using classical game mechanics “difficulty levels, frustrations and rewards” 

 highlights how these are very close to the ones used on social media platforms and how they become addictive. 

In this playful installation, Shaman Garage wanted to reflect on the context we understand social media, the narratives it generates and the behaviors it forces on us. While the arcade reproduces the addictive mechanics of money driven social media, fooling the players in mini feedback loops; it is also presented as an object of worship, revealing the internet folklore as a treasure from the past, a complex and fascinating mythology. 


Shaman garage conducted an archival exercise, realising that the memesphere needs careful hands to preserve its symbols, icons and narratives. 

“Memes privilege emotion and vitality over reason and accuracy; they reward the absurd and the exaggerated. This is precisely why we want to “rescue” them, to preserve their value.”


 was presented at GOGBOT from Thursday 17 to Sunday 21 September in the Oude Kerk (more info about GOGBOT on 

 will be part of the arcade corner of the new location of Sickhouse. Stay tuned for the reopening in beginning 2026!

LOOPSCROLL is a project by 

 . The arcade was created by Pablo San Gregorio, Ivan McGill, Pako Portalo and Yuxuan Zhao.
This project is possible thanks to 

A new arcade machine by Shaman Garage

SICKHOUSE is a PLAYFUL ART SPACE presenting games, interactive art and participatory projects to look critically into the (digital) transformation of our society! 

Frontpage 

We are over the moon because we did it!  We reached 

 and the love, messages, and enthusiasm we’ve received over the past weeks have been incredible. Thanks to our amazing, lovely and generous community (320 amazing supporters) we reached our crowdfunding goal of €30.000! 

And now we can finally continue with the transformation of our new location into a true home for 

 left until the end of the campaign. Which means there’s still time for anyone who wants to join this adventure, or grab one of our special rewards. Every extra euro helps us go beyond the basics and make the new Sickhouse even better.

Can we go over 100%? Let's see how far we can get! 

Thank you to all our supporters, from the bottom of our playful hearts: you make Sickhouse possible.

We made it! We reached 100%

We are overwhelmed with your support, thank you so much! Within two weeks we've already reached 50% of our target goal. That's incredible. Thank you again! And what lovely reactions you're leaving on our crowdfunding page, such as these ones, but plenty more:

"Sickhouse is the best. It’s the place to be yourself, to experiment and to grow as a person in the comfort and warmth of a community taking care and really seeing each other."

"Omdat een Enschede zonder Sickhouse niet klopt. Het is een belangrijke hub voor creatievelingen, nerds, nieuwsgierigen, gamers en zzp'ers. Sickhouse is ontzettend waardevol"

"I love you Sickhouse!! Can't wait to play cool games in this building!"


If you can't you wait to enter (y)our new space or you want to help even more, share the campaign with friends, family, neighbors and colleagues! We're on our way to 75%! Together we are giving Sickhouse a new home!


Cheers,
Sickhouse team [Marie, Aike, Pablo, Yari, Dagmar & Puck]

We are half way and so grateful for your support!

We received the keys of our new location on Oldenzaalsestraat 128 last May and we were thrilled with the chance to build a permanent space that looks like us and feels like home. But soon we discover asbestos in the building and that meant a huge setback.

The clean up of the asbestos started during the summer and it should be finish over September. The half front of the building is now clean and we are able to restart the renovations of this part including the upstairs residency!

We are very eager to get back to work but it's true that this delay has had a huge impact on our programs: for the upcoming months we have to focus on getting the permit and continue with the renovations. This means that the rest of 2025 we will only host our monthly COLLIDERS meet-ups and our bi-weekly TableTop Nights, both at GrensFrequentie. Alas, the 2025 edition of the Overkill Festival will be postponed until 2026.

Of course all help is welcome! We will be sharing our planning soon to include the community in the renovation process. We will also launch a crowdfunding in October to help us with the last phase so we can open the doors of the new location in early 2026.

Join the adventure to reopen Sickhouse together 🩵

New Sickhouse = asbests free

On Saturday July 5th, seven amazing student teams from the 

Creative Media and Game Technologies (CMGT) 

course at Saxion presented their final projects — each inspired by this year’s Overkill Festival theme: Return to Dreamland!

Every year, we collaborate with CMGT to develop games based on the festival theme. At the end of the process, the Sickhouse team makes a special selection of standout projects — and the audience also gets to vote for their favorite, which will be featured during the festival!

Throughout the afternoon, visitors and fellow creators had the chance to 

, experiencing everything from puzzles and immersive narratives to experimental play styles and even alternative controllers. The creativity and quality this year were truly inspiring.

After playing, each team gave a presentation about their development process — sharing their concepts, challenges, and breakthroughs. It’s worth noting that these games were developed in just 

, making the results even more impressive.

It was no easy task to choose, but three projects stood out:


A 2D puzzle-platformer where players take on the roles of a girl and a spirit, navigating a dreamland shaped by personal anxieties. By restoring the lights, they work together to find a way to wake up.


Step into the dreams of siblings Emma and Kase, who find themselves in a surreal meadow filled with fear-encapsulating bubbles. Using handheld fans and help from friendly creatures, the goal is to merge the fears and let them go in one spectacular pop.

🔹 OOSOOM (Out of Sight, Out of Mind) – by Team EEEEE


A game about dreaming objects into existence. One player becomes a cat, the other a bird with a light in its beak. By using and hiding the light, the players guide each other through four dreamy sleep cycles.

OOSOOM was not only selected by the Sickhouse team but also won the

 for lending a location for the event, and of course the visitors who playtested and voted for the audience award.

We’re excited to bring these games — and their dream-filled worlds — to life again at 

News
We made it! We reached 100%

News
We are half way and so grateful for your support!

News
Our Crowdfunding is Running!

News
A new arcade machine by Shaman Garage

News
New Sickhouse = asbests free

News
CMGT dreamland game selection for The Overkill Festival

Upcoming Events

Gallery

NewsWe made it! We reached 100%

NewsWe are half way and so grateful for your support!

NewsOur Crowdfunding is Running!

NewsA new arcade machine by Shaman Garage

NewsNew Sickhouse = asbests free

NewsCMGT dreamland game selection for The Overkill Festival