The award-winning kunst-stoff GmbH is an independent game developer and producer based in Berlin. The owner and managing director is Patrick Rau, MA in Communication Design.
We develop games with original IPs for PC / Mac, console and mobile platforms for the international market. kunst-stoff also produces interactive exhibits for clients in the industrial and cultural fields and is active in the development of new technology.
kunst-stoff is licensed Nintendo DS and Wii developer as well as developer for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.
On request we produce interactive installations and exhibits for other clients, from the idea to the final product.
Our service provides
- conception (game design, transmedia/crossmedia projects)
- storytelling and dramaturgy
- mentoring
- coding: C++, Flash
- design: 2D, 3D, 2D- and 3D-animation
- illustration
- project handling
kunst-stoff published the action puzzle game “The Great Jitters: Pudding Panic” for the iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch as well as for PC, Mac and Linux in 2011. The game has won several awards and received excellent reviews worldwide – the game is on position 5, “Best iPhone and iPad games 2011″ on metacritic.com). It was also was promoted as “Game of the week” on the App Store for iPad and Mac.
The funding partners for this production were the Investment Bank Berlin (profit) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
In 2010 we received the German Developer Award for the best children’s game for our game “Galaxy Racers” . The game was brought to the international market by the publisher Ubisoft. The development of the prototype was funded by the Media Board Berlin-Brandenburg.
Our idea
kunst-stoff’s mission is to produce games with a high conceptual and artistic value.
Our idea of quality is closely linked to socially responsible business conduct. We appreciate the active participation of employees in company decisions. kunst-stoff benefits from this interdisciplinary expertise and can therefore produce high quality and well designed products that are optimally adapted to market conditions.
Our History
kunst-stoff has a humble origin: in 2008, kunst-stoff was a composite of freelancers, working together on interactive games and exhibits for clients from the cultural and industrial fields. Then a prize was won, Patrick Rau received the Hamburger Games Award for the concept “Bahn Frei”. This was a conceptual proposal for an educational game about traffic rules. After nearly two years searching for financing for the award-winning game, the Media Board Berlin-Brandenburg stepped in with the neccessary funds for the development of a game prototype.
In 2007, with this funding in hand, the game concept was developed and a PC prototype was built. That same year, we were invited to develop the concept at the Academy of Childrens’ Media. Around this time there was a games industry meeting in London, where contact was made with the renowned publisher Ubisoft. A few days later we sent the game concept, now being developed under the title “The Troublemakers,” to Ubisoft. On the evening of same day we were invited to the presentation of the prototype at Ubisoft in Paris.
A few days later we made a presentation beneath the stars of “Ravin ‘Rabbids”: Ubisoft wanted our game. After several months of negotiations, in September 2008, production for the international market began, with the new title “Galaxy Racers”. With the help of a loan, the company was officialy established and the team was complemented with new employees and freelancers. In addition, we moved to larger premises in the Josetti-Hoefe at Jannowitzbrücke.
Also in 2008, Galaxy Racers was awarded as the Best Children’s Media Project by the Academy of Children’s Media (promotion award by the Central German Media Fund MDM). “Galaxy Racers” was released in the summer of 2010 in the international market.
In December 2010 we had the great honor to receive the German Developer Award in the category “Best Children’s Game 2010″.
Since 2009 we work in parallel in the development of other game and interactive exhibition projects, including an adventure learning game and an Augmented Reality project for the Nintendo DS, both again with the support of a package of Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg.
Our own production “The Great Jitters: Pudding Panic“, available on the App Store for iPhone and iPad since June 7th, for Mac/PC since August 17th, 2011, and for Linux since April 2012, has been financed by the Investment Bank Berlin and prototyped with the support given by the medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg.
Currently, we are working on adaptations / spin-offs for other platforms, including a racing edition for iPhone/iPad and a Facebook version for adults. These games will also star our courageous jelly pudding J. Jitters and will thus also be published under the brand “The Great Jitters”. We are also working on expanding our little anti-hero’s universe in a crossmedia context. Watch out, there might not only be games…
A mobile game series playing with the great possibilities of location-based gaming is in development, too.
We are also working on crossmedia/transmedia projects:
- a mobile game which relates to a creative docu-fiction film with the topic “identities in the digital age”
- Browser games for kids which are part of a transmedia gamestory (TV series and games)
Both projects are currently in the financing and/or development phase.
