DreamWalks are playful collective dreaming sessions hosted by artist and LARP designer 

. Between March and June, Sickhouse takes you to dreamy liminal places of Enschede to get into 

 and explore in between realities. You are welcome to join for one or more walks. These sessions will lead to the creation of a final ritual hosted the 21st of June.



In the future, a secret technology has emerged: the ability to enter and alter dreams. In this larp, you will play Dream Architects—a group of mind-hackers, employed by those who can afford to rewrite reality at its root. All this, in between working on your own private projects.

Parents, executives, and politicians come to you with requests: "Make her obedient." "Make him fall in love." "Make them afraid."
Most requests imply nightmares—they leave the deepest impression.
Each mission begins with a request. Together, you choose your target. You build the dream. You perform it—for one of you to witness and record. And then, you wait.

In time, a letter arrives. The client is pleased. Or horrified. The dream changed something. But was it what they wanted?
A surreal and philosophical larp about power, morality, and how nightmares can become a tool in someone else's hands—unless we find a way to claim them back.

 (Make sure to get your on time, the number of spot available is limited)
You will receive an e-mail a few days before the walk with all the info and instructions.


🕐 Time: 18:30
⛲ Place : to be announced
⏱️ Duration: 3.5 hours
💰 

(including drinks and cookies)
🧣 To bring with you : warm and comfortable clothes.

Get your tickets!

DreamWalk #4 Dream Architecture

is an interactive online show welcoming playful makers. Presenting their last creations the participants get to meet each other, interact with the audience and play with the jury. Games, interactive or immersive installation, playful performance... are all welcome in this unique contest!

In its totally new shape the show is hosted by 👓 Niels F. Rodenburg and 🎈 

 ! Participants are not asked to Pitch, but to play, react, listen and share! Participants will not find a publisher, will not become rich, might not even get famous. It is all about the time you will be online together with all kinds of caring makers and curious minds! The ultimate winner WILL get a spot at The Overkill festival take place in November in Enschede.

The participants are selected via an open call. There are 10 spots available. Not only are we looking for the most original, extravagant and alternative playful concepts, the Ultimate IndieMash is also a celebration of diversity within the indie-game community. We strongly encourage applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented in the gaming world. From coding mothers to queer visual artists and indigenous storytellers, everyone is invited to show their unique project and creations to our audience online!

Last Year winner, 

, came to The Overkill to present Between, a beautiful interactive installation about the space between us. She will be one of the jury member of this year show!
(watch last year show to get an idea : 

Ultimate IndieMash

From ancient rituals to modern carnivals, masks have always held the power to transform, protect, liberate, and connect. Across cultures and through the ages, masks have been more than objects—they are vessels of identity, portals to other worlds, and bridges between the visible and the invisible. In this workshop, we invite you to explore your many selves through crochet mask-making.

Inspired by the sociologist Erving Goffman, we recognize that life itself is a stage, and we are all performers. We wear masks every day, they help us navigate the expectations of others and shape how we are seen. But what happens when we consciously choose our mask, outside the scripts of everyday life and embracing our darkest sides?

Craft your own mask using the technique of crocheting, drawing inspiration from myths, spirits, animals, or archetypes.

Explore the identities you wear - which ones are yours, and which were given to you?

Play with transformation, imagining who you might become with a different 

Let out your inner demon, protector, or beast ;)

Masks have always held the power to both conceal and reveal. Through creating and wearing your own mask, you’ll explore the boundaries of yourself and the stories you carry. Let us come together and create a collective ritual to celebrate plurality, embrace fluid shifting identity and the playful dance of who we are.

Materials are not provided. You would need a #4 crochet hook and the yarn of your preference. It's better if you are already familiar with crochet stitches, although it is not strictly necessary.

WHEN: Tuesday, May 27
WHERE: Oldenzaalsestraat 128, 7514 DS, Enschede (New Sickhouse Location!)
TIME: 18:30-21:00

Stitching to Resist: Crochet Balaclava Making

 and explore in between realities. You are welcome to join for one or more walks. These sessions will lead to the creation of a final ritual hosted the 21st of June.

In our third DreamWalk we’ll look into our dreams of better futures and a different world.

We will assume the role of Dreamers: beings who create worlds while dreaming. Their goal is to create a world that they all finally like and want to live in, but it doesn't always go smoothly. Usually the Dreamers erase the universe they have created to start over from scratch. This time, a strange mistake has occurred, the process has stuck and everything has disappeared except for a random parking lot. The Dreamers will gather there to fix it, but it seems that the parking lot is unavoidable, and a new world will have to be created around this parking lot and blend it organically with everything else, as if it had always been there.

Expect a light-hearted collective world-building LARP. Arrive dressed to be as natural as possible at the parking lot, to avoid any further mistakes in the system. This DreamWalk will take place in a public space.

In order to join the walk, you need a 

🕐 Time: 18:30
⛲ Place : Irene Promenade Parking Garage. Van Lochemstraat 9, Enschede, OV 7511 EG, NL.

Irene Promenade

⏱️ Duration: 3.5 hours
💰 Ticket : €6 (including drinks and cookies)
🧣 To bring with you : warm and comfortable clothes.


Jana Romanova is a multidisciplinary artist inspired by misunderstandings. She works with performance and play practices, using photography and video to discover gaps between what we say and do. She takes these breaches in communication as possibilities for being together, whatever that could mean.

Currently, she is researching how games, play and playfulness can be tools for creating meaningful connections. She designs and facilitates LARPs (live-action role plays) and games in physical spaces as a part of her art practice. 

DreamWalk #3: A Parking Spot

: a backstrap weaving tutorial + body-machine meditation, facilitated by Afra Willems and Yari Rabadán. 

This session invites participants to explore technology from a broad perspective and discuss its political implications, with the body as an original machine. Inspired in the context of Enschede’s 700th anniversary, we’ll delve into the city’s textile past, presenting textile arts as a high-tech medium, from ancient to contemporary technologies seamlessly.

We’ll explore weaving as the origins of coding and pattern generation. During the workshop, participants will create their own backstrap weaving loom—a simple yet ingenious device where the human weaver is an integral part of the loom. While a fixed loom can stand alone in a room, the backstrap loom only exists when the weaver wears it. By attaching their body to the loose collection of sticks and yarn, the weaver transforms the backstrap loom into an intimate tool. By the end of the session, participants will know how to use the loom to produce fabric.

The workshop consists of several phases: 1) arranging the sticks, 2) warping the loom, 3) attaching the heddle yarn, 4) weaving the backstrap and 5) finishing up/weaving in ends. In each phase, a different question will guide the discussion.

The workshop is free for participants under registration. 

Thanks for your interest, this workshop is full, but you can save your place for our 

WHEN: Wednesday, April 23
WHERE: B93, Hoge Bothofstraat 166, 7511 ZE Enschede
TIME: 18:30-21:00

Human in the Loop: weaving workshop + body-machine meditation

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

Frontpage

KO(O)RTS is back in 2025!
The Short Film Festival of the weird, wicked and wonderful, organized by Sickhouse, returns for its second edition in collaboration with 

. To be held in Enschede, Netherlands the 26 & 27 of September.

KO(O)RTS is a vibrant 2-day short film festival. It provides a platform for (emerging) local and international filmmakers to showcase their work, celebrate creativity and connect with each other. At the same time, the program offers the public an alternative, never-before-seen and fun selection of films, presented with care, multisensory setups and
playful ways. 

In addition to the various screenings, the festival includes workshops, a filmmakers meet-up, and an awards ceremony. In this way, we strive to create a vibrant event that brings together both filmmakers, film lovers and celebrates the art of short film.

 and submit your film before May 1st (read the terms for applying on the open call page).

KO(O)RTS Short Film Festival OPEN CALL

It' time for The Ultimate IndieMash Game Contest! For the third time, indie-game makers from all over the world get to present their projects to an international audience, play interactive games together and have the chance to win a spot at The Overkill Festival 2025!



 : 30th MARCH
ULTIMATE INDIEMASH SHOW : 24th MAY



 is a contest for unique playful makers of the world, to present their work to an international audience. Hosted live from Bristol, UK and Enschede, NL, and streamed all over the world, the participants get three minutes each to show their game, interactive project, immersive installation or playful performance, through an online video connection. So you don’t have to travel to participate!

The evening is for them to share their concepts and gain new fans, and at the end of the program, the viewers and a jury of professionals will vote for their favourite project. Besides receiving the Sickest Trophy, the winner of the Ultimate IndieMash will also get a spot at The Overkill Festival 2025!



Not only are we looking for the most original, extravagant and alternative playful concepts, the 

 is also a celebration of diversity within the indie-game community. We welcome applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented in the gaming world. From coding mothers to queer visual artists and indigenous storytellers, everyone is invited to show their unique project and creations to our audience online!


 is a two-hour online program, filled with music, playful interactions and of course the gamemakers and their projects. In the first hour, the participants show their work in a 3 minute presentation, that can be as playful as you want! They will get a chance to answer some questions from the audience as well, to explain their projects as well as possible. In the second hour, the participants together with the audience will play some exciting games in which the audience creates prompts, drawings and more for the participants to be creative with. After that, the audience and the jury will vote for their favorite project, and at the end of the show the winner will be announced.



- Open call-deadline for participants is the 

. 
Afterwards, the Sickhouse team will make a selection of 10 participants to present their projects.
- Selection announced on the 

If you have any questions regarding this program, don’t hesitate to email 

The Ultimate IndieMash Open Call is now closed :)

In 2025 Sickhouse will have a new location and we are commissioning our first alternative arcade! 

Dutch artists Vincent Schoutsen and Wouter van Veldhoven are joining forces with French artists Leon Denise and Emilie Breslavetz from 

, to develop and build a playful arcade machine. Reflecting on the theme "Alternative control and Resistance" they are working together to create an arcade that will be playable at the new location of Sickhouse .

January and February are the months for creative brainstorms, starting with many ideas and getting inspired by their favorite objects. From buttons to plane cockpits, from sci-fi adventure to A.I relationships, the artists question the found objects they are working with, the role of the future player and the state of new technology in our society. 

In March, the 4 artists will be in Enschede for one week to bring everything together and build the arcade. They will present their process and progress during our monthly meet-up 

at BlackBrick.

The Arcade will be officially inaugurated in September, during the re-opening of Sickhouse in its new location! This project is a pilot edition and hopefully we will be able to commission several alternative arcades in the years to come.

Arcade Mayhem

The Overkill Festival 2024 - RADICAL, JOY, RESISTANCE After-movie is here! 



The Overkill '24 has been over for a few months, but now we can re-live the festival and recall our favourite memories with the after-movie!

The Overkill is a playful gathering creating space for artists, makers and players to meet, exchange and learn from each other. In 2024 with the theme “Radical Joy Resistance” the festival looked into the role of play in movements of resistance. Curious to find out how a certain lightness, alternative rules, humour, joy and pleasure can be of support when going into the street, countering official narratives, refusing institutionalised violences.. The festival started in front of the city hall with a performance of women led by LasTesis, followed by a playful march of resistance through Enschede. The festival included an interactive exhibition, workshops, hosted film screenings, a day of interactive talks and panels, a karaoke of resistance and an experimental music program. 

The program has been curated by Marie Janin and Aike Lutkemoller, directors of the festival with the support of Zuraida Buter, Erik Peters, Resistencia videoludica, Jugar Juegitos and JacqNoise. The festival is produced by Sickhouse.

You can find more pictures of the festival in the 

.
The next edition of The Overkill Festival “Return to Dreamland” is taking us in an exploration from #CalmTok to rest as resistance. It will be held from 19 to 23 November 2025, in Enschede.

LINK to video of the opening performance of LasTesis 

Video production: Djannah DZ (@artiuss) 
Music: LASTESIS (@lastesis) and RADVLAD (@radvlad) 
Voiceover: Bas Helmig (@bashelmig)

The Overkill Festival '24 Aftermovie

From January 24th to 26th, the Global Game Jam took place. The theme of this year was ‘Bubble’. So, all over the world, almost half a million game makers, programmers, designers, creatives and curious people came together to create, share and inspire each other in a very bubbly edition.

Sickhouse set up a venue for the jam to take place in Enschede in GrensFrequentie - a working place for musicians and entrepreneurs with spaces available for rent.  People from different cities and various backgrounds came together and created six staggering games!

Don't pop and don't stop! Bublo is a roguelite game about creating as many bubble gum bubbles as you can without popping them. The goal is to collect as many points as you can; the bigger the bubble, the more points you get. You can also get coins to buy upgrades, like extra strength for your bubble gum or blowing speed. This game was created in HTML.

This addictive brain-rot game is created to satisfy the urge to destroy freshly created (evil) bubbles with different shapes inside them. Inspired by the satisfaction of popping bubbles, whether plastic or soap. The sound is great! This game was made in HTML with the assistance of ChatGPT.

BUBBLE RAGE - by PAKO, YUXUAN, LUUKAS & PABLO

The biggest booming bubble battle! An arcade game for two players, one creates bubbles from a canister and the other chews and blows gum. Match the size of the bubble with the target, and win! This game is made in Godot Engine.

This augmented drinking game investigates why grocery prices have inflated into unaffordable price-bubbles. With a barcode scanner as your controller, this game is perfect for getting drunk while lamenting capitalism with your friends. Made in HTML.

A game of willpower; you play in bubbly world where you can try to resist popping the bubbles! This game was created in Bitsy Engine.

Space Bug is a platformer where you need to jump over various bubbles and reach the sun! It’s made in Game Builder Garage for Nintendo Switch.


You can play some of these games in the upcoming edition of COLLIDERS next Thursday, 

 to be part of COLLIDERS community and receive a monthly newsletter.

GLOBAL GAME JAM 2025 (RECAP)

In 2025 following the progress of our reflection on play and activism, in the context of a hyper productive society, long conflicts, climate catastrophes, engulfing A.I, we want to take the risk, the counter intuitive move, the challenge to stay in bed, under the blanket, heads in the pillow. If new technologies infiltrate our beds to transform it into data to be mined, XR technologies, video games and virtual environments are also relevant media when delving into dreamworlds. This new edition wants to be another chapter of resistance where we self-organise to wander, dream, let our subconscious meet, invite our nightmares in...


The year program of Sickhouse and its main guest artists will be the leading process to develop the research and the selection for the festival.

Shall these remain only dreams? we said. Shall we not bring these things into wakeful beings?

” Ursula K. Le Guin in Changing planes : Social dreaming of the Frin.

Jana Romanova, LARP designer, is invited to design new playful experiences based on collective dreams, role-playing and dream-building experience that explores the boundaries between reality and imagination. At its core, the "DreamWalks" is about creating and inhabiting collective imaginary spaces—something akin to sharing a dream or a hallucination with others.

DreamWalk #1 : KristalBath - Sunday 9-03
DreamWalk #2 : Flying Field - Saturday 29-03
DreamWalk #3 : Walk in the ParQ - Thursday 24-04
DreamWalk #4 : to be announces


Wherever they stood it came, suddenly and simultaneously: refusal, refusal, refusal. And in a gust they collapsed into sleep

In the second part of the year we are inviting Sondi to create an immersive set-up for her games “Mbombo-Dream Echo” and “Sleep On It”. The set-up/playground is meant to become a collective space for daydreaming, reinventing hybrid places of rest. Mbombo builds on years of research into the nature of rest and dreaming as radical forms of resistance against capital, colonial violence on the Black body. (concept formalised and put into embodied practice by Tricia Hersey in her Nap Ministry and her book Rest is Resistance: A Manifesto. New York: Little, Brown Spark, 2022.)

*JANNE SCHIMMEL (

Our very idea of productivity is premised on the idea of producing something new, whereas we do not tend to see maintenance and care as productive in the same way.

How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy


In the third part of the year Sickhouse is inviting Janne Schimmel to dive into nightmare references and hack a game device to navigate them, in hybrid ways mixing sensorial experience and digital storytelling. Curious about the ambiguous space, nightmares create for fantasy and pleasure.

Exhausted, Burned out, anxious, overwhelmed are now recurrent adjectives we associate with our daily life and our work environments. Technology coming to save us is now selling us “digital rest points’, ‘CalmTok’,’ Raw-dogging a flight’ ‘Pokemon Sleep app’ to track our sleep and for the best ‘Sleep Tourism’ hotels with VR lucid dreams experiences... 

Rest is resistance but it is under attack, our escape is already trapped. Beyond the idea of healthiness, The Overkill wants to look at rest as an act of refusal, a protest against efficiency, productivity, or even this monetised idea of a  better version of ourselves. 

News
KO(O)RTS Short Film Festival OPEN CALL

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The Ultimate IndieMash Open Call is now closed :)

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Arcade Mayhem

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The Overkill Festival '24 Aftermovie

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GLOBAL GAME JAM 2025 (RECAP)

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Theme 2025 : Return to Dreamland

Upcoming Events

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NewsKO(O)RTS Short Film Festival OPEN CALL

NewsThe Ultimate IndieMash Open Call is now closed :)

NewsArcade Mayhem

NewsThe Overkill Festival '24 Aftermovie

NewsGLOBAL GAME JAM 2025 (RECAP)

NewsTheme 2025 : Return to Dreamland