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The Overkill is a playful and interdisciplinary festival that welcomes game makers, digital creators, and playful artists from all over the world. The Overkill presents indie, arthouse, and experimental games curated around a theme, aiming to be inclusive, diverse and challenging.

Centered on an annual theme, the festival tells a story, connecting pieces across multiple mediums and inviting visitors to engage with alternative narratives. The previous edition, Radical Joy Resistance explored the relation existing between playfulness and resistance movements. This year, driven by the worry that the technologies we use every day are turning us into hyper-productive workers, with short attention spans and no energy left to dream, Dream No Return researches how games and playful media might help us reclaim spaces to dream together.

The festival offers an immersive and interactive exhibition, film screenings, a selection of workshops, talks, and live performances. The Overkill is a space to play, meet, experiment, react, share, transform, and collaborate.

2026 marks The Overkill 14th edition, organized by Sickhouse and directed by Marie Janin & Aike Lütkemöller. This year’s curation was done with artist-researcher Matilde Patuelli, the Playful Friday with curator Zuraida Buter and a part of the music program is curated together with grensfrequentie.

The festival is supported by Gemeente Enschede, Stimuleringfonds and Cultuurfonds.
See more about our previous editions here →

TICKETS
Entry is free for everyone under 18. Adult passes start at just €13. Early bird festival pass available until 30 September. See all passes here →

Sickhouse is located at Oldenzaalsestraat 128, Enschede, the Netherlands.
Additional festival locations for The Overkill will be announced soon.

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