Sticks, Ropes And High Hopes
Special line of talks tailored for indies!
This year, we have brought you something quite special - a special series of talks dedicated to indies, their dreams, bravery, and high hopes!
A lot of people say that game industry is hard, but it is also full of dreamers! It might be discouraging to up-and-coming devs who are entering the industry thinking that they can never succeed, when so many has done so before them.
Sticks, Ropes and High Hopes is just here to show you the positive side of things - the joy of making games, the thrill of finding your audience, and how much more there is to it than big numbers of sales. Games are art, a form of expression, so let's celebrate that!
Here are the talented speakers and talks that you can look forward to.
Miroslav Prokop
Indie
Together with GDA CZ, Fuchs+Dachs game dev studio is organising a small one day EVENT that would be a part of this year’s Game Developers Session Conference, in Prague. We have one whole day specially organised for small teams, students and young game dev enthusiasts that we would like to greatly benefit from GDS 2025. The event is aimed for anyone interested in working in small teams, studying game design or small indie game dev teams and studios. The first part will be about the upcoming game MAW.
About Speaker
Hi, I'm Míra, but usually I go by the nickname Zakroutil. I'm an indie developer from Czechia, I study game design at FAMU and I'm also helping out with some secret stuff over at Fuchs+Dachs Games... And I'm developing my own noir adventure called "MAW" as well.
Matěj Hes
Bell Hat Games
I will talk about my indie game development experiences and developing a game for children
About Speaker
Matěj Hes is the creative director of Bell Hat Games and a student of Game design at FAMU
Michaela Jílková
School
Our game Regarding Sasha got nominated for Student Game Awards in Warsaw and we would like to talk about our experience at the event.
About Speaker
I'm a student and I'm currently studying Game Art in SŠUD.
Daniel Mrázik
Indie team
Mařena is an absurd dungeon crawler about a perpetually drunk heroine who is a bit out of control in her life – and yet she keeps going. The game was created out of pure joy of creation and friendship: we met at a gamejam, sat down with a human and creative approach, and our joint project spontaneously grew out of that. The lecture is about everything that went into the creation of our first long-term project.
About Speaker
Daniel Mrázik is a student in the Design and Digital Technologies studio at UMPRUM. In his work, he focuses mainly on graphics for video games, illustration, and animation, with a specialization in character design. As a guy from central Slovakia - a region full of castles and chateaus, he is fascinated by the connection between folk symbols, cryptids, and medieval mystique with game art, which is fully reflected in his latest project, Mařena.
Zuzana Darjaninová
FAMU Game Design
Mařena is an absurd dungeon crawler about a perpetually drunk heroine who is a bit out of control in her life – and yet she keeps going. The game was created out of pure joy of creation and friendship: we met at a gamejam, sat down with a human and creative approach, and our joint project spontaneously grew out of that. The lecture is about everything that went into the creation of our first long-term project.
About Speaker
Zuzana Darjanová is a game design student at FAMU, focusing on the visual aspect and artistic context of games. She mainly works on hand-drawn 2D art and asset creation. She is currently working on the project Mařena – a game that explores the Czech myth of Morana with absurdity and poetry. She is also involved in lighting design.
Mikuláš Petrík
Mařena dev team
Mařena is an absurd dungeon crawler about a perpetually drunk heroine who is a bit out of control in her life – and yet she keeps going. The game was created out of pure joy of creation and friendship: we met at a gamejam, sat down with a human and creative approach, and our joint project spontaneously grew out of that. The lecture is about everything that went into the creation of our first long-term project.
About Speaker
Mikuláš Petrík (Miky) has been self-studying game creation for over 5 years, focusing primarily on the technical and design side of things. In his projects, he tries to expand the concept of video games as art and forms of expression in an accessible way through non-standard design and visuals. All of this is reflected in his latest project - a dungeon crawler with the main character, who represents the absurd incompetence of all of us in everyday life, Mařena.
Vojta Siman
FiolaSoft Studio / FAMU Game Design
As a part of the "Sticks, Ropes & High Hopes" event at GDS, I would like to look back at my very chaotic game dev journey and the times when facing my self-doubts has led to some of the most important events of my life. This is going to be a short and informal (and hopefully inspirational) talk, no prerequisites required!
About Speaker
Level designer, music composer and sound designer. I worked on BLACKHOLE by FiolaSoft Studio and for the past few years we have been working on an action adventure match 3 FPS called MATCHO. This year I also enrolled at FAMU Game Design.
Lukáš Kolek
Charles Games s.r.o.
Drawing on a decade of making games about war and history, this talk shares practical methods for treating heavy themes in indie production. Lukáš will unpack Charles Games’ design pillars, show how they shape We Grew Up in War, and discuss working with historians and communities to turn lived wartime experience into playable moments.
About Speaker
Lukáš Kolek is the co-founder and CEO of Charles Games, the studio behind 10+ indie titles including the award-winning Playing Kafka, Svoboda 1945: Liberation and Beecarbonize, enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of players worldwide. Charles Games creates experiences that tackle serious themes, from historical trauma to the climate crisis.
Other talks
Sanja Čežek
Fuchs+Dachs s.r.o.
Together with GDA CZ, Fuchs+Dachs game dev studio is organising a small one day EVENT that would be a part of this year’s Game Developers Session Conference, in Prague. We have one whole day specially organised for small teams, students and young game dev enthusiasts that we would like to greatly benefit from GDS 2025. The event is aimed for anyone interested in working in small teams, studying game design or small indie game dev teams and studios.
About Speaker
Fuchs+Dachs studio is led by Sanja Čežek, a Serbia-born, Art-schooled hybrid creative, who started her career as a freelancer and since 2007 she won awards in many industry fields, such are app and web development, mobile game dev, advertising & marketing, graphic design and premium game design. After releasing Ministry of Broadcast game - Sanja profoundly fell in love with writing strong game concepts and game directing. Currently in full production with Jeff (&) the Vampire game.
Katarzyna Kouba Sanojca
Creative Prague/ Pražský inovační institut
Join us for an inspiring session about the very first edition of the Prague Game Accelerator, held from August to November, which created a unique platform to support emerging game studios in the Czech Republic. Over twelve intensive weeks, ten selected teams received hands-on mentorship from leading industry experts, developing their game design, production, marketing, and pitching skills, while gaining access to investors and global networks. In this talk, we will share real outcomes, success stories, key lessons learned, and our plans for the next edition. Discover why the accelerator matters, how it strengthens the game development ecosystem, and why you should be part of it next year.
About Speaker
Katarzyna Sanojca works at Creative Prague, focusing on creating the right conditions for the growth of creative professions. As a RIS developer for the CCSI at the Prague Innovation Institute, she is responsible for the city’s game development acceleration program supporting local emerging teams. Her work focuses on innovation, education and talent development across the cultural and creative industries.
