Founding story June 2023: Delicious Dungeon - Thrilling computer game from Hanover
Delicious Dungeon will be launched in the summer and is set to inspire gamers in Germany and around the world. In addition to development and programming, the team is also responsible for financing and marketing. The games company has found its home in HALLE 96. From here, its virtual hero, a chef, sets off in search of the best ingredients in fantastic forests. The four heads of the company: Nakisa Bastami, programmer and caretaker, Hannah Geilen, artist for 3D and 2D, Michelle Sommer, artist with a focus on animation, and her brother Jordan Sommer, also a programmer.
Nakisa - how did you come up with the idea of founding a game development studio?
It all started seven years ago with a training course for game developers in Hanover. That's where we all got to know each other. We then all went on to study programming and art in Belgium. When you've known each other for so long, you can get a lot more done together. After our studies, we asked around to find out where the best support and funding for start-ups was available in Europe. We found suitable programs in Germany by chance. As we all come from the Hanover region, it made sense to move back home. One of the first paths led us to hannoverimpuls.
Indiscreet question - how do you finance yourselves? Because you don't have any income at the moment, do you?
There is exciting funding from the BMWK, the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection. They are working with people like us to make Germany a gaming location. The project sponsor is the DLR, the German Aerospace Center. This allows us to cover half of our costs, with the other 50 percent coming from private investors. This has enabled us to work freely since March 2022.
What makes your game special?
We looked at what we like ourselves. In our game, we combine two major aspects: hunting monsters and cooking. At the start of the game, our cook's pantry is empty. So he has to go out into the wilderness, hunt monsters, collect vegetables and then put together dishes for his cookbook. We pay attention to every detail in the programming and the game is constantly changing with the help of AI. So there is a lot to discover. We have technical and musical support from Irene Chan as the fifth member of the team. Our game is available in German and English and can be purchased via the usual gaming platforms. Here you pay a one-off license and don't have to keep buying new features.
What tips do you have for other founders?
We were very inexperienced at the beginning. I can only highly recommend being "social" and asking people how they did it with the start-up and where you can get support. There are always stumbling blocks and you have to be resistant to frustration in between. Your skin automatically gets thicker.
Nakisaandthe team from Digital Cauldronaboutthe collaboration with hannoverimpuls:
hannoverimpuls helped us above all to find the right office space. We have a great working environment here and, with center manager Marion Gröning, a perfect contact person for all office-related issues.
Contact details:
Digital Cauldron GmbH
Office address:
Hanomaghof 2
30449 Hanover
business@digital-cauldron.com
0511 27007178
Marion Grönig, Center Manager HALLE 96 on the collaboration with the Digital Cauldron team:
So that Nakisa and his team can concentrate on their work, we make sure that everything runs as it should in the background - from the technology to the kitchenette, the conference rooms and the regular tenant meetings.