Space Spätzle
On 6 June 2018, Alexander Gerst — better known as Astro Alex — flies to the International Space Station for the second time, and even takes command. But what does a Swabian do in space?! Bring his favourite dish, of course! In the game Space Spätzle, Astro Alex grabs as many of the free-floating Spätzle as he can before chaos breaks out on the station.
Spätzle in zero gravity
Alexander Gerst isn’t allowed to take a bread-making machine into space. No worries though — his mother packed him some Spätzle. Despite a warning from Cimon, his AI companion, he rips open the pack and the Spätzle scatter across the ISS. Can Alex eat them all before they clog up the equipment?
That’s the premise of the game we built for the Stuttgarter Zeitung. Hidden inside are nods to classics like 2001: A Space Odyssey and the cult Simpsons episode in which Homer eats crisps in space. And the eponymous Spätzle — the “Swabians’ favourite dish” — get a very special starring role as a noodle steeped in tradition.
Art deco meets watercolour
The art style was inspired by vintage posters and art deco elements. Outlines were dropped entirely, so everything is rendered in shapes and planes, overlaid with hand-painted watercolour textures for a more organic look. The colour palette echoes the ISS interiors, but with more desaturated pastel tones.
A parabolic flight as first prize
To help the one-of-a-kind Spätzle browser game take off, an attractive prize draw was developed to accompany articles in the Stuttgarter Zeitung, the Stuttgarter Nachrichten and the Kinderzeitung. The draw was sponsored by adventure specialist Jochen Schweizer.
The prize: a parabolic flight in the USA worth almost €10,000, plus several adventure boxes worth €600 each for participants under 18.
“Again and again among the top stories”
“The hype around Gerst kept washing the game back into the top stories on our homepage,” said Stefanie Zenke (section head, Stuttgarter Zeitung), praising the project and expressing her delight “about the fantastic result and the great collaboration”.
We, too, are grateful for the lovely collaboration and the fine articles in the Stuttgarter Zeitung, the Stuttgarter Nachrichten and the Kinderzeitung — and invited the client to a celebratory dinner of homemade Spätzle.
European Newspaper Award
The Stuttgarter Zeitung also received the special online award at the European Newspaper Award. “The projects from Stuttgart were so outstanding that the jury rated them as leading in the online category,” said newspaper designer Norbert Küpper, who organises the competition — regarded in the industry as its Oscars.
