Come Out & Play Street Games Festival - Call for submissions

TURN THE STREETS INTO A PLAYGROUND BY RUNNING A GAME IN THE FIRST ANNUAL COME OUT & PLAY FESTIVAL SEPTEMBER 22-24

THE MISSION
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The Come Out & Play Festival seeks to provide a forum for new types of public games and play. We want to bring together a public eager to rediscover the world around them through play with designers interested in producing innovative new games and experiences.

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL
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Come Out & Play is the first festival dedicated to street games. It is three days of play, talks and celebration, all focused on street games. The festival will have a headquarters in downtown Manhattan where participants can learn about upcoming games and see documentation of completed games. The games themselves will be run in a variety of public locations around New York City. From massive multi-player walk-in events to carefully constructed play performances, there will be something for every type of player. Throughout the festival players and designers will have the chance to interact during games and panels and jointly conceive the future of this growing form.

Street games is an inclusive term for real world games and game-like performances that transform urban public spaces in meaningful ways. Games played in public spaces are an increasingly popular phenomenon and often mix performance art and urban play, inviting players and spectators to re-examine the tapestry of the city. From city-wide scavenger hunts to the real-life games of Pac-Man played around Washington Square Park, these games invite participants to collaboratively re-imagine their surroundings through a set of simple rules. Players begin to see the very layout of the streets as a game board and never look at the city grid quite the same way again.

The festival will feature roughly 15 official events from September 22-24, 2006. Events will take place throughout New York City at a variety of locations and times.

Come Out & Play will enable artists and game designers to exchange ideas and work in front of and with a diverse audience. During the three-day festival, New Yorkers will engage with playful art pieces and games, discovering meaningful and emergent ways to interact in the public spaces of New York City. This festival will provide a unique opportunity for artists and game designers to meet and create engaging experiences for the public.

For more information visit:
comeoutandplay.org

SUBMIT TO THE FESTIVAL
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Have you got a game? We want to include as many different types of games as possible in the festival schedule.

We are looking specifically for games with defined goals and interesting, meaningful choices for the players. These games should be interactive and directly engage the participants. Your game can have a technology component or it can be old school with absolutely no tech; to us, it's much more important that the game produce an interesting experience for the players. We will be reviewing submissions focusing on these criteria when we select games for the schedule.

The festival will largely be centered in lower Manhattan, so we encourage designers to utilize that area as a base for their games. But it is by no means a requirement. The whole city is fair game.

Most importantly, your game must be playable in New York City during the festival.

Your submission will be reviewed by a panel of experienced designers of street games including PacManhattan, B.U.G., Conqwest, and Seasons of Darkness. We really like playing in fun games. So make sure your game sounds fun and interesting. We like innovative use of public space. We like games which make people interact in new ways. We like games that alter your perception of your surroundings.

APPLICATION
To apply, visit www.comeoutandplay.org/submit.php and fill out an application form.

SUBMISSION DEADLINE
June 30, 2006

NOTIFICATION
We will notify you by e-mail if your game has been accepted into the festival schedule by July 14 2006.

We look forward to reading your proposal.

SCHEDULE
Submission deadline: June 30
Notifications: July 14
Festival: September 22-24

INQUIRIES?
Email us at [email protected]

PLAY or VOLUNTEER
Don't have a game, but still want to play or be involved? Visit comeoutandplay.org to sign up for alerts about the festival.

URL
comeoutandplay.org