Come Out and Play Festival

Get ready for another exciting edition of Come Out and Play!  This New York-based public games festival is gearing up for its 2010 edition, which will be headquartered at the Lyceum in Brooklyn’s Park Slope neighborhood June 4-6.  The Festival has extended its deadline for submitting games to April 19th, so if you have an idea for a fun game, there’s still time to get involved. The Festival planners are working with game designers to refine their ideas and make sure they fit the location and scope of the event. Past games presented/debuted at COAP include Cruel 2B Kind by Jane McGonigal and Ian Bogost, as well as Jane’s Cryptozoo and the Lost Sport of Olympia, Ken Eklund’s Spy School, and TAH II, which was an extension of TAH, an alternate reality game produced by Cultural Oil.

I spoke recently with Greg Trefry, Festival Co-Founder and the author of “Casual Game Design: Designing Play for the Gamer in ALL of Us,” to get some details on what to expect this year.  Greg says there will be a mix of games requiring tech and not, and is very enthusiastic about location-based games that leverage tech like smartphones and apps for play.  Festival sponsor SCVNGR, known for their smartphone based geo-gaming tech platform, will be presenting their own game, but CEO/Chief Ninja Seth Priebatsch was not forthcoming with details. “Well, I can’t tell you too much about what we’re going to be showing off (it’s some sweet new features) but in general it’s in the same vein as what SCVNGR’s all about; making building and playing location-based mobile games fun, quick and easy.”

Greg says that while no games have been officially accepted and announced yet, the popular “Circle Rules Football” from last year’s event will be returning, and he expects a great mix of games, including “weird new sports.” He would love to see submissions for ARGs and games that include ARG elements, as he feels location-based games and ARGs dovetail nicely by using the content of the real world and blurring the lines to enrich the experience of gameplay so you’re “not sure if you’re looking at the game any more.” The real world “is the highest resolution thing you’re gonna play,” he notes.

The Lyceum is a 100 year old bathhouse that has been renovated and converted into a theater and event space.  As headquarters for this year’s Festival, the Lyceum provides an anchor in the nearby neighborhoods which will also serve as game space and play areas. Although some past COAP events have been centered in Manhattan, Greg says he’s very excited about bringing COAP to Brooklyn this year, which will give it a different feel.  Known for its diverse neighborhoods, with plenty of families and other domestic activity, Brooklyn also has more industrial areas, with large abandoned lots, canals and other urban spaces that can be claimed temporarily for game play.  The Lyceum also has a large indoor space, which would be suitable for an installation or other event, something that hasn’t been available to COAP in previous years. The Lyceum is an easy 15 minute ride from Manhattan on the R subway train.