play/ground is a free public workshop about using play for political resistance and building power. The current narrative of interactive media positions “serious” video games as the medium to galvanize people into action. But after over a decade of gamification and entertainment product design, it is largely inconclusive if they have done any good. Given the ever-increasing rise of fascism and white supremacy, many creators who work in play feel unable to make social change.
play/ground is a collaborative effort to reimagine how we can use play to tackle contemporary issues and create new futures. This is not an event full of lectures and panels, rather artwork, workshops, and exercises. Special breakout and unconference sessions invite audience participation and helps include as many perspectives as possible in figuring the most important issue of this field. play/ground concludes in a public workshop lead by the speakers to envision an initiative outside of the weekend that can receive grant money for implementation.