Hi, I’m Balint from Budapest. I’m a game designer and artistic researcher.
I was around 11-12 when I first came across tabletop role-playing and fell in love with it immediately. It was my main inspiration to start thinking about characters and story on a more profound level, thus motivating me to become a filmmaker.
In my 20s I did not have much connection to games and playing in the primary meaning of the word. I studied directing in Paris and artistic research in Amsterdam and made several short films, music videos and an award-winning feature film.
In my master studies I focused on exploring improvisation based collaborative story development methods. It did not take too long to find my way back through theatre games to table-top rpgs and larp techniques that I found very useful in the development process of my feature film. This was as well when I discovered Nordic larp and its approach to embodied game design really opened my eyes to the hidden possibilities of this format.
During the development of a feature film project I realised that designing this kind of self-contained, open ended and self-reflexive processes - the way I organised the rehearsal process itself - intrigues me way much more than trying to solidify it into a single linear stream of images and sounds.
Moving forward with my research I started writing and designing participatory experiences and games, especially larps.
As part of this journey I co-founded Parallel Worlds Foundation, a Hungarian non-profit organisation that concentrates on creating live-action role-playing game events in Budapest.
For some years I was a facilitator at a fantasy summer camp for children in rural Hungary, that was an inheritor of the long-lived Hungarian “Bánk Tradition” applying playful elements in its pedagogical approach. I am currently starting to research this tradition, especially the way its methodology can be applied to community based artistic practices and embodied research.
I’m going to spend most of my summer going on field trips, visiting different fantasy camps that follow this tradition. Hopefully with a break in mid-July to meet you all in Elefsina.
My website is about to go live. Soon you’ll be able to find here more about what I do:
I’m Niki from the Budapest-London-Beirut triangle. I have just submitted my PhD thesis a couple of weeks ago which consists of two physical games we’ve co-developed with local partners to address urban public spaces, wellbeing and a good life, and nature-based solutions.
One took place in the 20th district of Budapest and was inspired by the May Day tradition and journeying through stations with a game passport.
One took place in Burj Hammoud in Beirut and was inspired by Boal’s theatre of the oppressed.
Both were incredible as well as the whole journey leading to the games and their pilots - happy and excited to discuss my experiences with you further! Of course there were unexpected events, unforeseen obstacles and challenges, things which could be seen as ‘failures’ and ‘mess ups’ but these also presented new opportunities, lead to direction that could not have been explored otherwise - so overall, Ive learnt a lot about perseverance, flexibility and they way we frame and look at things, they can make all the difference!
I’ve been interested in games and play for over five years now, particularly in physical engagement (but curious to expand my knowledge and experiences with online methods as well) and looking forward to connect with like-minded people in this international community!
Last december, as part of a community research project we delivered together with an artist - although this was not a game but an event made of performances, but I feel like it’s also relevant here - I was dressed as a fox, shared with strangers the ‘fox tale’ based on a personal story of an old lady, danced and acted a little, and it was so much fun I can’t even put it into words!
I would love to do more work like this - bringing joy to people, with serious purposes but also ‘just’ to make them smile, and bring us together.
Hello, I am Theodora Andreou from Larnaca, Cyprus. I’m an actress, performer and theater facilitator. I’m interested in the production of immersive experiences through games and action in public spaces. I believe that the game is an activity that needs teamwork, spontaneity and brings people of any age together and provides entertainment and also education.
In 2019, I established the Theatrical Workshop ‘THEATROLA’ for children and young people at my village, a place that children feel free to create, to express themselves, to learn new things about arts and play freely in the yard. Every year I operate the Summer School, trying to bring children together doing experiential activities, crafts, playing together and sharing experiences.
I am working alongside other organizations and offer drama workshops to children, teens and young people.Curently, i am cooperating with the Larnaca Cultural Foundation in teaching ‘Theatrical Game’ at their premises and drama workshops for children from disadvantaged groups to elementary schools in Larnaca District with named ‘Traditional games of Cyprus’. Additionally, I introduce hidden treasure games based on side specific art.
Recently, I am involved in the development of Educational (STEAM) Toys through making and Digital Fabrication. The idea is driven by the desire to combine culture with technology. The STEAM Toys are based on Cyprus tradition through the use of rapid prototyping combined with traditional manufacturing methods.
Hi everyone, I’m Daniel*.
Half Colombian, half Italian, all troublemaker. Like many of you I wear many hats, in the tabletop rpg games space I am working as editor, translator, sensitivity reader and proof reader.
At Now Play This 2022 I designed with @baddeo Beemocracy a scavenger-hunt-meets-charades game.
Hopefully we’ll have the chance to gather, speculate, and play in Elefsina!
I am here writing this message a little late, perhaps, to join you on this adventure. A friend of mine shared with me this project too close to the deadline to apply, but seen all of you so enthusiastic and seen the development of my practice I want to try to jump on board anyway
I am 26 years old, I grew up in the countryside in Tuscany, Italy. As child I self-built lots of tree houses and played for hours and hours with Lego. Since my teenager time I write a lot, anything, from poems over stories and intimate reflections. I think all these experiences somehow let me to study architecture in my BA. During my Erasmus year in Berlin I decided to continue my studies abroad, curious to know people with different backgrounds and knowledge. I studied my MA at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague and I met lots of interesting people. I somehow found a community of people, mainly artists and designers that influenced a lot my practice. I graduated from Interior Architecture but my practice became more and more artistic and related with “world-building”.
During my Erasmus internship in Helsinki I came across LARP and somehow all my past creative development started to make more sense. In these last 2 years I started playing, hosting and designing LARP games with other fellows, a few of them are actually already part of this chat, I see
I am interested in how such format can be combined with public space and architecture, in a way to reconnect it to my BA studies, and understand how this could be used for social change, how a ludic and immersive format could challenge the ways we do things and perceive the environment.
Next week I will attend KnudePunkt in Denmark to learn more and meet new people, I hope to find some of you there!
Very curious to meet you all, I am sure we share lots of overlaps with our practices
Dear friends, I am an engineer, digital designer, new media artist and musician from Athens-Greece. In my projects I am trying to combine elements from methodologies of humanities to digital tools and applications. I like to explore different ways of interactivity and expression through digital technology and art. I am also a STEAM educator and a cello player. To play means to me to be creative and as a result feel alive and free.
Hey there, friends!
I am Joanna, a creative technologist and multimedia designer with a background in game development. I am interested in making games and urban interventions that invite the public to explore societal questions through immersive play. As a passionate contributor to various anime/game fandoms, I also want to explores ways to nurture emergent audience creative participation.
I did a game design program for undergrad and went on to work as a game designer at major gaming companies making commercial multiplayer games. I then transitioned into an investment management role investing in indie game studios specializing in indie/VR/narrative. I also worked as a visual artist and game designer for freelance projects, including an interactive basketball experience on a 10m x 10m reactive LED floor board at the Nike flagship store in Shanghai. It was a free and accessible experience for diverse visitors, launched in September 2019.
During my personal time, I do game jams primarily as a designer and artist, mostly making experimental indie games that explore the subtle nuances and unconscious biases in people’s everyday social interactions. During covid as offline events and international travel were difficult, I founded "HYPERSCREEN” - an art and music project with two friends. Together, we organized multiple rave events and performances, exploring the possibilities of bridging virtual and physical experiences and weaving cohesive stories through transmedia. Our most recent event, “DIASPORA,” was a portal experience that happened simultaneously in a virtual nightclub within VRChat and a physical venue, immersing participants in a fictional dystopian mythological past. The project was showcased at the Cite International des Arts in Paris in 2021.
On the side, I also do VJ for underground clubs and have recently taken up djing (sorry).
I am currently based in Japan (hmu if you visit kyoto) really excited to meet everyone!
Wow that’s a lot of cool makers and backgrounds. Nice to meet you all
A bit about me:
My name’s Fi. I produce and run murder mysteries in Bristol, UK. (imbroglios.co.uk) And I have a touch of experience in all fun things like games, animation, film, VR, escape rooms, and immersive theatre. I’m currently an actor at an immersive venue.
The open call for Urban Play sounds like the dreamiest sounding project ever! I am sure I’m not the only one who feels like opportunities to work collaboratively, abroad, and in the industry of play, theatre, art, or game-y stuff really rare these days. At least, I do.
I love this style of project. It reminds me of a previous work I worked on which was a digital/live art hybrid, where every collaborator was a co-devisor, (and the work was internationally produced and for a worldwide audience)! I have never felt so good about a project than that one.
In and out my creative practice, I love making things fun for fun’s sake, and for giving people the “aha” moment when they’re puzzle solving. And of course, pushing people out of their comfort zone to gain confidence and discover things about themselves.
Hi everyone, just reposting this from the other channel,
I’m Alex L from the UK. I really enjoyed attending the 2018 TiP sessions and i’m excited to potentially be involved this time around as well. Since 2018 i’ve moved from just supporting the development of playable performance into starting to make it myself.
This summer i will be running R&D on a brand new piece of public playable performance that will embed itself into marketplaces & outdoor markets within the UK.
I’m really drawn to this location because so many games seek to mimic the conditions of ‘the marketplace’ in order to derive rules, tests & tension within their game play.
I’m interested in the exploration of new economies within this traditional civic space, and in particular how to create work that sits within these locations that can straddle both durational & inspirational play opportunities - i’m looking to make performance moments than can attract & excite an experienced gameplayer to invest 20-30mins of their time, whilst also providing opportunities for immediate & momentary engagement opportunities for passing audiences.
I will be delivering this first trial performance immediately after TiP - Elefsina,so i’m hoping this will be a perfect opportunity to get my mind into a playful space before i put the final touches to my Alpha test.
Hello everyone, I am a sociologist and researcher from Argentina. For several years I have been part of the urban and cultural studies group at the University of Buenos Aires.
I am currently in Dublin doing a master in Interaction Design.
I am doing research on the experience of women and the LGBTIQ+ community in the city. I believe it is essential to employ methods and methodological tools that allow to capture the diverse and complex experiences of people in the city, while giving them an active role in the research process. To achieve this, I set out to explore game design as an ethnographic approach, drawing on the tools of multimodal anthropology, in order to explore the potentialities and challenges that games, as social platforms or devices, can imply.
I would like to know if in the coming months or next year there will be any seminars or courses that I can attend.
