Come Out & Play

What it is

A festival format developed by Come Out & Play, the New York City-rooted organization that since 2006 has staged annual festivals of new and traditional street games. The format brings together game designers and players for short, interactive games designed for public spaces and social interaction.

Smaller versions of the same idea run all year as "play nights" or "neighborhood play days." The festival is the flagship; the recurring practice is what builds neighborhood play culture.

Why it works

Adults are starved for play and don't admit it. Public space is starved for adults. When the two meet, something good happens. Strangers become collaborators in a 20-minute game. The plaza you walk through every day becomes the site of a memory. Kids see adults being silly, which changes everything.

Public play also has a placemaking effect. A park where adults play looks different to passersby than one where they don't. Reclaiming play in public is reclaiming public space.

What you need

• Time: Recurring play sessions: 1 to 2 hours. Festivals: 1 to 3 days. Ongoing coordination.
• People: 10 to 20 core organizers for a festival. 50 to 500+ participants depending on scale.
• Space: Public outdoor spaces. Parks, plazas, closed streets, beaches. Accessibility matters.
• Materials: Game designs (often from designers in the network). Props specific to each game. Signage, sound equipment, rules sheets, promotional materials.
• Skills: Game design, event facilitation, public engagement, community outreach, logistics.
• Energy level: High during the festival or session. Moderate in planning.

How to host it

Smaller version (recurring play session)

1. Pick a park or plaza. Public, accessible, large enough for the games you want to run.
2. Pick the games. Three or four short, easy-to-explain games. Examples: red rover, capture the flag, hide and seek (adult version), parkour tag, freeze tag, Mafia in a park.
3. Promote modestly. A flyer, a few posts on local forums, friends of friends. The first session doesn't need to be huge.
4. Bring simple props. Bandanas for teams. Whistles. A speaker for music. Snacks and water.
5. Run the session. Welcome, explain each game in 90 seconds, play, switch games every 20 to 30 minutes.
6. Repeat. Monthly or weekly during good weather. Build the rhythm. Regulars will emerge.

Larger version (festival)

1. Build the organizing team. Logistics, game curation, designer recruitment, communications, day-of operations. 10 to 20 people across multiple weekends and the festival itself.
2. Identify locations. Multiple sites across a neighborhood or city. Get permits.
3. Recruit game designers. Local game designers, game studios, and individuals who've designed street games. Many designers will contribute games for the visibility.
4. Schedule. A multi-day festival typically has different days for different vibes: After Dark (evening, adult-leaning), Field Day (outdoor athletic), Family Day (kid-friendly).
5. Promote across communities. Universities, design schools, neighborhood groups, families, gamers, libraries.
6. Run the festival. Volunteers at each site running specific games. Players move between sites.
7. Document. Photos and videos that show what was possible. They will recruit next year's players.

Variations

Themed play night. Mafia, escape room, scavenger hunt. Specific format, deeper play.

Cross-school play day. Schools collaborating to bring older and younger students together for play.

Workplace play. Some workplaces have adopted the model for community-building. Different context, same logic.

Holiday or seasonal. Summer block parties built around play. Halloween big games. Spring scavenger hunts.

Intergenerational play. Grandparents and grandchildren playing together. Particularly powerful when carefully designed.

Stories from neighborhoods

Come Out & Play has run annual festivals in New York City since 2006 and has expanded to Pittsburgh, San Francisco, and other cities. Thousands of players have engaged. The Thursday Night Play series at the DUMBO Archway in NYC has run for years with rotating games.

New Games Movement in the 1970s pioneered the broader idea of non-competitive cooperative play for adults. Bernie DeKoven's writing on play (*The Well-Played Game*, *A Playful Path*) is a foundational reference.

The pattern across all of these: when adults are given permission and structure to play together in public, they do. The hunger is there. The infrastructure has been missing.

Where to learn more

• The organization: Come Out & Play
• Foundational thinker: Bernie DeKoven's writings on play
• New Games Movement: Wikipedia: New Games Foundation
• Adjacent recipes: [Block Party](../01-knowing-your-neighbors/block-party.md), [Improv Games](./improv-games.md), [Community-Built Playspace](../06-placemaking/community-built-playspace.md)

Details

• steps: **Pick a park or plaza.** Public, accessible, large enough for the games you want to run., **Pick the games.** Three or four short, easy-to-explain games. Examples: red rover, capture the flag, hide and seek (adult version), parkour tag, freeze tag, Mafia in a park., **Promote modestly.** A flyer, a few posts on local forums, friends of friends. The first session doesn't need to be huge., **Bring simple props.** Bandanas for teams. Whistles. A speaker for music. Snacks and water., **Run the session.** Welcome, explain each game in 90 seconds, play, switch games every 20 to 30 minutes., **Repeat.** Monthly or weekly during good weather. Build the rhythm. Regulars will emerge. ### Larger version (festival), **Build the organizing team.** Logistics, game curation, designer recruitment, communications, day-of operations. 10 to 20 people across multiple weekends and the festival itself., **Identify locations.** Multiple sites across a neighborhood or city. Get permits., **Recruit game designers.** Local game designers, game studios, and individuals who've designed street games. Many designers will contribute games for the visibility., **Schedule.** A multi-day festival typically has different days for different vibes: After Dark (evening, adult-leaning), Field Day (outdoor athletic), Family Day (kid-friendly)., **Promote across communities.** Universities, design schools, neighborhood groups, families, gamers, libraries., **Run the festival.** Volunteers at each site running specific games. Players move between sites., **Document.** Photos and videos that show what was possible. They will recruit next year's players.
• file path: recipes/10-play-and-joy/come-out-and-play.md
• variations: **Themed play night.** Mafia, escape room, scavenger hunt. Specific format, deeper play. **Cross-school play day.** Schools collaborating to bring older and younger students together for play. **Workplace play.** Some workplaces have adopted the model for community-building. Different context, same logic. **Holiday or seasonal.** Summer block parties built around play. Halloween big games. Spring scavenger hunts. **Intergenerational play.** Grandparents and grandchildren playing together. Particularly powerful when carefully designed.
• ingredients: {"time":"Recurring play sessions: 1 to 2 hours. Festivals: 1 to 3 days. Ongoing coordination.","space":"Public outdoor spaces. Parks, plazas, closed streets, beaches. Accessibility matters.","people":"10 to 20 core organizers for a festival. 50 to 500+ participants depending on scale.","skills":"Game design, event facilitation, public engagement, community outreach, logistics.","materials":"Game designs (often from designers in the network). Props specific to each game. Signage, sound equipment, rules sheets, promotional materials.","energy_level":"High during the festival or session. Moderate in planning."}
• where to learn more: - The organization: [Come Out & Play](https://www.comeoutandplay.org/) - Foundational thinker: [Bernie DeKoven's writings on play](https://www.deepfun.com/) - New Games Movement: [Wikipedia: New Games Foundation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Games_Foundation) - Adjacent recipes: [Block Party](../01-knowing-your-neighbors/block-party.md), [Improv Games](./improv-games.md), [Community-Built Playspace](../06-placemaking/community-built-playspace.md)
• stories from neighborhoods: **Come Out & Play** has run annual festivals in New York City since 2006 and has expanded to Pittsburgh, San Francisco, and other cities. Thousands of players have engaged. The Thursday Night Play series at the DUMBO Archway in NYC has run for years with rotating games. **New Games Movement** in the 1970s pioneered the broader idea of non-competitive cooperative play for adults. Bernie DeKoven's writing on play (*The Well-Played Game*, *A Playful Path*) is a foundational reference. The pattern across all of these: when adults are given permission and structure to play together in public, they do. The hunger is there. The infrastructure has been missing.