Yes, it's that time of year, the annual Come Out & Play festival in NYC. Once again returning to Governor's Island on Saturday, this yera's events also adds a Friday evening program at the South Street Seaport. As always, there are lots of cool games for all ages and thanks to being at Governor's Island, I think there will be more families again. Sydney & I had lots of fun last year (sadly, she's away at camp this year) and I'm sure this year will be no different.
I'm particularly excited to have helped the AT&T Research team bring their GeoGames to Come out & Play this year.
In the simplest game, players move in the real world (RW) while leaving an ever growing tail of walls in the virtual world (VW). They must not crash into or cross the VW walls created either by themselves or others. The winner is the player who lasts the longest without crashing. Think the motocycle battle from Tron, but played for real and with you being the motorcycle!
There's a really full line up of games this year (it grows every year) and this year Come Out & Play will feature three main events, each with their own distintive games and flavor.
- On Friday July 13, Come Out & Play After Dark turns @Seaport and the surrounding streets into a twilight playground.
- Then on July 14, Come Out & Play Field Day returns to Governors Island for another day of wild new field games.
- Also on July 14, Come Out & Play Family Field Day brings fun and games for the whole family, with a mini-festival of family-friendly games organized by ESI Design, one of the world’s foremost experience design firms.
Hit the links below for additional information and make plans to Come Out & Play!
Come on, how do you not want to play games like these and many others! See you Friday or Saturday!
Hack Manhattan! has unleashed Brain Bats—a bigger, awesomer version of the classic pong video game on a giant 6 foot by 8 foot display, controlled by players’ minds. Participants interact with the installation through our NeuroSky MindWave headsets. These devices monitor brainwave activity, which we then channel to pit the players against our artificially intelligent Pong opponent.
An import-export business mogul has vanished and foul play is suspected. Take on the role of a cop, private investigator, or underworld hoodlum, and solve the mystery. Unreliable characters and confounding puzzles threaten to stump you at every turn. Do you work with other players to piece together what happened? Or do you frame things in your own best interest?
Grab your friends and dim the lights. Graveyard Snuggle will have you bending your bodies and entangling your limbs with ghoulish delight.
A lonely skeleton awaits, and he’s dying to play with you. Obey each of the skeleton’s commands by placing one of your bones on another player’s bone. But creep cautiously! Moving too suddenly would be a grave mistake.
The skeleton loves to put players in impossible situations, so use your imagination! You’ll know when you’re moving too quickly if you hear the skeleton’s bones shaking.
The battle is on! The kingdom's of Red and Blue have been annoying each other for years - and they've just declared war! The reason? I heard that a King of Red crashed the King of Blue's birthday party and stole his birthday cupcake! This means war! At the beginning of the game, players are dealt cards with numbers on them. Based on the card's color, red or blue, players are split into kingdoms. Some cards even give players special powers! Then, players must walk or jog to tag their opponents! Once tagged, on the count of three they show their cards, the higher numbered card wins the battle! Unless, of course, one of those players is a bomb! Do you have what it takes to defeat the opponent...and get back your king's cupcake?