This presentation, originally delivered at IndieCade East 2015, lays out a number of key design lessons I learned from running the Come Out & Play Festival and designing games for public spaces.

1. Experience design lessons
from 10 years of running
games in the streets.

2. 10 years

3. 251 games

4. 15,000
players

5. What I
learned.
Photo by Lia Bulaong

6. Photo by Amanda Bernsohn
Engage the
mind &
body

7. Photo by Amanda Bernsohn
Payphone Warriors
by Abe Burmeister, Gregory Trefry, Cory Forsyth
2006

8. People will
run in
traffic.
Photo by Amanda Bernsohn

9. Photo by Amanda Bernsohn
Re:Activism NYC
by Colleen Macklin, Mike Edwards, Leanne Wagner, Rabia Malik, Michael Thibodeau, Subalekha Udayasankar, Charles Earl Love Yust for PETLab
2008

10. Photo by Amanda Bernsohn
Re:Activism NYC
by Colleen Macklin, Mike Edwards, Leanne Wagner, Rabia Malik, Michael Thibodeau, Subalekha Udayasankar, Charles Earl Love Yust PETLab
2008

11. Crowds are
super
boring.
Photo by Amanda Bernsohn

12. Photo by Amanda Bernsohn
Ravenchase
by Ravenchase Adventures
2008

13. Photo by Amanda Bernsohn
Ravenchase
by Ravenchase Adventures
2008

14. Photo by Lia Bulaong
Mobs are
exciting.

15. Photo by Lia Bulaong
Zombie Ward
by Gigantic Mechanic
2013

16. Mobs are
also hard to
control.
Photo by Lia Bulaong

17. Photo by Lia Bulaong
Zombie Ward
by Gigantic Mechanic
2013

18. Photo by Lia Bulaong
Charge of the Rubber Ball Brigade
by Gigantic Mechanic
2012

19. Photo by Lia Bulaong
Bring Home the Beacon
by Albert Kong & Lily Cheng
2014

20. You sell
your game.
Photo by Slingshot
Hounded
by Slingshot
2011

21. Photo by Slingshot
Hounded
by Slingshot
2011

22. Photo by Slingshot
Hounded
by Slingshot
2011

23. People don’t
want rules.
They want
to play.Photo by Amanda Bernsohn

24. Photo by Amanda Bernsohn
Manhattan Megaputt
by Dave Wrath
2006

25. Some
players
love rules.
Fear them.Photo by Amanda Bernsohn

26. Photo by Amanda Bernsohn
Human Blackjack
by Lindsey McCosh, Eleanor Lovinsky, Jacquie Jordan, Sherry Smith
2010

27. Trust is a
limited
commodity.
Photo by Amanda Bernsohn

28. Photo by Amanda Bernsohn
Human Blackjack
by Lindsey McCosh, Eleanor Lovinsky, Jacquie Jordan, Sherry Smith
2010

29. Running &
memory
don't mix
well. Photo by Lia Bulaong

30. Photo by Lia Bulaong
Bicycle Opener
By The Institute for Aesthletics
2013

31. Photo by Lia Bulaong
Flagstaff
By James Lomusico & Adam Nelson
2013

32. Photo by Lia Bulaong
Flagstaff
By James Lomusico & Adam Nelson
2013

33. Big piles of
balls are
irresistible.
Photo by Lia Bulaong

34. Photo by Lia Bulaong
Charge of the Rubber Ball Brigade
by Gigantic Mechanic
2012

35. Photo by Lia Bulaong
Edgar Rice Frotteur
by Adam Henriksson, David Kanaga, Thomas Perl, Douglas Wilson
2013

36. Photo by Lia Bulaong
5 Boro Basketball
by Gigantic Mechanic
2014

37. If a box
will do, use
a box.
Photo by Lia Bulaong

38. Photo by Lia Bulaong
The Battle of the Cardboard Clads
by Gigantic Mechanic
2013

39. Photo by Lia Bulaong
The Battle of the Cardboard Clads
by Gigantic Mechanic
2013

40. People
gravitate to
the familiar.
Photo by Lia Bulaong

41. Photo by Lia Bulaong
Ms. PacManhhattan
by Pete Vigeant
2014

42. Photo by Lia Bulaong
Hot Mess
by Mike Ren
2014

43. People will
get aggro
about
anything.Photo by Jim Bearden

44. Circle Rules Football
by Greg Manley
2009 Photo by Jim Bearden

45. Circle Rules Football
by Greg Manley
2009 Photo by Jim Bearden

46. Firefly
by Chloe Varelidi & Pollie Barden
2012 Photo by Lia Bulaong

47. Kill him and you will be famous
by Nick Fortugno
2013 Photo by Lia Bulaong

48. Kill him and you will be famous
by Nick Fortugno
2013 Photo by Lia Bulaong

49. Don’t be an
ant farmer.
Photo by Guy Chan

50. Photo by Guy Chan
F Be I, See I A
by Berlin Invisible Playground in collaboration with gameslab Berlin
2009

51. You are the
custodian of
your player’s
experience.Photo by Javier Oddo

52. Photo by Javier Oddo
Pigeon Piñata Pummel
by Josh DeBonis & Nik Mikros
2008

53. It’s all about
experiences.
Deliver good
ones. Photo by Lia Bulaong

54. Photo by Lia Bulaong
Hearst Collection
by Gabe Smedresman
2013

55. Photo by Lia Bulaong

56. Photo by Lia Bulaong
gtrefry@
comeoutand
play.org