PLAY17 - Creative Gaming Festival 2017

Hamburg, November 21, 2017. From November 1st to 5th, the PLAY17 – Creative Gaming Festival invited computer games enthusiasts from a wide range of fields and of all age groups to attend. Over 7,000 visitors, 1,000 more than in 2016, came. Under the motto “The Time is Now” and in numerous formats highlighting the cultural, political and educational aspects of games, they discussed, developed, examined and of course played games. In this way the 10th PLAY Festival was able to demonstrate its significance as an important contributor to the cultural and social debate on games in Germany and Europe.

Arne Busse from the German Federal Center for Political Education explained: “Creative Gaming makes it possible, in our current situation, to experience our society as configurable, playable and negotiable. The essence of the PLAY Festival is exactly that; to show and exhibit these capabilities. In doing this the 10th edition of the festival was bright and radiant.”

Among the highlights of this year’s Creative Gaming Festival was the presentation by Anita Sarkeesian the internationally acclaimed media critic of Feminist Frequency on the changing images of women’s roles in video games over time. The presentation was followed by a lively debate with the audience. The indie games exhibits provided an overview of fascinating design developments worldwide. In numerous workshops teachers acquired supplementary education, games designers passed on their knowledge and experience and in morning sessions school children designed their own games. Fine entertainment was provided in various formats every evening by PLAY on Stage, the Poetry Slam for example; the Birthday Gala offered a fast-moving retrospective with guests from PLAY’s 10-year history.

The presentation of the European Creative Gaming Award brought the Festival to a motivational conclusion. The three-person jury: Daniel Zils, media pedagogue, and games designers Linda Kruse (the Good Evil) and Matthias Kempke (Daedalic Entertainment) presented the “Most Innovative Newcomer Award” to the Danish developers Pesky Bees for the innovative VR-Coop-Game “Tell Me What You See”. The prize for the “Most Creative Game” also went to Denmark: “Keyboard Sports” from Triband with its creative keyboard-control was the most persuasive candidate. On the other hand, the Attendees Prize stayed in Hamburg; it was awarded by the PLAY17 visitors to indie developer Henning Steinbock for “Close the Leaks”. In this game four players together must guide a spaceship to a common goal by regulating the pressure in the spaceship through a self-developed control consisting of vacuum cleaner tubes.

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