a five-day gathering of play practitioners—game and theatre artists—exploring new forms of agency in storytelling and experience

WORKSHOPS

January 3-5, 2024

SUMMIT

January 6-7, 2024

WHERE

ASU Media and Immersive eXperience (MIX) Center

Mesa, AZ

Click on the button below to find helpful links, local information and other resources—everything you need to craft your own journey at Worlds in Play!

Choose-your-own-adventure through deep-dive workshops! A special invitation to all hardcore play practitioners and newcomers alike. Step into the artist’s studio as they develop new participatory work, and play a role in the making-of. Dive into intensives on creating experiences with agency at the center!

40+ participatory sessions throughout Saturday & Sunday celebrates a kaleidoscopic community of practitioners, researchers, producers, and entrepreneurs across game, theatre, and other immersive fields. Sessions include immersive performances, transmedia installations, games for solo players & games for hundreds of players, to killer parties and life-changing rituals.

JOHN AGYEPONG & ALTON GLASS

Feeling inspired? There will be two ways for attendees to spontaneously contribute and experiment at Worlds in Play:

Sign up in-person at the Check-In Desk in the MIX Center Lobby.

Pathway 01

Sign up to use the Community Room in 1.5 hour or 3 hour slots throughout the five days of Worlds in Play, on a first-come-first-served basis. Attendees are invited to run gameplay sessions, facilitate skill-sharing workshops, or playtest experiments.

Pathway 02

On Summit Day 2 (January 7th), there will be a dedicated Showcase Hour during lunch (12pm-1:30pm) in the Community Room. Think: large open space, creators at tables, people roaming around the room.

Anyone will be able to sign-up for a table, on a first-come-first-served basis, on Summit Day 1 (January 6th). This is a casual opportunity to set up a quick and dirty demo or share about your work with the Worlds in Play community.