GENERAL
Where is PLAY20 taking place?
What is the A MAZE./ SPACE?
What are your opening hours?
Where can I find the festival counter and office?
Is there an age restriction for PLAY20?
Will any kind of recordings be made during the festival?
TICKETS & PARTICIPATION
How much does the ticket to the festival cost?
How can I attend and participate in the festival?
What are sponsoring tickets and how much do they cost?
How long does it take to ship the Goodie Bag?
What is the difference between the free festival pass (in exchange for donation) and the sponsoring tickets?
Why do I have to register for some program points if the festival is free of charge?
What do I need to register for a workshop?
What do I need to participate in a workshop?
I am interested in participating at the Game Jam. Where can I find more information?
DURING THE FESTIVAL
Is the Festival accessible for people with disabilities?
Is there a code of conduct at the festival?
PRESS
I am a journalist and would like to get accredited for the festival.
SOCIAL MEDIA
What is the name of the PLAY20 Discord server?
On which channels can I find PLAY – Creative Gaming Festival?
How can I relate my experiences and stories on Facebook, Twitter etc. to PLAY20? What is the hashtag?
My question is not listed. What can I do?
Disclaimer: This year's festival was planned as a hybrid (online and on-site) festival. Due to the increasing number of infections and tightening of Covid-19 measures by the authorities the festival will be focus completely on our online format. Due to the short adjusting time, we can’t change the on-site program items into online formats, therefore we have to cancel them with a heavy heart.
Our production site is located in the FUNDUS THEATER (Hasselbrookstraße 25, 22089 Hamburg, Germany), but is not open to the public due to the tightened Covid-19 measures. Our exhibition originally planned at designxport (Hongkongstraße 8, 20457 Hamburg) with the games of this year's award nominees as well as the "Games without touching" will unfortunately not be implemented.
PLAY20 will therefore take place completely ONLINE on several platforms.
The festival will be broadcasted both live and curated on this website through our YouTube channel (InsideCreativeGaming). There are 5 channels to choose from. So called “Curated zapping” between the various programs can be watched on Channel 1: PLAY Studio. Stage programs are shown on Channel 2: PLAY on Stage. You can participate at workshops or just watch them on Channel 3: Laboratory. An exciting machinima cinema is screened on Channel 4. Our virtual PLAY exhibition can be tried out at our virtual festival location, the A MAZE./ SPACE or watched as a video tour on Channel 5.
The A MAZE./ SPACE is an interactive digital space and was originally developed for the fully digital edition of the A MAZE. / Berlin 2020 - 9th International Games and Playful Media Festival.
Please download the space from the frontpage of our website. After the download is completed please install the space on your device (Mac or PC) and create an account. Then log in and get started!
Our online festival consists of live streaming, a Discord server and our virtual festival location, the A MAZE./ SPACE. On the server you can exchange information around the clock.
The festival headquarters on the Discord server (Festival HQ → Infopoint) can be reached via text and voice channel from 9am to 9pm.
The festival booth is located online this year. You can reach it via the PLAY20 Discord-Server server or by mail at welcome[@]playfestival.de. Our info booth at the virtual festival location, the A MAZE./ SPACE is right at the entrance.
Some of our online workshops require the use of Discord. For this chat service an age requirement of 16 years and older applies. Teenagers between 13 and 15 can therefore only use the service with the permission or accompaniment of a legal guardian.
For our exhibition at our virtual festival location, the A MAZE./ SPACE we can not provide a general age rating. We therefore recommend that parents (or legal guardians) only explore the online content together with their children. If you have any questions, please contact the festival headquarters.
We will make recordings of some festival events. Screenshots or stills will also be taken, which will be used for our documentation and online presence as well as press work for the organizer Initiative Creative Gaming. If you take part in our online events with a webcam or microphone, please keep in mind that you can be seen or heard by other participants.
In case you have any objections, please contact us at the festival headquarters in the virtual festival location, the A MAZE./ SPACE, or via Discord. If you have spotted content that features you, you can also contact info[@]playfestival.de after the festival.
Our privacy policy can be found here.
This year's festival is free of admission. If you would like to support us, we would be happy about a donation or the purchase of our sponsoring tickets.
On our website we broadcast our festival through five channels via YouTube. Audience members can switch between the channels to watch our program and comment on the streaming videos. For this purpose you will need devices that have access to the internet and an YouTube account. If necessary, headphones or speakers will be needed as well.
For advanced participation a Discord access is required. With this link you can access our PLAY20 Discord-Server and either login with an existing account or register a new one. On our server you can participate via text and voice channels.
This year we offer two versions of sponsoring tickets.
The Sponsoring Ticket Online includes exclusive digital material, bonus features for participating in the "Lost in PLAY - an interactive live adventure" during the festival and a lot of PLAY love and gratitude. The items will be sent by email after ordering. It costs 15,-€ plus eventbrite-fees.
The Sponsoring Ticket Goodie Bag is limited to a quantity of 50 units and contains the content from the online version, which is stored on a PLAY-USB stick, a PLAY notepad and our very popular PLAY bag. The Goodie Bag version costs 30,-€ plus eventbrite-fees and will be shipped after receiving the payment to the delivery address provided by you.
Our Goodie Bags are put together with lots of PLAY love. The shipping may take up to one week before the festival starts. During and after the festival the Goodie Bags are also available while in stock and will take approximately 2 to 3 workdays to arrive. Therefore we ask for your patience and thank you for your order.
The free festival pass (not obligatory for festival participation) can be booked with a price of your choice as a donation. On request we can issue a donation certificate.
The sponsoring tickets are fixed with a minimum price and can be bought separately or in addition to a donation via festival pass. Unfortunately, we cannot issue a donation receipt for sponsoring tickets. Depending on the type of ticket, you will receive your goodies by mail or post.
Our online workshops and trainings (Onlinefortbildung) are held as live events only. As in regular face-to-face workshops, we would like to enable the workshop leader and participants to engage with each other. Therefore these places are limited as well.
You can register for all limited events through our program overview at the website.
ZYou can also contribute a topic for a discussion as part of our festival - in the Speakers' Corner at PLAY20 everyone gets a chance to speak! For this we are looking for ideas, projects and topics related to the digital game culture. If you have something to tell and want to share your experiences with the festival audience, you can submit your ideas before the festival starts. Check out the Guidelines (PDF) and register here.
This year we are using the platform Sched to manage our program. Therefore a Sched account is needed to register for program items with limited participation. We will maintain a waiting list as soon as the spots are full and will inform anyone waiting if there are free spots available. Please also make sure to cancel your registration in order to free up your place in case you cannot participate.
Short-term registrations are possible depending on the workshop as different onboarding procedures are provided depending on the platform used. Please contact our Infopoint (in the Discord Server) if you are interested.
Our online workshops are held on different platforms. We use Discord, Zoom, RecRoom, Minetest and Mozilla Hubs. Participants will find out whether registration on these platforms is necessary in their confirmation mail after your registration, otherwise at least 3 hours before the workshop starts.
The GameJam is a collaboration with GameCity Hamburg. You can find all information about it at here.
Various platforms and online tools are in use for our program, so we are bound to the technical configurations of each platform. Some of the platforms are not entirely accessible for some people with disabilities. However, we consider the topic as an important one and will do our best to gather more experience with time. If you are participating or would like to participate in the festival and notice limitations within the online program, we would like to hear from you so that we can assist you and consider it in the future as far as possible.
Yes, we have a code of conduct, which all festival participants should adhere to. Our code of conduct can be found here.
Please contact our press spokeswoman Tina Ziegler (tina.ziegler[@]creative-gaming.eu | mobile: +49 174 4440454).
The server is called PLAY – Creative Gaming Festival and can be found via this invitation link.
You can find us on at many channels, all of which are listed HERE.
Use hashtag #PLAY20 with your posts.
Contact our festival headquarters by mail via welcome[@]]playfestival.de. Of course we will also be happy to answer your questions on our social media channels (via direct message).
PLAY20 – Creative Gaming Festival is an event produced by the Initiative Creative Gaming e. V. and jaf – Verein für medienpädagogische Praxis Hamburg e. V. in cooperation with spielbar.de, the platform of the Federal Agency for Civic Education/bpb on the Subject of Computer Games, Behörde für Schule und Berufsbildung Hamburg and JIZ – Jugendinformationszentrum Hamburg (BSB).
Supported by the HAW Hamburg - Faculty of Design, Media and Information with the Mastercourse Games, the BürgerStiftung Hamburg, designxport and Gamecity Hamburg
In cooperation with the FUNDUS THEATER
Sponsored by siebold/hamburg messebau GmbH