GENERAL
Where is PLAY21 taking place?
What is the PLAYvalley?
What are your opening hours?
Where can I find the festival counter and office?
Is there an age restriction for PLAY21?
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?
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?
DURING THE FESTIVAL
What rules do I have to follow if I want to visit PLAY21 in the Europa Passage?
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
On which channels can I find PLAY – Creative Gaming Festival?
What is the name of the PLAY21 Discord server?
How can I relate my experiences and stories on Facebook, Twitter etc. to PLAY21? What is the hashtag?
My question is not listed. What can I do?
This year's festival edition of PLAY will take place in hybrid form, mainly online as a live stream and in our virtual festival location PLAYvalley. In addition, there will be some program on site in Hamburg.
Our production site is located in the Europa Passage Hamburg (Ballindamm 40 20095 Hamburg). There you will also find a small selection of games that you can play on site. In addition, there will be workshops at 12 schools in Hamburg and at SCHORSCH (Rostocker Str. 7, 20099 Hamburg).
You can visit and follow the program on the PLAY website, on our YouTube channel and in our virtual festival location.
The PLAYvalley is our virtual festival location that we built within the Topia platform for PLAY21. The PLAYvalley is an interactive, digital space where all parts of the program (with some exceptions, like the face-to-face workshops) can be found and visited by the attendees.
You can find the PLAYvalley via our homepage on the PLAY21 website and open it in your browser (link follows). No download is required to visit PLAYvalley. More information about the technical requirements can be found here.
The following venues can be found in the PLAYvalley:
The Shrouded Stage
Our festival stage for events such as PLAY Couch, Impulse and Speakers' Corner.
The Lost Lab
Where the online workshops and online trainings take place or can be watched via stream.
The Endless Plains
Here visitors will find our interactive exhibition.
Lookout Mountain
This is where the machinima cinema is located.
The Ruins of Restless Souls
Wonderful music plays here, and on the last night of the festival, the PLAY Party with DJ Barbara-Ann takes place here.
Shelter 21
This is a bunker where visitors arrive when entering PLAYvalley.
The Well of Wisdom
Our virtual festival headquarters, where visitors can ask their questions. This is also where virtual tours of PLAYvalley begin.
The Forest of Companionship
This is the gallery forest for the "Companion Gallery".
The Hidden Beach
Our beach where visitors can not only relax, but also take on secret level-up challenges.
The Lush Gardens
Our wild gardens in PLAYvalley offer many corners for public and private interaction.
Where something takes place can be found in the program and is indicated for each festival event.
Our online festival consists of live streaming, a Discord server and our virtual festival location, the PLAYvalley. On the server you can exchange information around the clock.
You can comment on the live stream, ask questions and join in the YouTube chat. Inside the Europa Passage, where our on-site exhibition is located, the festival can be visited from 10 am to 8 pm.
The festival headquarters on the Discord server (Festival HQ → Infopoint), in PLAYvalley (The Well of Wisdom) as well as inside the Europa Passage can be reached via text and voice channel or in person from 9 am to 9 pm.
The festival headquarters is located in the PLAY21 Discord-Server, in the PLAYvalley (The Well of Wisdom) as well as inside the Europa Passage and can also be reached by mail at welcome@playfestival.de. Our info booth at the virtual festival location, the PLAYvalley is located near the entrance at the Well of Wisdom.
The PLAY - Creative Gaming Festival is aimed at people aged 13 and older.
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 PLAYvalley 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 addition, our photographer Bente Stachowske and our film team (Daniel Roßberg and Kristina Thoms) will be at the venues to document the festival in pictures and films. Photos and videos will then be used and published for press relations, the website and the documentation of the Creative Gaming initiative.
In case you have any objections, please contact us at the festival headquarters in the virtual festival location, the PLAYvalley, or via Discord. If you have spotted content that features you, you can also contact info[at]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.
Online:
Watch the PLAY21 stream and discuss with us in the chat on YouTube. The stream can also be found on our website and in PLAYvalley, our virtual festival location and main PLAY21 venue, which will also be linked on the website after the opening. To participate in the YoutTube chat, you will need devices that have access to the internet and a YouTube account. If necessary, headphones or speakers will be needed as well.
PLAYvalley can be accessed via the browser. An account can but does not have to be created. There you can find the exhibition, online workshops, shows, talks and all other visitors! Here you can talk to our team personally, get information and take part in guided tours. There are places waiting for you, which invite you to get together, exchange and discover. On our Discord server you can reach the festival team, talk to the visitors, discuss and get the latest information.
In the Minetest PLAYground you can build the parcours for the Super Creative Crazy eSport Tournament together with other visitors at any time or any other construction that comes to your mind. Our Minetest server will be accessible to everyone throughout the festival days.
Presence:
Located on the 2nd floor of the Europa Passage overlooking Jungfernstieg, the PLAY Studio will feature an exclusive selection of games playable on-site. You can book time slots on site.
Address: Ballindamm 40, 20095 Hamburg
Close to Hamburg's main train station, in the St. Georg district, is the SCHORSCH at the IFZ. Here, young people from the age of 13 and adults can take part in our on-site workshops. For this, advance registration via sched is required.
Address: Rostocker Str. 7, 20099 Hamburg
Our online workshops and trainings (Online-Fortbildung) 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.
You can register for all limited events through our program overview at the website.
You can also contribute a topic for a discussion as part of our festival - in the Speakers' Corner at PLAY21 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, or in PLAYvalley) if you are interested.
Our online workshops are held on different platforms. We use Discord, Zoom, Minetest and Topia. Participants will find out whether registration on these platforms is necessary in their confirmation mail after the registration, otherwise at least 3 hours before the workshop starts.
Hygiene and protection regulations
The 3G model applies to the festival site. All visitors must therefore be either vaccinated or recovered (please bring a valid vaccination certificate or recovery certificate as verification) or present a negative PCR (maximum 48 hours old) or rapid test (maximum 24 hours old).
Entering the on-site exhibition on the 2nd floor of Europa Passage is only allowed after registration in the Luca app at THIS link or with manual registration on site.
Keep a distance of 1.5m from all people at all times and wear a medical mouth-nose covering.
Please do not enter with symptoms of respiratory illness. Entry to the festival venue will be prohibited in this case.
Use the hygiene stations provided by us and wash your hands regularly.
Avoid physical contact with others.
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 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.
This year we will also be present with our production site and a small on-site exhibition on the 2nd floor of the Europa Passage Hamburg. Information on accessibility within the Europa Passage can be found HERE.
The face-to-face workshops take place at SCHORSCH. The room where the workshops take place is accessible by elevator on the 1st floor. A handicapped-accessible and wheelchair-accessible toilet is located on the first floor.
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).
You can find us on at many channels, all of which are listed HERE.
The server is called PLAY – Creative Gaming Festival and can be found via this invitation link.
Use hashtag #PLAY21 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).
PLAY21 – 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).
Thanks to our locations: SCHORSCH at IFZ and Europa Passage Hamburg
Supported by the BürgerStiftung Hamburg and gamecity:Hamburg
In cooperation with the FUNDUS THEATER
Sponsored by siebold/hamburg messebau GmbH