Event

Now Play This 2025

11 & 12 Apr 2025

Fri 11 Apr 09.00 - 22.00

Sat 12 Apr 10.00 - 17.45

New Wing

Join us this Easter holiday for the 11th edition of Now Play This, the UK's leading festival of experimental games. We're thrilled to welcome back this exciting event as part of the London Games Festival.

Friday

A Folk Games day with talks and sessions, followed by an evening of music, networking, play-tests, and board games, hosted by Cologne Game Lab, Now Play This, and Dr. Murphy.→

Saturday

Join us on Saturday for our family friendly day of making and live play. You’ll need a Saturday Morning or Saturday Afternoon ticket.→

Exhibition

All tickets include access to these games at any time during your visit on Friday or Saturday. Check out our Play-test Spots hosted by University partners and our outdoor play proposals in and around Somerset House or cosy up in the Boardgames & Books Nook.

Featured Games

API The Cat | Nahuel Berneri

“Api the Cat” is a video game that brings the nostalgic charm of classic games to life with a fresh twist—blending modern music rhythms with a vibrant retro aesthetic.

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Boardgames & Books Nook

Now Play This opens up its personal collection of board games and books for you to explore and discover both classic and new titles. Pick one, find a cozy spot and enjoy a good read or a fun game with friends and family.

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Play spot! By MA Games Design, UAL: LCC

Visit the Play-Spot hosted by students from London College of Communication (LCC)’s MA Games Design program, where they are showcasing a series of innovative projects. They have been crafting unique experiences centred around the concept of folk games, specifically for this edition of Now Play This.

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Play Spot! BA Fine Art: Computational Arts & MA Computational Arts, UAL: Camberwell College of Arts

A collaboration between students from BA and MA courses featuring Computational Arts at Camberwell. The two groups have together created interactive projects that explore folk games through collective worldbuilding.

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Play Spot! Making the Media IV at Somerset House Game Pathway, BA Media, UCL

This year, UCL’s BA Media course joins Now Play This, with students visiting Somerset House to design immersive and expanded experiences inspired by folk games. Using AR/VR technologies, their projects explore new forms of play, blending real-world sites with interactive storytelling.

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Strand Avian Society

Become an investigator looking for clues that reveal the hidden nature of the Strand Avian Society.

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Tiny Games | Holly Gramazio

Find twelve tiny games scattered around Somerset House. Each game is an invitation to play with the peculiarities of the space: to look through a particular window, or sneak along a particular corridor, to point or jump or balance or describe or imagine.

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Online

Now Play This have partnered with friends and colleagues around the world to broaden the conversation on folk games. Here you can access live-streams, podcasts, posts and a selection of digital games to enjoy from the comfort of your own place.

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