Come Out and Play (COaP) is a completely free, annual games festival in San Francisco that emphasizes active play in city streets, parks, and other public spaces. Our mission is to provide a forum for new types of games and play, and to bring together a public eager to rediscover their neighborhoods with designers interested in producing innovative games and experiences.

While COaP started in New York in 2005, COaP San Francisco is still relatively new, and we're hoping to make 2012 the first year we are able to offer stipends to game designers for their work. We already have a fantastic community partner in SOMArts, who will be hosting our festival and exhibition for an entire month as a part of their Curatorial Commons program. We have big plans, which include:

-Call for Submissions-We will encourage independent street game designers to apply, and hope to offer stipends of $200-$500.
-An attendance goal of 5,000 for the month (we had 2,500 over a week in 2011).
-Field Games Weekend–For one weekend, COaP will take over Victoria Manalo Draves Park in SOMA to showcase an array of new playground games.
-Game Design for Kids Workshop–COaP game designers will host a workshop for kids under 11 to design their own playground games, with the best design given a public debut at the Field Games Weekend.
-Pick Up and Go Games–These no-host games can be played at any time throughout the festival, and will begin at the SOMArts exhibition hall. Confirmed games include Wanted!, a cowgirl-themed scavenger hunt, and Ran Some, Ransom, a crime-solving game involving clues hidden throughout the neighborhood.
-Street Game Events–In addition to Field and Pick Up and Go games, COaP will also present numerous hosted street games that take place throughout the city. These will include Journey to the End of the Night, a favorite from 2011; Jericho, a live-action spy game using Nerf guns; and Undercover Capture the Flag, in which a game of capture the flag is held in public spaces, without the knowledge of passers-by.
-Exhibition Games–Our indoor exhibition games will include the centerpiece Sixteen Tons, a physical game in which participants attempt to move large game pieces to the matching spaces on the life-size game board.
-Game Design Lab with ZERO1–COaP is partnering with the San Jose-based arts and technology festival ZERO1 to host a game design lab. The best design integrating real-world play and technology features will win a place in both ZERO1 and COaP festival.