Playscape is a network of lightweight, robust digital screens situated around Bristol, acting as a source of many different types of interaction with the city.

The core use of Playscape is to broadcast simple game rulesets – invitations for social play – to passers-by. The rulesets are for games to play right there and then, with no special equipment or preparation, tailored to the affordances of the space where they appear. Is there a set of steps? A sundial? An amazing view? These can all form the basis for a game.

Reflecting on the invitation in the Playable City Award Guidelines "...to submit your ideas in the manner that best suits your practice", we thought about the fact that most application processes lock information and ideas away from view. As a studio, we love to blog and present our work – taking part in and benefitting from the endless sharing of knowledge and practice with fellow practitioners - so we decided to apply in the form of an open, linkable web page.

Our application can be viewed in its entirety at playscape.hideandseek.net

This Playable City Award is brought to you by:

Hide&Seek is a design studio working at the point where games meet culture. Our values are built around the belief that play – as a theme, a way of being, and design tool – is integral to understanding how culture will develop in the 21st century.

In the last five years, We have worked with a wildly diverse range of clients and partners. We’ve made an iOS arcade game for the Royal Opera House, consulted on gamification for clients such as eBay, Cadbury and the BBC, produced transmedia projects for Warner Bros., Wieden & Kennedy and Film4, and made our own games like the Boardgame Remix Kit, Drunk Dungeon and Searchlight.