On the last Friday of every month the Victoria & Albert Museum host an event called Friday Late. I have wanted to go for a long long time and this Friday was the first opportunity! And it was fab!

On the 26th March, The V&A teamed up with Hide&Seek to fill the museum with social games and playful experiences.  It was a brilliant atmosphere filled with music, laughter, smiles, and noise. The place was buzzing.  It was such a different experience from going to visit the V&A during the day.

Pervasive gaming galore!  You couldn’t help but have fun, every where you looked there were games and game players in abundance. Social gaming in cultural spaces is a really brilliant idea it encourages players to engage with each other and the space around them in a different way. Producing more meaningful and unexpected engaging experiences. I took two of my friends who had never been to the V&A before, and they had a grand old time, and we are now looking forward to the Friday Late on quilts next month. We had playful, engaging and a surprising night. Unexpected parlour games, fake moustaches (which I loved) and lots and lots of paper mess made for a brilliant experience. One which I can’t wait to do again. It is not for the faint hearted, its not really the place to be shy, it forces you in a playful and big smiling way to go up to complete strangers and interact. Unfortunately I got lynched in one the games due to people suspected me as a werewolf, but nevertheless I feel I took my death remarkably well. Culture and fun should be synonymous, and in this instance it really was. Pervasive and social gaming could easily fit into every museum I have ever been too and every museum I am ever likely to go to in the future. In fact it would be brilliant if more and more museums took it up.

There is a pretty cool video that shows some of what was going on.

Hide&Seek also do regular evenings of social gaming which I’m definitely thinking about checking out. And you’re more than welcome to join me. The more the merrier!