This is a Door on Concrete Playground

Melbournians can embrace their inner child during This Is a Door, a month-long festival of games and participatory performance launching on Halloween. Melbourne’s new games designers, in league with a handful of inventive companies, have crafted up four weeks of play to suit all tastes.

Maybe you’ll try The Curse, a 30-minute puzzle/chase game designed by Pop Up Playground (PUP) (warning: if you have a phobia of clowns, skip it). The PUP team are also hosting a weekend of games including Belgian Roulette, Rainbow Running, Invisible Labyrinth and Impossible Bookclub — disclaimer: we have no idea what any of those games are but they sound great.

Check out We Want You by Urban Codemakers, a game involving three guilds on a mission to transform the streets of St Kilda. Habitual pub dwellers should join Werewolf, a spin-off on the classic Mafia game by Euchronic Games. If craft is more your thing, settle yourself on The Nylon Zoo’s picnic blanket and design your own fabulous beast with the folks behind I See Magical Creatures.

For the proudly nerdy, there’s Mech Combat, where you and a co-pilot can guide your own robotic war machine through the streets of St Kilda. Then make some Lego Poetry, photograph your own miniature literary moment and blast it into the social media sphere with the tag #legopoetry.

Events take place at Luna Park, Theatre Works and other venues in St Kilda. Prices range from free (around half of the games) to $30. Tickets can be purchased at the door or in advance. Check out all locations, dates and prices at the official website.