A hall full of people playing games at The Learning Game Playground 2026 Crowd of players under bunting Busy hall full of players at tables Crowd of visitors filling the hall
Preston City Hall · 1 August 2026

The Learning Game
Playground 2026

The first one. A hall full of games, and the start of something.

On a cold Melbourne Saturday, a few hundred people came to Preston City Hall to do one simple thing: play, and pay attention to what play can teach. Game designers, artists, teachers, toy libraries and curious families all shared the same floor for a day.

It was the first festival of its kind in Australia, built on a single idea worth defending in public: that play is the brain's favourite way to learn. Then everyone got on with the business of proving it, one game at a time.

235
Players through the door
90
Games to play
20+
Makers & stalls
1st
Of its kind in Australia

The day, in pictures

Crowd of players and stalls under bunting Toy library stall with red flag Close-up of hands playing a board game Players around a table Talk on learning through play at school Mud and Mosses art and maker stall La Sobremesa large map game Busy hall full of tables and players Caricature wall of the day Panel discussion on the stage Overhead view of a game in progress Doopy Games map maker stall Mud and Mosses forest display with visitors Browsing the stalls Colourful game board close-up A maker running a game for players Entrance with balloons Event banner beside the PLAY letters on stage Full room of players at tables Latin Stories Australia team at their stall Handcrafted forest art display Visitors at the maker stalls Coveys Village great migration map game Busy crowd near the Indiverse banner Lawless Learning banner with organisers Overhead view of players at a table Organiser holding a game Toy library tables with the red flag

On the stage

Six speakers took the stage across two acts, from classroom practice to making games and teaching empathy through play.

Rachel ParkerLearning through play in schools
Adrian JansonCoding, STEM and engagement
Andy YongLearning through making games
Campbell CraigGame-based learning in education
Spyros SchismenosTeaching empathy through games
Isaac MorrisUsing lo-fi games to teach hard topics

Who was there

Game designers & studios
Doopy Games · Epic Card Games · Latin Stories Australia · Stone Soup Games · Wonderbound Press · Wellbeing & Health Organisation · Engineering With People · Indiverse · 10 Tickles Studio · Collarts Game Design · Nikki Davies · Anne Zugan
Artists, makers & community
Kel Sticks · The Murmuring Mystic · Mud and Mosses · Abhirami · Collingwood Toy Library

Everyone involved

The artists, exhibitors and volunteers who brought the day to life.

Abhirami · Adrian Janson · Amanda Sutera · Amber Hart · Andy Yong · Anne Zugan · Az Valastro · Ben Lawless · Campbell Craig · Charlie Lawless · Collingwood Toy Library · Daniel Machuca · Daniela Ariana Milkovic · David Wright · Hannah Kim · Harry Metcalf · Isaac Morris · Isabel Bedoya Avendano · Jade Catania · Jiashuo Gong · Jie Ji · Julian O’Shea · Kamahl Simmons · Kel Loveday · Lila Parker · Matthew Thorne · Meg Duncan · Megan Collins · Nikki Davies · Pamudika Kiridena · Rachel Parker · Simon Long · Spyros Schismenos · Stephanie Lambiris · Sylvie Parker · Tim Westhaven · Tony Camilleri

And a special thank you to Kelly McDermott.

Thank you

None of it happens without the people who backed it. A huge thank you to our major sponsor, Modern Teaching Aids, one of the best in the business for classroom games and learning resources, and to everyone who lent a hand on the day.

Modern Teaching Aids Fortress Melbourne Melbourne Museum

2027 is bigger

One hall was not enough. The Learning Game Playground returns on 7 August 2027, across two halls, with more games, more makers and more room to play. Get the date in your diary.

Count down to 2027