13 games that will change the way you think about gaming

Featuring telephones, mirrors, twine and, yes, even screens, the Now Play This festival explores the far edges of game design - here's the best bits

Now Play This is a festival of experimental games. Spread throughout several rooms of the New Wing of Somerset House, and running as part of the London games festival, it reflects what happens when we stop worrying about the artistic or commercial validity of the medium. Curated by game designers Holly Gramazio and George Buckenham, it's about collecting experiences that offer something interesting, meaningful or special.

This year's event featured games in a variety of formats: tabletop, physical, digital, augmented reality, virtual reality and new sports. There were experimental interfaces and there were fascinating intersections between space and content. One game, Joy is Here, covered all the walls in a giant word search.