#Play14 Vienna 2025

The Power of Play is Back! Venue kindly provided by ÖBB Open Innovation Factory.

From the Still to the Stir – Play is the Lever. The global #Play14 community returns to Vienna for the third time! Join us for a dynamic Open Space event dedicated to Gamification, Creativity and Collaboration. Get ready for a weekend filled with experimentation, learning, and fun!

Why Serious Play?

Serious Play taps into how the brain naturally learns and solves problems—through engagement, emotion, and safe experimentation. Backed by neuroscience and productivity research, Serious Play helps people retain knowledge longer, collaborate more effectively, and solve complex challenges faster. It’s not play for fun’s sake—it’s play for performance. And it’s fun.

Why Join our Open Space?

Join our Serious Play Open Space to explore how play drives real results—innovation, alignment, and creative problem-solving in a hands-on environment. Open Space is a self-organizing format where participants create the agenda together based on what matters most to them. You’ll engage with peers, share challenges, test ideas in real time, and experience how Serious Play unlocks deeper thinking, faster alignment, and more creative solutions. It’s not a lecture—it’s a playground for breakthrough thinking, where you choose what to explore and how deeply to dive in.

📅 Event Schedule

🕔 Friday, Sept 26 – Serious Play Barcamp

Hosted by the Play14 Vienna Team
🎟️ Open to all · Bring friends and colleagues · Free of charge

This Barcamp is a great opportunity to mingle with the Vienna Serious Play Community ramp up your facilitation skills and spend an evening with like-minded people.

17:00 – 18:00 – Barcamp Kick-off & Surprise Experience (to be announced soon)
18:00 – 22:00 – Barcamp Sessions, Community Gathering & Networking

⏰ Saturday, Sept 27 – Play14 - The Open Space for Serious Play

🎟️ Registration & cost compensation required

The Serious Play Open Space to explore how play drives real results—innovation, alignment, and creative problem-solving in a hands-on environment. You'll engage with peers, share challenges, test ideas in real time, and experience how Serious Play unlocks deeper thinking, faster alignment, and more creative solutions. It’s not a lecture—it’s a playground for breakthrough thinking.

09:00 – 09:30 – Arrival & Coffee
09:30 – 10:00 – Welcome & Introduction
10:00 – 10:45 – Marketplace (Session Planning)
11:00 – 11:45 – Session Round 1 (multiple sessions in parallel)
12:00 – 12:45 – Session Round 2
13:00 – 14:00 – Lunch
14:00 – 14:45 – Session Round 3
15:00 – 15:45 – Session Round 4
16:00 – 16:30 – Harvest & Reflections
16:30 – 17:00 – Closing Round

⏳ Sunday, Sept 28 – Game Lab - Test and try new facilitation games
🎟️ Open to all · Bring friends and colleagues

Game Lab is an Open Space-style session where participants can test their own newly designed facilitation games and experiment with others’ ideas in a collaborative, low-pressure environment. It’s a space for playful exploration, feedback, and iteration—perfect for facilitators looking to refine their tools or discover fresh approaches.

09:00 – 09:30 – Arrival & Coffee
09:30 – 10:00 – Welcome & Session Planning
10:00 – 10:45 – Session Round 1 (multiple sessions in parallel)
11:00 – 11:45 – Session Round 2
12:00 – 12:45 – Session Round 3

13:30 Closing Social of Play14 2025 at Würstelprater
(Exact location to be announced at the venue)

Donations

We’re doing our best to keep the event affordable and accessible to the community, which we believe is one of the most vibrant, engaged, thoughtful, and often underrated in town. That’s why we’re especially grateful to everyone who’s able to support our initiative. We won’t forget it! Here's your opportunity to support the local community.

You’ll always have a special place in our hearts — and we’ll be proud to share your generosity with everyone!

Donate Now

🏢 Venue kindly provided by ÖBB Open Innovation Factory

Barbara Pauer-Faulmann

Barbara Pauer-Faulmann