LA PLAY 2026
Events that will play with the theme of Play 2026
Theme of the 2026 edition of Play - the Games Festival
In 2026, Italy marks the 80th anniversary of women’s suffrage.
To celebrate this important milestone in the journey toward women’s emancipation, we intend to highlight the contribution of women to society in general - and to the world of games in particular. We’ll do it the Play way: through a playful and interactive approach made of games, guests, talks, and round tables.
And if you’ve ever wondered which article to use for Play (in the italian language), we can finally reveal it: the feminine definite article. La Play.
Business Quest
GiX-UNIFIGenitori di Ruolo
Thanks to a new system created by GeDR Studio, participants will step into the shoes of entrepreneurs and business leaders in a desperate struggle for survival in the global market, using their talents and strategic skills while keeping their cool as their businesses hang in the balance.
Amm. Z16
giovedì 22hours 9:30
Ciò che resta di Lei
When a woman’s identity fades from the world’s memory, can we still say she truly existed? And if an ancient wrong, committed in the silence of history, were to be transformed into salvation, would it be right to let her name disappear forever?Join us on a journey in search of a truth hidden in time, where history, family and adventure intertwine t...
Pad.16 S13 - Actual Play
sabato 23hours 15:30
Donne di potere, tra Storia e Gioco
Federludo APSLUDOSTORIA APS
When discussing women in a historical context, the popular imagination tends to focus, on the one hand, on noblewomen and courtesans engaged in who knows what intrigues in the shadow of a sovereign, and, on the other, on the status of women and the successive and ever-relevant social struggles undertaken to improve it, particularly in the modern er...
Amm. Z14 - PlayLab
venerdì 22hours 14:00
Double Standards – Dungeons & Dragons Live Play Session
Game Master Giadadiruolo runs a light-hearted and irreverent D&D session set in a small village within a classic fantasy setting. The protagonists are women who want to change their lives by forming a party of adventurers… but not everyone in the village or the guild agrees.What challenges, prejudices and obstacles will they have to face to earn th...
Pad.16 S13 - Actua lPlay
domenica 24hours 15:30
Explore your emotions and play with Mood On
Try Mood On, the cards deck of human feelings, presented by Alice (psychologist and sexologist). Nurture your emotional intelligence with a game of symbolic stimulus cards that combine illustrations and poetry!It’s the perfect opportunity to explore the nuanced world of human feeling in a fun and accessible way! As you play, you can discover someth...
Pad.15 E14 F13 - Ludoteca Scientifica
domenica 24sempre
Exploring gender dynamics through play
Ludo Labo Società Cooperativa
13:30–15:00 “INCLUSION, TOKENISM AND GENDER STEREOTYPES” BEFORE THE SESSIONThrough the edu-LARP “Il giorno della separazione” (The Day of Separation), this session presents a live role-playing experience in which participating students explore a dystopian society – yet one not so far removed from our own – by navigating four challenges that simulat...
Pad.15 G43 - Game Science
sabato 23hours 13:30
Fair play – the kind of tabletop game we would like
The representations, roles and mechanics of games depict a world in which gender identity, like all other characteristics that define people and characters, is not neutral. Let’s see how this plays out in some examples of games that offer open-ended and sometimes alternative narratives.Organised by: GSRC Gaming Equity Commission, in collaboration w...
Pad.15 E14 F13 - Ludoteca Scientifica
from sabato 23 to domenica 24sempre
Formula D – Women drivers in Formula 1
PROGIOCO FIRENZE
Meet the women at the steering wheel!In a predominantly male world such as Formula One, women have not always been merely a supporting act, but have sometimes been true protagonists.Discover the stories of six female drivers and pit them against each other on the Formula D circuit organised by Roberto Gigli in the Federludo area, at the ‘Woman in P...
Pad.15 G34
domenica 24hours 16:00
Free to Choose: playing with gender stereotypes
UNIMORE - Università degli studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia
13:30–15:00 ‘INCLUSION, TOKENISM AND GENDER STEREOTYPES’ BEFORE THE SESSION10 years of history and research with Free to ChooseA game that ostensibly aims to have players guess their opponents’ professions based on clues. However, the real aim of the game is to expose the use of gender stereotypes that influence educational and career choices. Spea...
Pad.15 G43 - Game Science
sabato 23hours 13:30
Games about women
CENTRO DOCUMENTAZIONE DONNA ETSGiochi da tavolo a tema
Pad.15 F3 - La Play
from venerdì 22 to domenica 24sempre
The Role of Women in the World of RPGs: Exploitation vs Inclusion
In 2026, discussing these issues might seem ‘outdated’, but even though the situation may have improved over the years in terms of inclusion, a more subtle and difficult-to-detect phenomenon has gained ground: exploitation disguised as inclusion. This panel will be a brief discussion focusing on the role of women, both from a personal perspective—d...
Pad.18 M72 - Play Community
sabato 23hours 11:00
What history teaches us: Quotes from the past and present to shape the future
CENTRO DOCUMENTAZIONE DONNA ETSLa Storia cosa ci insegna... Citazioni tra passato e presente per cambiare il futuro
Pad.15 F3 - La Play
from venerdì 22 to domenica 24sempre
Women in Astronautics, Aeronautics and Astronomy: Space, Science, Technology and Play
Associazione Il C.O.S.Mo. APS
Videos, slides, board games, display panels and explanations about women in astronautics, aeronautics and astronomy.For example, airplane pilot Amelia Earhart, but also many other lesser-known figures, first and foremost Rosina Ferrario.With related themed board games: Wings of Wars, featuring 3D aircraft miniatures, for enthusiasts of all ages. Ph...
Pad.15 F33
from venerdì 22 to domenica 24sempre
Game Book Women – Authors, Artists and Editors in Italian Interactive Fiction
At last, a panel dedicated entirely to women’s voices in the world of game books: from writing to illustration, translation and editing, we will discuss how much and in what ways the new landscape of game books has changed, thanks in part to the influence of women working in the sector, in the company of some distinguished representatives. Silvia S...
Pad.18 O8 - Play Publisher
domenica 24hours 14:30
Molly House
In Molly House, players take on the role of mollies to challenge gender norms in early 18th-century London. The game combines elements of social deduction, roll-and-move and set collection to recreate grand masked balls and escapades through the alleyways, as well as chases from moralistic police officers seeking to destroy the mollies’ community.P...
Pad.15 D13 - Play History
from venerdì 22 to domenica 24sempre
One-shot: Luci di Tombstone - Un lavoro da ragazze-en
Bivacco Vicenza
RPG SESSION WITH HANDMADE SALOON SET Life for women in 1884 Arizona is no bed of roses. Even less so if the women in question are Fireflies. Even less so if a grave wrong has been done to one of your sisters, and you must find a way to see that justice is done. Le Luci di Tombstone is a PbtA role-playing game in which you will explore the stories o...
pad.18 N68 O67
domenica 24hours 14:00
Pink* – a Girls' game?
Ludo Labo Società CooperativaDemo of the game Pink. Limited edition
Pad.15 - F3
from venerdì 22 to domenica 24sempre
PlayHer. Womens' representations in video games
Who are the women that populate video games? And what do they tell us about ourselves, our imagination, and society?From Princess Zelda to the witch Bayonetta, from the heroines of Mass Effect to the creatures of dystopian and fantastical worlds, PlayHer explores female roles and representations that intertwine with ancient myths, fairy tales, hist...
Pad.15 G43 - Game Science
sabato 23hours 12:30
Taking the floor, taking centre stage: data and experiences of women in tabletop role-playing and LARP
DMI - DUNGEON MASTER ITALIA
Tabletop role-playing originated in the 1970s with Dungeons & Dragons, in a predominantly male environment. Since then, the landscape has changed profoundly: new generations, new languages and new sensibilities have transformed the way we play, narrate and run games. This panel offers an analysis of the evolution of female participation in RPGs, fr...
Pad.18 M72 - Play Community
venerdì 22hours 15:00
Ragazze Digitali
UNIMORE - Università degli studi di Modena e Reggio EmiliaSummer Camp Ragazze Digitali
Pad.15 E16-F15
from venerdì 22 to domenica 24sempre
Respawn! Reclaiming Digital Bodies
In the world of video games, respawning is an opportunity to start afresh, to get back into the game after a defeat. But what happens when the game in question is our identity and the battlefield is the digital space? Giulia Paganelli: critic, anthropologist and historian – she has been working on the ethnography of the body, discursive practices a...
Pad.15 G43 - Game Science
domenica 24hours 12:00
Roleplay Talent Garden
Roleplay Talent Garden is a play space dedicated to aspiring young game masters aged 12 to 20, where we from the Unravelore team will be on hand as game masters, players at your tables, and mentors for any questions or discussions you may have. If you’d like to try your hand at being a game master, book your spot at the table to run your own advent...
Pad.18 N24 - Ludoteca RpG
from venerdì 22 to domenica 24sempre
Starter kit for writing gender-inclusive games
Gondolin Associazione di Promozione Sociale
Do you want to write a choose-your-own-adventure book where the protagonist could be of any gender? Do you need to translate a role-playing game and one of the characters is non-binary?This workshop will provide you with the basic linguistic tools to write games in a gender-sensitive way.NB: you won’t be told how you ‘must’ write the games. The aim...
Amm. Z14 - PlayLab
sabato 23hours 11:30
TIMELINE. Women’s suffrage around the world
CENTRO DOCUMENTAZIONE DONNA ETSA special version of the Timeline game dedicated to women’s suffrage around the world
Pad.15 F3 - La Play
from venerdì 22 to domenica 24sempre
Tomb Raider turns thirty
Puzzles, colonialism and pop culture: Tomb Raider turns thirty
Pad.18 M72 - Play Community
sabato 23hours 17:00
Viole nel Fango
Viole nel Fango (Violets in the Mud) is a semi-cooperative card and role-playing game for three to seven players and a Facilitator, based on improvisation and role-playing dynamics.
Pad.15 D13 - Play History
sabato 23hours 9:00
Votes for Women: the journey to women’s suffrage
UNIMORE - Università degli studi di Modena e Reggio EmiliaCENTRO GENDERMORE / SBA UNIMORE
CENTRO DOCUMENTAZIONE DONNA ETS
Round-table discussion on the journey to women’s suffrage and how games can help raise awareness of this issue
Pad.18 O58 - Play Conference
from venerdì 22 to venerdì 22hours 16:00
