The arcade is free, open to everyone, and you can pop in any time you like. Come and say hi!

Come along to one of our arcade days at The Ancient Priors to play fun multiplayer games, team up with your friends, experiment with some alternative controllers, and maybe discover a new game or two from the weirder side of independent developers’ brains.

Delight in striking visuals, colourful imagery, intuitive controls for a slice of Indie game fun.

Run by Jo Summers under the banner of ‘Press Fire to Win’, Pop Up Arcade has been running in various forms since 2014, as part of the Brighton Digital Festival, and alongside the Develop conference in Brighton. Jo also runs events around celebrating women’s work in games, and the Global Game Jam every year.

Expect fun, excitement, cooperation, betrayal, flashing lights, big buttons, beeps and boops, and the opportunity to discover some fun new games you might not have tried yet. We hope to see you there!

Exploring Senses artists are collaborating with youth artists to create artwork, music and lyrics, which will be made into a film by Nathan Clear, providing an alternative viewpoint on young people’s challenges in daily life.

The short film will be projected onto the side of the old Lloyds Bank on Broadway in Crawley.

Thanks to Crawley Community Youth Service and Brighton Youth Centre for their support.

Please Note: Oska Bright Film Festival x Dreamy Place Outdoor Film Trail that takes place at the same time in Crawley on 12th October will include this short film on its one hour trail.

Night Watch is an outdoor film trail taking place on 13th October 2023, with film & video works projected onto buildings around Bewbush, Crawley. Films will be curated from submissions by LGBTQIA+ artists and filmmakers from the UK and internationally.

Follow the film trail as the mobile cinema moves around Bewbush in Crawley, with opportunities to stop and watch, and then follow the trail to the next location. Viewers can follow the trail or just watch one film. videoclub will be walking films through the streets using a portable cinema.

Meet outside Bewbush Centre, Dorsten Square, Crawley RH11 8XW at 7pm to start the tour. Look out for the yellow hi-vis vests.

Access: the trail will cover approximately 1km, all wheelchair accessible. The pace is fairly leisurely. Films will be subtitled.

Delivered in partnership with Creative Crawley.

The event is free to attend and you can just turn up. Spaces are limited though, so to guarantee your place for the film trail on Friday 13th October at 7pm by clicking here

This hybrid artists talk / workshop will respond to your questions – please share your ideas and ambitions or even worries about using technology and Thomas will share their advice and expertise arming you with information on:

• Free software to get started
• Resources
• Techniques and ways to use ‘plug and play’ tech
• Costs behind projects and how to create work

‘An alumni fellow of The Royal Shakespeare Company and currently associate artist at Portsmouth Guildhall, Thomas makes work exploring the potential of XR and emergent technologies in drawing out our humanity. Alongside leading projects that combine sensory practice and new media, Thomas works with marginalized groups, putting their stories at the forefront of this new artform’

Free event – book your free place here

Goliath: Playing with Reality by Anagram
All realities are imagined. It’s the ones we share that endure.

Goliath Playing with Reality is a 25 minute animated VR experience about schizophrenia, gaming and connection, presented here as a virtual reality installation of the expanded game world of Goliath.

Through mind-bending animation, explore the limits of reality and a true story of mental health and the power of gaming. Echo (narrated by Tilda Swinton) guides you through the many realities of Goliath, a man who spent years isolated in psychiatric institutions but finds connection in multiplayer games.

Combining heart-felt dialogue, mesmerising visuals and symbolic interactions, weave through multiple worlds to uncover Goliath’s poignant story.

Antipsychotic by Matt McCorkle
Dive into Antipsychotic and journey through the mind of someone with bipolar disorder. This immersive experience marries poetic reflections and personal narratives with captivating audio-reactive visuals and evocative soundscapes, set to the beat of poignant music. It’s more than just listening; it’s feeling and exploring the nuanced challenges of mental health.

With user-friendly game controls and a tactile haptic system, participants are urged to delve deep, navigating a landscape rich with personal experiences. Utilising cutting-edge XR technologies and spatial audio, Antipsychotic isn’t just a story—it’s a harmonious blend of introspection and raw emotion, offering a profound glimpse into pre and post-treatment sentiments.

[Content Guidance: Contains discussions around mental health issues]

Deep by Owen Harris and Niki Smit
A breath controlled virtual reality experience that invites players to navigate through a serene and poetic underwater world. Movement is controlled by slow, deep diaphragmatic breathing which soothes and relieves anxiety in the player. Since 2016 research partners at the Games for Emotional and Mental Health Lab, Radboud University have conducted several studies demonstrating the efficacy of DEEP as an intervention tool for young people with anxiety. The experience is now being applied to a range of conditions including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Long COVID and Functional Neurological Disorders.

Asymmetrically Distributed Hyper Dynamism by Simon Wilkinson, BRiGHTBLACK
BRiGHTBLACK present a video game artwork about ADHD, a science fiction playable podcast built into a retro arcade cabinet, set within a dream, documenting a day on ADHD medication.

As the drug kicks in and the symptoms disappear one by one, the artists explore the comedic juxtaposition between an ADHD brain which finds itself in a world where it can thrive vs one where it is doomed to cause annoyance.

Entry: Free

There will be a panel discussion at 1.45pm – 2.30pm drawing on themes within the Embodied Realities exhibition. Full details here

Bringing in some true creatives and community members to help, eott will be first providing the space to come and communicate, to conversate, and share ideas, whilst secondly hosting an open talk which invites those in attendance to again share ideas, but also to hear others stories, respect others rhythms, and come together to find some peace and normality in talking about our minds.

Much like in the tone of its online work, eott will be delivering (and encouraging people to partake) the session in an informal manner.

The afternoon will also feature screenings by Lighthouse Young Creatives (LYC) – a professional and personal development scheme empowering young people who aspire to work in the creative industries but face a variety of barriers to doing so. LYC also sets out to address the chronic lack of diversity within the creative and digital industries, which stems from ongoing social inequalities and a historical lack of access and inclusion.

The event is free to attend and you can just turn up.

Usually off limits to the public, the secret 80-metre tunnel will be transformed into an immersive installation of sound, video and light.

For three days only the tunnel will be transformed into a luminescent landscape with sounds by Chinese artist GUAN as part of a collaborative installation co-created and produced by artist Thomas Buckley.

Special thanks to British Council and Arts Council England for their support in making this project happen.

WARNING: Strobing lights (not safe for people with epilepsy or light sensitivity) and uneven floors (please be careful when walking in the tunnel as it is also dark) – please be aware before entering the space.