Play Beyond Play is a complete experience featuring game stations and imaginative game environments.
Nostalgia, amusement and advanced digital technology are brought together as we tell the story of Sweden’s computer game industry. Gaming is one of the most globally widespread cultural forms. It is also an industry that is driving the development of digital technology at a rapid pace.
An entire floor of gaming fun
The Play Beyond Play exhibition takes over an entire floor – 1,000 square metres of gaming fun.
We have created an experience where you can not only try your favourite games and explore the game history, but also step into, and let yourself be immersed by, games.
The new part begins with a journey through the game history. What does it feel like to be inside a game? The Game Portal is the link between reality and the magical worlds of computer games.
Game Portal
In Game Demo you can try games that are still under development. They have been created with focus on specific areas, such as the design or unusual user interfaces. Such as Pump the Frog, a puzzle game that uses a bicycle pump to control the game.
You can also try virtual cognitive behavioural therapy, currently being tested in a scientific study at the Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg.
Before you leave Play Beyond Play, you can create your own avatar. You scan yourself and choose looks and accessories. When done, you can let your avatar wander out in the exhibition together with previous visitors and stay in the world of computer games forever.
Try Hololens
Here you can try the very latest in gaming technology – HoloLens. What does it feel like to play in a ‘mixed reality’? With HoloLens, reality is enhanced, bringing together people, places and objects from both the physical and the digital worlds. Unlike traditional games, HoloLens makes use of the existing room, scanning the environment and adapting the game to fit into it.
Opening hours for HoloLens
HoloLens is situated in a separate room in the exhibition, where our museum hosts will help you. HoloLens is free, but you need to book a time slot in the entrance. Please note that the number of slots available are limited.
Mon – Fri: 12 noon – 4 pm
Sat – Sun: 10.30 am – 12 noon and 1 pm – 4.30 pm
Other examples of games in the exhibition
- Mirror’s Edge
- Star Stable
- Unravel
- Overcooked
- Star Wars Battlefront 2
- Liyla and the Shadows of War
- Never Alone
- Shelter 2
Nostalgia
Play Beyond Play also features exhibits from gaming history, such as the Saab D2 (Sweden’s first transistor-equipped computer, on which one of the country’s first computer games was created) and classic machines such as the Commodore 64, Apple II, Atari Pong, Atari 2600 and Amiga 500.
Those who remember the Dactyl Nightmare VR game, which was a common fixture in arcades back in the early 1990s, now have the chance to revisit those times thanks to an emulation of that game.
You can also try out the ‘Virtuality 1000CS’ – the first gaming machine in which the player could experience VR – and play the Space Invaders arcade game.
VR lab in the weekends
The VR lab is closed for the summer and opens again in September. Learn more about Virtual Reality, what it is used for and what might be in the future. Children and adults are also welcome to try out a fun game where you take the lift up to the roof tops of a scyscraper and balance on a plank high up in the air. Check out the hours (in Swedish)
The culture of cosplay
In the exhibition, you can also explore the cosplay culture, which originated in Japan. The name is an abbreviation of ‘Costume Play’, where cosplayers dress up in costumes which transform them into favourite characters from games or animated films. Among others, the exhibition includes an interpretation of a Tau Commander’s costume (from Warhammer 40,000).
The Play beyond Play exhibition brings together the Swedish game industry, findings of long-term research and experience gained from previous gaming exhibitions.