An interactive exhibition returns to Somerset House which will draw a crowd of curious gamers like moths to a flame. 

As part of the capital-wide London Games Festival, Now Play This sets up shop Somerset House in April. 

Running April 1-9, the exhibition showcases the latest in independent and experimental game design from around the world. 

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For this edition, Now Play This takes All about love, a book by American scholar and activist bell hooks which argues love is rooted in care and personal growth, as its starting point to ask how we can treat each other in more loving ways.

From family, friendships and romance, to self-care, consent and grief, the exhibition will explore love in all its iterations through games, installations, activities and workshops as well as via playful art and conceptually bold ideas.

Attendees will be able to walk around Everyday Vrealities, a documentary set in different family homes and witness everyday intimate moments that have been captured through 3D scanning, and experience a game played from the perspective of a pet cat tasked with cheering up its owner. 

There's also a feminist anti-dating simulator that interrogates the tactics of 'pick up artists' and a complementing battle card game. 

Family-friendly sessions will be held on Sundays and based around pioneering construction play kits that explore the creative possibilities of collaboration. 

Lookout for outdoor instillations too, creating play spaces filled with mini-games and hidden objects, in Somerset House’s external spaces. 

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Given the contemplative nature of the exhibition, Now Play This runs a little longer than previous years to encourage people to pause and considers the forms of love featured. 

Now Play This runs April 1-9. Exhibition tickets from £9/£6.50; £6 for events. Family tickets and festival passes available.

Address: Somerset House, Strand, WC2R 1LA

Website: nowplaythis.net; somersethouse.org.uk