Gaming the Street System
Playing in the street used to be the norm. So, what happened?
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In this issue: Growing up in South Florida during the 1990’s, I used to spend countless hours outdoors playing in the street with other children from the neighborhood. Our imaginations ran wild. We’d put on outdoor plays, color on sidewalks with chalk, play hopscotch, and ride our tricycles around the block in search of the nearest ice cream truck. If a family had access to a swimming pool, that’s where we’d spend a summer afternoon - pretending we were mermaids. It was entirely unstructured playtime and it was so much fun!
Somewhere between now and then the way children engage with play shifted gears. Whether due to highly structured schedules, climate concerns, or digital dependency, children today don’t spend as much time playing outdoors as they once did.
Yet, people-powered strategies are figuring out ways to game the system. A recent social experiment in Bristol, for instance, suggests a use case for street closures to incentivize outdoor playtime. Similarly, among Gen Z and Gen Alpha, an appstinence movement is emerging to encourage more IRL social connections. It’s also important to note the extent to which these initiatives have a direct impact on children’s critical thinking skills.
My thoughts are with communities displaced by flooding in Texas, and with that top of mind, I encourage you to support Friends of NOAA.
Stay the course,
Sam
Sam Reetz, is a filmmaker, performer, and founder at Millennial Ethics, creating narrative solutions to complex issues.
Follow her work on Bluesky, Substack and Instagram.
Playing in the Street
The Bristol Experiment - In June 2009, parents living in the Greville Road area of Bristol petitioned for road closures to traffic for two-hour windows after school. The social experiment explored what local neighborhood children would do without time, space, or permission constraints. The result? More opportunities for social connection between adults and children local to the neighborhood through unstructured outdoor playtime. Read the full study.
Blend Line
More “Appstinence” — Gabriela Nguyen founded Appstinence to course-correct the high digital dependency inherent to Genz Z and Gen Alpha. Using the 5D Method to incrementally reduce a user’s screen time, Nguyen encourages more IRL social connections. Read more at In The Loop.
Course Record
While outdoor playtime is mission critical to the development of interpersonal skills, it’s also worth considering what more hybrid, experiential playtime might inspire in young minds?
During this year’s Summer Game Fest, I attended the inaugural The Game Business LIVE event, which featured strategic insights from thought leaders across the gaming industry.
One of the insights that most resonated with me highlighted the differences in game design for children compared with adults. Children often have higher design standards for native mobile and web applications given their higher level of digital fluency.
Christopher’s Substack,
, is a useful resource to anyone interested in learning more about game development and distribution.
Game On! During the first weekend in April 2025, “A Minecraft Movie”, starring Jack Black and Jason Momoa, grossed $157 million at the box office. It was considered the biggest opening weekend of 2025 at the time and the biggest U.S. opening weekend for a film based on a video game.
