As seen in Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, Victorian grown-ups were big fans of the parlour game.

But with the advent of television and the teenager in the mid-20th century, the idea of playing a game together that wasn’t something grown-up and tactical like chess or physical like football was relegated to the status of a childish thing.

It was only with the rise of the video game that the idea of playing together as adults started to become socially acceptable again.

Since 2007, Hide And Seek has been part of a movement bringing back the joy of challenging yourself in a grown-up context.

The group of artists and designers has curated a biennial games festival in London, hosted more than 40 touring Sandpit events to test out game ideas, and launched Tiny Games – which is descending on Brighton’s streets next month.

Citywide project

A total of 12 vinyl stickers detailing the rules of various simple games will be scattered around the city.

Lead game designer Holly Gramazio was one of the team who came down to Brighton to devise the games, which should keep the whole family entertained.

“We did 99 Tiny Games in London, where we put three games in each London borough,” she says. “In London they were so scattered – you might only see one or two around. It is great to work in a more concentrated area.

“We work by picking a particular location or set of circumstances – it’s easier to think of ideas when you have a restriction. It’s like being asked to draw a picture of a cat is easier than being asked to draw a picture of anything.”

Among the games in Brighton is a challenge inspired by the city’s most famous feathered inhabitants – the seagulls.

“They have to be games people can play without any particular equipment,” says Gramazio. “It’s all about the specifics of where people are. We spent a day wandering around locations and testing out what we thought would be good. There are a few old favourites, as well as a few games just for Brighton.

“Every space has something specific about it – some are less easy than others.”

Gramazio first got involved in designing games after taking part in a Hide And Seek event in London, not long after moving to the city from her native Australia to study for a PhD.

“I played a game called Journey To The End Of The Night, which was a massive chase game across London,” she remembers. “It started at 7pm and I got caught at 11.30pm. We had to wear white armbands and go to different checkpoints while being chased by people with red armbands. If you got caught you had to wear a red armband.

“I spent the next two weeks jumping every time I saw red out of the corner of my eye.”

Hide And Seek is currently developing a Tiny Games app, after raising money through an online Kickstarter campaign.

Smartphone app

The app, which should be launched in October, will have games suitable for any location, with the minimum of rules and equipment downloadable on a smartphone.

“We have removed bathroom games from the app. If you’re going to have three people in the bathroom in a playful mood, then we don’t want to be there,” laughs Gramazio, who has developed ideas for in kitchens, on buses and various other locations.

“Games go back thousands of years. They’ve just found a set of professionally-crafted games pieces in Turkey which are 4,500 years old.

“Part of the fun of playing games is the set of rules that constrain your behaviour. It makes you look at things in a different way.”

  • For more information, visit www.brightondigitalfestival.co.uk