Playground of possible payments (3P)
Michael Sträubig
Christiane Hütter and Michael Sträubig have been at the forefront of experimental and engaging urban play and game experiences for more than 15 years.
Christiane is one of the founders of the Invisible Playground collective (invisibleplayground.com), which has produced urban game festivals and interventions such as You are go (Berlin, 2010), Ruhrzilla (Mühlheim, 2012), Playpublik Kraków (2014) and Marée des Lettres (Paris, 2017) and numerous original urban games.
Michael's career as an urban game designer has encompassed large scale public games (Grand Tour 2006 and apo fest 2007) and experimental experiences such as Street Gardening Guerilla, a game with plants (2012) and Hostile Environment Facility Training (Furtherfield Gallery, 2018). He has designed / developed multiple mobile apps in urban game contexts (Tidy City 2008, Secret City 2011, Protestpromenade 2014, KlingKlangKlong 2014, Theater in Stücken 2021).
Michael has published about and taught game design practice and received a PhD on Designing Playful Systems as a Marie Curie Fellow from the University of Plymouth.
We have collaborated for many years extensively on many projects, including 105x68 (2022) where Christiane designed the whole experience and Michael built the mobile app and back-end for the simulation. Our approach to urban play is rooted in practice while informed by research on social systems, interaction design, psychology, environments, and game mechanics.
In times of climate crisis and social fragmentation, we invite you to an extraordinary experiment: How do we reimagine living, working, and connecting?
Based on Christiane Hütter's 2022 experiment in Dortmund, three collaboratively designed areas in public space emerge with completely different economic systems. These physical playgrounds are connected through a digital app that enables currency exchange and trading between the worlds. Participants move between these spaces, experiencing how different systems transform behavior and relationships.
The Three Worlds
KOLLEKTIVO dissolves individual ownership. Every action generates value for the collective, decided through democratic assemblies. What happens when "mine" disappears?
LOVECOIN rewards connection over accumulation. The deeper your relationships, the richer you become. Can an economy run on care and curiosity?
PERSPECTIVO offers unconditional abundance within boundaries. Everyone receives what they need to pursue what matters—but prosperity cannot be extracted. What would you create if survival wasn't the question?
The app tracks your currencies across all three systems, facilitating real-time trading and exchange. As behaviors in the physical spaces shift, so do the exchange rates between KOLLEKTIVO, LOVECOIN, and PERSPECT, creating dynamic economic feedback loops.
The Method
Our methodology reveals what theoretical analysis cannot—how different value systems make us feel, relate, and behave. As participants move between economic worlds, they experience productive friction that generates insights from body and emotions. The dissonance of living multiple systems creates moments where genuine learning emerges.
This isn't about building perfect worlds—it's about discovering what becomes possible when we play with reality's fundamental rules. Through collaborative design of public spaces and digital innovation, we create temporary laboratories for alternative futures.