The first ever Come Out and Play Festival starts this Friday, and anyone in New York City might want to consider stopping by and checking it out. Over 20 street games will be playable, several created by high-profile game designers.

Featured games include Cruel 2 B Kind, an assassin-style game using random acts of kindness, designed by 42 Entertainment's Jane McGonigal and Persuasive Games' Ian Bogost.

Also featured are three games by large-scale game designers area/code: Plundr is a laptop-based game of piracy, black-market trading and battle; Identity challenges teams of players to reveal their opponents' allegiances without revealing their own; Crossroads, pictured right, is a GPS-powered game of territories, played in the West Village against a human opponent and an invisible spirit known only as the Baron Samedi.

Organizers of Come Out and Play include several key members of Gamelab, who have also contributed games to the event. All in all, the festival is shaping up to be a fun time, attracting city-lovers and gamers alike.

If you're interested in playing check out the site for information on how to sign up, as some of the games have a cap on the number of players. I'll be there on Saturday, posting some coverage of the games, so check back over the weekend for more information as the festivities get under way.