In today’s complex world, enhancing citizen participation is vital for addressing community challenges. Playful and gamifi ed designs offer a promising approach to simplify these issues, fostering voluntary involvement and infl uencing decision-making through engaging methods. Integrating such approaches encour- ages a shift from passive observation to active intervention in civic life. The solution lies in implementing principles of storytelling, play- based design, and data collection in public participation initiatives. These methods leverage interactive communication, promising rewards and tangible impacts, and fostering exploration and en- gagement. By incorporating play and fun, citizens are encouraged to contribute ideas and feedback, ultimately infl uencing urban development projects positively. This MLU explores leveraging playful design for democratization and engagement through microlearning. Participants will study three key playful principles – moving, visible, and exploring effects- via playbased real-world examples. Activities include designing interventions and applying the learned principles to plan an event, equipping learners with strategies to involve citizens effectively in urban development processes.