Category: Techniques
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Play to Loop ∞
What kind of conflict happens in toxic groups that never dissolve? How do we as players feed the drama without running out of steam? How to play a group full of conflicts without final escalation or ending with someone being shunned or ostracized?
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Shadow Relations
Shadow relations can make backstories come alive, externalize inner conflicts, and enable direct interaction with distant or abstract themes. Thus, they can be a valuable tool for character-driven larps to deepen both character relations and the inner lives of the characters themselves.
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Translating Culture
As the larp community grows more and more international, it is inevitable that we start to invite each other into larp experiences deeply rooted in local culture and history. How do we as organisers translate the cultural context in which a larp was made to an international participant group? How do we as designers make…
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The Importance of Local Larp Communities Through the Lens of Project Liminal
This article is two things at once: it is an exploration of usable design choices in local community building, examined through the lens of Project Liminal. Secondly, it is a love letter to all of our local larp communities and the differences they make.
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How to Run a Cheap Weekend Larp
Some tips and tricks on the practicalities of how to run a game like that, some things to keep in mind, what kind of game design works well for this format, and why to buy pre-chopped onions.
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Why testing and exploration of different ideas matters
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On designing better larps through iterative playtesting “This mechanic is so bad, why didn’t they test this?” a co-player once said to us at a larp after-party. We had all experienced the larp together, and it was true — there was a design problem. But instead of staying in the rant, we wondered, since one…
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Emotionally Pacing for Larps – How To Get the Best Rollercoaster Ride
“Pace yourself and pace your design. Intense emotional experiences become more available to you and more sustainable if you have variety to the intensity of your play, both as a designer and as an individual player.”
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Chronicle: “Daddy, tell me a story?”
“I went to the place where the larp would take place. And now I had a new story in my head, one that carried a lot of meaning. I had reconnected with my father. And on top of that, I had received a very valuable gift, one of those that cannot be bought.”
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Christianity is an Immersion Closet
“Never, before the recent re-run of the larp Snapphaneland, had I had religious play as deeply immersive and moving.”
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River Rafting Design
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River Rafting design can help create a more engaging and dynamic player experience from the very beginning of a larp, with a higher chance of many moments of emotional impact, instead of very few towards the end.