The first U.K larp was probably Treasure Trap and in this video the two presenters from the BBC Children’s TV show Blue Peter, Simon Groom and Peter Duncan visits the game.
For some more early larp video from the UK check out the videos: Part 1, part 2 & part 3 from South of Watford (1984).
Thanks to Lizzie Stark and Nathan Hook for the tip.
This years Knutepunkt/Knudepunkt/Knutpunkt/Solmukohta-conference will be in Finland and is therefore known as Solmukohta 2012!
The dates are April 12-15 and registration is said to open in January. As always the conference is packed with people telling you (hopefully) interesting stuff about roleplaying or engaging you in an awesome workshop or game.
However, to be able to put together a program Solmukohta needs you and your fresh or just great ideas. This year the theme is design which you may or may not fit your item into.
In support of Helsinki’s status of World Design Capital 2012 the theme for Solmukohta 2012 is design. What does design mean in live action and other forms of roleplaying? What is game design and how does it overlap with – and relate to – other forms of design? Why do we design and who do we design for? We want to explore the core of game design and talk about its different forms, trends, possibilities and future. Should design always aim for something extraordinary and exquisite, or is it possible to dress up in our old elf ears and let the wind blow through our dusty capes in a design fantasy setting? What qualifies as design?
Solmukohta 2012 – Call for program
Deadline for program-items is February 28th.
For some Knude-inspiration you can also watch the video from Knudepunkt 2011.
Web: Solmukohta
Swedish Understockholm is a larp campaign inspired by Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere.
- We aim to tell a dark and urban fairy tale about the part of Stockholm that lives in the shadows, the tunnels, the forgotten alleys and beneath, above, around our everyday Stockholm, says organizer Sofia Stenler.
It’s possible to play groups from other cities, eg the Danish East Indian Company, as well as English speaking groups from Understockholm.
Web: Understockholm (In Swedish, English with Google Translate).
Photo: Niclas Lundborg
Article by Ole Peder Giæver
The Czech larp association Court of Moravia has put together a really nice short movie to explain what larp is. Actually it is one of the better explanations I have seen.
Press the CC-button for english subtitles. Unless of course you speak Czech.
We are Court of Moravia and we have been dedicated to larp for quite some time (seven years, to be exact). We do everything from game design and screenwriting to implementation and marketing. And judging by satisfied participants, we do that fair and right.
Our portfolio includes more than two dozens of larps, we host international festival Larpweekend every year, we have co-founded larp conference Odraz and also done a whole bunch of other things that we won’t bother you with. What really matters is what we are going to do tomorrow, not memories of what we did yesterday.
Court of Moravia
If you are looking for a good explanation of larp in text, check out What Is Larp by Lizzie Stark.
Article by Petter Karlsson
There is no audience.
There are no actors.
The Avatar Condition is something else.
Discover who you become when someone else makes your decisions.
Gabriel Widing from Interacting arts writes about his latest project The Avatar Condition (Avatarvaro in Swedish) which will be running at Turteatern in Stockholm December 8-11. Is neither larp or traditional theatre. It explores the position of the avatar as “an invitation to being controlled”.
The Avatar Condition is made by Albin Werle, Ebba Petrén, Elize Arvefjord, Gabriel Widing, Kerstin Weimers, Klara Backman, Moa Backman and Tova Gerge.
Web: The Avatar Condition
Photo: Gabriel Widing
Update 9/12: Blog post about the testrun: Read it here (English Google translate).
Article by Petter Karlsson
Martin Ericsson has left The Company P to establish Bardo AB.
- We will be writing, designing, mentoring and producing hard-to-define, live, pervasive or transmedial games. Preferably stuff that makes people want to cry, fuck or blow shit up, says Ericsson.
Bardo is Martin Ericsson (a.k.a. Elricsson) and Adriana Skarped (a.k.a Daggenfelt), the creative couple behind International Emmy Award winning participation drama “The Truth About Marika” (produced by SVT). Martin has worked as a creative director and designer with Christopher Sandberg’s The Company P for almost five years, writing, designing and running game-like projects. Bardo has been contracted to produce and run “quality participation” (including a documented larp, some live events and an online mystery) for The Artists (see Playground #2).
Also check out this interview with Martin about The Conspiracy for Good which ran during the summer of 2010 in London.
Web: Bardo
Article by Ole Peder Giæver
MittelPunkt is the international live role-play conference of the german LARP association. From 13th to 15th January 2012 in Mainz (near Frankfurt/Main).
Some of the program items will be held in English.
Web: Mittelpunkt 2012
Article by Ole Peder Giæver
Swedish Project Horizon (projektet Horisont) aims to create an immersive and believable spaceship-interior for use in larps.
- Apart from the technical construction-part of the project (building a spaceship), we are making a number of larps in the module, which take place in a post-apocalyptic, gritty, low-tech and dark sci-fi-setting, says Joakim Andersson .
The module will be constructed in Stockholm, Sweden, but is planned to be deconstructable and movable, to run larps and games in on other locations in the future.
Web: immersionisterna (In Swedish, English with Google Translate).
Illustration: Spaceship interior concept design by Projekt Horisont
Article by Ole Peder Giæver
Norwegian company Relevant Film AS has been granted funds to do a pilot for a series on Norwegian larps and larping culture. The aim is to distribute their series to a broad audience via one of the larger tv channels.
- The idea came to me a few years ago, when a former colleague told me about the larp «1942 – Someone to trust?» Her story of how she experienced being part of this larp, and how emotionally engaged she was when telling about it, made me curious, producer Hilde Nerland says.
- Who are the people who do larps, why do they do it and what’s the scene like?
If you’re interested in participating, please contact Hilde Nerland at hilde.nerland@gmail.com or director Mari Finnestad at mari.finnestad@yahoo.com.
Web: Relevant (In Norwegian, English with Google Translate).
Article by Ole Peder Giæver
The competition invited Belarusian game authors to contribute short, re-playable larps discussing human rights and society. The best games will be played at the international larp festival Grenselandet 2011 in Oslo 28-29 October. Hosted by Laivfabrikken and Fantasiforbundet.
The winner will be announced after the jury has played the games at a larp festival in Minsk later this year.
Web: Grenselandet 2011 & Larpwriter Challenge
Article by Ole Peder Giæver
