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
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
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
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
Larpweekend is an international chamber larp festival in Brno, Czech Republic. Its eight volume is going to take place on October 27th-30th and you can expect a wide range of games hosted in Czech or English from both local and foreign organizers.
This year, you can look forward to several new games including The Rocker, a game about a rock band behind the stage, and a still unnamed game about pirates and treasures with a spark of humour.
Web: Court of Moravia & Facebook
Photo: Court of Moravia
Article by Ole Peder Giæver
Rød oktober (Red October) is a larp about the Norwegian Maoist party AKP(m-l) in the 1970s. The players will assume the roles of activists on a party gathering at a secret location somewhere in Norway.
- We hope to use this larp both to explore the historical phenomenon of AKP(m-l) and the shaping of consciousness and ideology in tight-knit groups, and generally to have fun, says Even Tømte, one of the organizers.
The Maoists movement in Norway grew out of the broader youth rebellion of the 1960s, and probably was the best organized and most politically rigid of the lot. While they never got a significant political following, they exerted an influence far beyond their actual numbers, perhaps particularly in cultural life. This made them not just a fringe group, but a quite important phenomenon in post-war Norwegian history.
– Recent Norwegian history is obviously the most important source of inspiration for us. The organizers come from different political backgrounds, but all of us have worked for the revolution at some point in our lives, and some of us perhaps still do. Exploring conflicts and dynamics on the left, the idea of revolution and the seductive call of revolutionary ideology are to varying degrees also connected to our own personal experiences, says Tømte.
Played primarily in the Norwegian. 21-23 October, near Oslo.
Web: Rød Oktober (In Norwegian, English with Google Translate).
Illustration: Chinese Posters
Article by Ole Peder Giæver
Keep your eyes out for the tentatively-titled Leaving Mundania: Inside the Transformative World of Live Action Role Playing Games, American journalist Lizzie Stark’s account of the stateside larp scene. The book, which is aimed at a mainstream audience, takes readers inside long-running convention and boffer larps in the US, and explains terminology, history, and game mechanics. She profiles many gamers, from the long-haired Republican who runs one of the eastern seaboard’s most successful boffer campaigns, to a retired military man and devoted larper whose every hobby involves war. Due out from Chicago Review Press in spring 2012.
Leaving Mundania tells the story of adults who put on costumes, develop personas, and interact with other characters over the course of hours or days as part of a larp, or live action roleplaying game. A larp is a hybrid of games like Dungeons & Dragons, historical reenactment, fandom, and good old fashioned pretend; it’s well-organized make believe for grownups.This diverse subculture is just beginning to enter the mainstream imagination in America.
Leaving Mundania looks at the hobby from a variety of angles, from its history in the pageantry of Tudor England to its present as a training tool for the US military. I profile a diverse range of larpers, from a dad who ran his kids through nightly D & D mods with morals instead of reading them bedtime stories, to a police detective terrified his office will discover his hobby. Along the way, I duel foes with foam-padded weapons, let the demon Cthulhu destroy my parents’ beach house, and survive an existential awakening brought on by Scandinavia’s avant-garde larp scene.
Web: Leaving Mundania
Photo: Kyle Ober, from Knight Realms which Lizzie recently visited
Article by Ole Peder Giæver
A larp conference designed to improve cooperation between Italian larpers and to promote the exchange of ideas between larpers from Italy, Europe and the world. In Trieste 30. September – 2. October 2011.
The Larp Symposium in Trieste Collegalli, between Florence and Pisa, Tuscany, will feature a program line in English, to encourage international participation. Picture from A Week in Venice 2010.
Web: Larp Symposium
Photo: Jasmine El Hadj
Article by Ole Peder Giæver
Playground Magazine 