197 |
Montola, StenroS & Waern
15
Psps d ss ps p ds
Mkus M, Jkk Ss & ak W
Te majority o live action role-playing games are enacted either within astrictly conned area or in the middle o nowhere, in wilderness. However,there is also a minority o larps that are played in the streets, amongstunsuspecting bystanders. Tis minority has recently been gaining widerrecognition. Tese
pervasive larps
are played all around a city, they invadeplayers’ everyday lives, and involve outsiders.Tis paper maps the design space o pervasive larp. Firstly, we dis-cuss dierent philosophies o pervasive role-play, looking at desired gameexperiences and cultural conventions o dierent orms o pervasive role-play. Secondly, we present a list o strategies that have been used success-ully to realize such games.
DeSignreSearch
| 198
PhiloSoPhieS anD StrategieS of PervaSive larP DeSign
Pervasive games are games that break the usual boundaries o games. While regular games are played at a set place and time by certain volunteer participants, pervasive games are dierent: Tesegames are either played out in the open, or they invade players’everyday lives, or they can involve outsiders and bystanders. In ourearlier work (Montola, Waern & Nieuwdorp 006) we have deneda pervasive game as a “game that has one or more salient eaturesthat expand the contractual magic circle o play socially, spatially ortemporally”.Tis blurring o the traditional boundaries o games usually leads to the point where players are unaware o where the game endsand ordinary lie begins; they oten are unsure about whether a cer-tain object, place or person is related to the game. While this isoten a source o pleasurable gameplay, it can also occasionally be acause o signicant problems in the game.1 Numerous larps and other games have inuenced this paper.As these games are generally poorly documented and mostly exist inoral tradition, we have not provided reerences to exact larps.2Tispaper is based on a report originally produced in the IPerG project(Montola, Stenros & Waern 007).
Ps p ds psps
Larps can be designed in order to meet a number o goals and pur-poses. In order to inorm design, we rst need to create a rudimen-tary classication o larp design philosophies: Tese philosophies areholistic approaches to larp organization, addressing both the ormand the unction o the game. While the vast majority o larps areconceived or recreation and entertainment, other uses include edu-cation, simulation and artistic expression. Tese unctions can beurther analyzed: Recreational larps, or instance, can produce plea-
1
For a reader unaware o our viewson pervasive games in general, werecommend having a look at ourwork discussing pervasive games ingeneral (Montola, Stenros & Waernorthcoming, Montola 2005, Montola,Waern & Nieuwdorp 2006), the ethicso pervasive games (Montola, Waern,Kuittinen & Stenros 2006) and pervasivegames in a larger cultural context(Stenros, Montola & Mäyrä 2007).
2
We have used the ollowing pervasivelarps as background inormation:
Detlængste dag
(Denmark 2005),
Europa
(Norway 2001),
Ghost Express
(Finland2001-2002),
Helsingin Camarilla
(Finland 1995-2004),
Helsinki FTZ
(Finland 1997),
Isle of Saints
(Finland2001),
Neonhämärä
(Finland 2008-),
Pimeyden maailma
(Finland 2004-2005),
Prosopopeia Bardo 1: Där vi föll
(Sweden 2005),
Prosopopeia Bardo2: Momentum
(Sweden 2006),
Rikoskannattaa
(Finland 2006)
Sanningenom Marika
(Sweden 2007),
The WhiteRoad
(Denmark 2007) and
Tre grader av uskyld
(Denmark 2006). Many non-pervasive larps also provided insightor this report. These include
Amerika
(Norway 2000),
Carolus Rex
(Sweden1999),
En stilla middag
(Sweden 2007),
Hamlet
(Sweden 2002),
Mellan himmeloch hav
(Sweden 2003),
Panopticorp
(Norway 2003),
Pelageya: Clarissie
(Finland 2005),
Pitkä perjantai
(Finland1997),
Ringblomman
(Sweden 2004),
System Danmarc 2
(Denmark 2005)and
The Executive Game
–series (Finland2001-2003). In addition, many pervasivegames and research prototypes haveinuenced our work:
Uncle Roy AllAround You
,
The Beast
,
vQuest
and
Epidemic Menace,
by way o example.
199 |
Montola, StenroS & Waern
surable play through physical exercise, social play, mental challenges andso on.Most o the design philosophies discussed in this paper are applica-ble to regular larp as well as to pervasive larp. Going pervasive is one way o creating strong experiences, but closed larps (which Martin Ericsson(orthcoming) has called
ecstatic furnaces
) have their own advantages. Forexample, the 60° illusion larps (Koljonen 007) have worked out very well in creating visceral experiences. Ten again, some o the philosophies(like hiding in cityscape) are very particular to pervasive larp.Some o these philosophies can be combined with each other,whereas others have conicting goals. Below, we also discuss how webelieve the dierent strategies would work together with the more detaileddesign strategies.
cy s bkdp
Urban pervasive games always have a relationship with the surroundingcity. Yet the attitude towards the city needs not be active: Te city can justbe something in the background. Games that are not specically designedto be played on the streets and just happen to take place there belong inthis category, as do games where the designer simply treats the city as asetting, a backdrop.City as a backdrop is closer to a lack o philosophy than to a ull-blown design attitude. Tese games are pervasive by accident, not by designer intent. Oten the players choose an attitude towards the city romthe other philosophies – one that suits their character.Most o the city games that were played in the Nordic countries inthe 990’s belong in this category: Te games just happened to take placein the street.
Supported by:
Design strategies that do not rely on a actual worldand that clearly dene the game as a game, e.g. Scene-to-ScenePlay, Ludic Markers, and Ensemble Construction.
Search History:
Result 00 of 00
00 results for result for
p.
Recommended
Notes
Load more
