Philosophies and strategies of pervasive larp design

The majority of live action role-playing games are enacted either within a strictly confined area or in the middle of nowhere, in wilderness. However, there is also a minority of larps that are played in the streets, amongst unsuspecting bystanders. This minority has recently been gaining wider recognition. These pervasive larps are played all around a city, they invade players’ everyday lives, and involve outsiders. This paper maps the design space of pervasive larp. Firstly, we discuss different philosophies of pervasive role-play, looking at desired game experiences and cultural conventions of different forms of pervasive roleplay. Secondly, we present a list of strategies that have been used successfully to realize such games. DeSign