Live Game Labs

The larp Sunken Places is a game about making a game. The characters in this larp—Designers and Builders—are tasked with creating a Game for others to play. It is a continuing experiment—a discussion via larp of all the different ways we participate in larping. As experiments go, it has been fascinating and informative to watch.

This round of the Game of Sunken Places ended up being all about cards with pictures—as clues, as reminders, and as objects to replicate. The most popular round was the Live Tarot Card contest, where the Contestants had to select Tarot cards, then find other con-goers, persuade them to adopt poses and costumes that match the tarot card, and photograph the results. Below are the original cards and the photographs that were created.

First, a couple shots of how the photos were judged:

The card and its conveniently tarot-card-size re-creation. (Score sheet and, erm, “bribery resource” visible in frame.)

Builders and Contestants gather around as the Designers judge the photos. (Points were awarded for Accuracy and Creativity, on a scale of 0 to 10.)

Now, the final products. Team Barbarian (Contestants for the Thusser Horde, including Melissa Newland and Paul Newland)

The Chariot: (I really like how the shirt was used to fill in for the gryphon)

The Devil: (Creative use of devil tail prop as devil horns)

The Hanged Man: (Using a reflective table to re-create the shine—very nice!)

The Knight of Swords: (Excellent use of shouting)

And, the entries from Team Elf (Contestants for the People of the Mound of Norumbega, including ‎Lizzie Stark and Matthew Reshonsky (https://www NULL.facebook NULL.com/kirsten NULL.hageleit/posts/448111791885988?comment_id=5146546&offset=0&total_comments=3))

Strength: (Fur- and foliage-inclusive!)

The Lovers: (Nice posing)

The Magician: (Nice use of draperies and carpet motif)

Justice: (PVC pipe and cups! Nice work!)

After perusal of the score sheet, I have to say both Team Elf and Team Barbarian did extraordinarily well on these challenges, and the final scores differed by only one point— out of a possible 80 points, they came in at 66.5 to 65.5 respectively, giving the wafer-thin lead to Team Elf. Excellent work by all of the Contestants!