Game Design
Educational Simulations
Simulation: Bowman, Sarah Lynne, and Andhe Standiford. Conflict De-escalation for Psychiatric Nursing. Consulting for Texas State University, St. David’s School of Nursing, 2016.
A series of simulations based on larp and Forum Theatre techniques affording students the opportunity to practice deescalating agitated patients with mental illnesses and other psychological difficulties.
Educational Larps
Edu-larp: Bowman, Sarah Lynne, Josefin Westborg, Kaya Toft Thejls, Kjell Hedgard Hugaas, and Josephine Baird. 2021. Common Ground. Edu-larp. CIRCUS, Uppsala University. In press for 2024 publication.
An edu-larp featuring members of a multidisciplinary research team discussing the possibility of collaborating and trying to brainstorm a project idea to pursue. This larp is intended to help researchers explore and better understand the collaboration process, then reflect on their own practices.
Edu-larp: Bowman, Sarah Lynne, Josefin Westborg, Kaya Toft Thejls, Kjell Hedgard Hugaas, and Josephine Baird. 2022. The Deadline. Edu-larp. CIRCUS, Uppsala University. In press for 2024 publication.
An edu-larp set during the development process of a research proposal. The group of academics are trying to write their proposal based on each of their interests and research agendas. Conflicts emerge in the group as individuals have different needs and perspectives that clash. These conflicts must be addressed or the proposal will not meet the deadline. This scenario utilizes practices of conflict resolution and nonviolent communication to help researchers address the needs of everyone in a group most peacefully and effectively.
Edu-larp: Bowman, Sarah Lynne, Josefin Westborg, Kaya Toft Thejls, Kjell Hedgard Hugaas, and Josephine Baird. 2022. The Pitch Session. Edu-larp. CIRCUS, Uppsala University. In press for 2024 publication.
An edu-larp set during a proposal workshop and subsequent pitch session. The goals of this larp are to practice collaboration, persuasion, and synthesizing different styles of writing and disciplinary language into a coherent proposal.
Edu-larp: Westborg, Josefin, Sarah Lynne Bowman, and Kaya Toft Thejls. 2022. The Committee. Edu-larp. CIRCUS, Uppsala University. In press for 2024 publication.
An edu-larp featuring grant funders on a review board evaluating a funding application. Each of the funders has a different background and agenda related to heritage, which causes friction in the discussion. This larp is intended to help researchers better understand the dynamics and constraints that review committees face.
Edu-larp: Westborg, Josefin, Kaya Toft Thejls, and Sarah Lynne Bowman. 2023. The Prenup. Edu-larp. CIRCUS, Uppsala University. In press for 2024 publication.
An edu-larp based on work by Lyall et al. (2011), this scenario is set during the compilation phase of research in which academics on a project are writing up the results for an interdisciplinary conference. The goals of the larp are developing skills in multidisciplinary collaboration, conflict management, establishing shared agreements, and strategizing for academic publications.
Edu-Larp: Bowman, Sarah Lynne, Josefin Westborg, Kjell Hedgard Hugaas, and Josephine Baird. Agents of Empowerment. Uppsala University, 2021.
An edu-larp that guides participants to develop a superhero alterego that can help them feel more empowered in common stressful academic situations. The pre-game workshop involves somatic experiencing, meditation, character design, and relationship building. The players create their alter ego, as well as a power phrase, symbology, imagery, archetypes, and somatic emotional states that help them activate their “superhero power” within themselves. In the larp, they construct fictional relationships with other player-characters who have supported them in the past, practicing giving and receiving support.
Edu-larp: The Salon. Designed for Humanities 1302: Renaissance to Present. Austin Community College, 2018.
A larp where the students portray several key figures from the Enlightenment envisioned as members of a French salon. This larp is intended to help students identify the major thinkers from this period, describe their central contributions to the history of ideas, and convey these ideas in a persuasive fashion.
Edu-larp: Bowman, Sarah Lynne, Patricia Hatcher, and Yeonsoo Julian Kim. Microaggressions: A Thousand Cuts. Designed for the Big Read Project. Austin Community College, 2018.
This role-playing exercise is designed to educate participants about microaggressions by representing marginalization in an abstract, but tangible way. Marginalized people in the scenarios will wear their layers of social oppression as clothing, and clothing will represent a person’s demographic classifications. The goal of this abstraction is to demonstrate the arbitrariness of social stratification based on demographics, as well as to give players some degree of distance from oppression they may experience in their default lives.
The goal of this scenario is to help players empathize with what a person who experiences microaggressions may feel like on a daily basis, although no larp scenario can replace the lived experiences of people. This exercise is also intended to demonstrate some of the invisible power dynamics at play in social interactions, as well as the role cognitive dissonance can play in people’s perceptions and behaviors. Ultimately, the scenario aims to show how we can build bridges between people from diverse backgrounds through connection and humanization.
Edu-larp: The Empire’s Legacy. Designed for Humanities 1301: Prehistory to Renaissance. Austin Community College, 2015.
A short introduction to the main areas of the Humanities by introducing students to a fictional empire that wishes to establish a legacy and remain relevant in history. Students are divided into seven groups: 1 player-run council and 6 groups of supplicants. The supplicants will request funding for their cultural projects of six types — art, religion, technology, military, trade, and writing — arguing for the importance of their area to the legacy of the empire. Based upon these arguments and the recommendations of the advisors, the Supreme Ruler will disperse a limited amount of funds to each group.
Edu-larp: The Empire’s Legacy Part II. Designed for Humanities 1301: Prehistory to Renaissance. Austin Community College, 2015.
Students evaluate four (4) ancient civilizations according to their legacies and explain why they should remain relevant in history to the Exalted Hierophant, played by the instructor. The goal of the exercise is for students to describe the important achievements of their assigned civilization and argue their significance in order for their culture to be named the “Greatest Civilization of All Time.” Students are assigned roles from the Empire’s council, so that each civilization has one council. The councils describe the achievements of their civilization based upon the six (6) categories: art, religion, technology, military, trade, and writing. The Hierophany tallies the number of achievements offered and assigns a winner for each category. Debriefing explores the social constructedness of legacy and the creation of history in terms of imperialism.
Edu-larp: Symposium Redux. Designed for Humanities 1301: Prehistory to Renaissance. Austin Community College, 2015.
Participants explore the history of ancient Greece through the lens of graduate students presenting research at a History symposium. Students deliver information about the Greeks according to six (6) categories: art, religion, technology, military, trade, and writing. Four students play expert historians from a unique historical approach, asking questions to each group accordingly: critical theorist, Great Man Theorist, historian of ideas, and research historian. Students are offered jobs by the professors based upon the strength of their presentations.
Edu-larp: Paradigm. Designed for Humanities 1301: Prehistory to Renaissance. Austin Community College, 2015.
Students play officials representing several world religions and philosophies. The officials answer questions about the nature of creation, the afterlife, and life’s purpose based upon their philosophical and spiritual paradigm.
Edu-larp: Crisis of Faith. Designed for Humanities 1301: Prehistory to Renaissance. Austin Community College, 2015.
Set during the Protestant Reformation, a panel of five religious officials make arguments for why their faith is superior in the hopes of conversion. These leaders answer pointed questions from various members of the European populace, who are in a state of confusion and panic over matters pertaining to their immortal soul. The populace decides which faith they will support based upon the strength of the leaders’ arguments.
Larps and Freeforms
Larp: Baird, Josephine, Sarah Lynne Bowman, and Kaya Toft Thejls. Euphoria. Stockholm Scenario Festival, 2022.
A larp designed to facilitate gender exploration for participants. The setting is a club in a pocket dimension run by a Mistrix of Ceremony who helps people transform into whatever expression of self they plan to exhibit that night, from the mundane to the fantastical.
Larp: Brown, Maury, Kat Jones, Sarah Lynne Bowman, Tara M. Clapper, Orli Nativ, Quinn D, and Caille Elizabeth Jensen. Immerton. Learn Larp, LLC.
Immerton is the place where goddesses reside, where they watch and teach, a place pilgrims and seekers discover, a place alive with the four forces. Here, the goddesses hold court, and maintain the balance of energies to sustain consciousness and the physical world. Immerton sends its acolytes out into the various physical planes, where they heal, gather, teach, and defend. They are powerful women, but the physical world makes them weary. Immerton exists to give them respite, sisterhood, solidarity, and sustenance.Immerton does not demand conformity; it welcomes diversity. There is no singular woman. Women are large, multitudinous, voluminous, gloriously varying, all connected through aspects of their consciousness to and through Immerton.
Larp: Bowman, Sarah Lynne, Russ Murdock, and Rebecca Roycroft. Epiphany — A Mage: the Ascension Larp Design Document. ATX Larp Productions.
Epiphany is a one-shot, weekend-long larp in the collaborative style not affiliated with any official White Wolf Publishing club. The setting is a weekend self-help Epiphany Retreat where adults learn how to access their inner potential. Over the course of the larp, mentors will guide initiates through an Awakening into their own magical power through a series of classes and rituals. Participants will socialize and discuss metaphysical principles with one another as they learn to expand their consciousness and personal power. The goal of Epiphany is to play characters similar to ourselves that explore issues of philosophical paradigm, empowerment, and enlightenment.
Character writing: Pettersson, Juhana, Sarah Lynne Bowman, Mika Loponen, and Jesper Kristiansen with David Pusch and Daniel Thikötter. Enlightenment in Blood. Participation Design Agency. Berlin, Germany, 2017.
Individual characters and group writing for Englightenment in Blood, a White Wolf larp in the Nordic style.
Freeform System: Bowman, Sarah Lynne and Maury Brown. “Instructions for Freeform Day Play.” Convention of Thorns. Dziobak Larp Studios, 2016.
The purpose of the the freeform scenes during Day Play at Convention of Thorns is to help players more closely engage with their character through intense emotional scenes guided by the facilitator. Facilitators can guide players in small groups through the following types of scenes: backstory, such as memories or prior relationships; dreams or nightmares; fantasies; and future possibilities.
Freeform: Bowman, Sarah Lynne and Dani Higgins. “Symbiosis.” Golden Cobra Challenge 2016.
A larp exploring the quest to learn healthier coping and communication skills in relationships. The characters are adolescents from an alien species on the planet Saturn who subsist on stardust. As a group, they learn to identify Parasitic communication patterns and develop Symbiotic traits.
Freeform: “Curtain Call.” #feminism: A Nano-Game Anthology. Fëa Livia, 2016.
A freeform larp about women aging in the music industry based on the life of Tori Amos. Participants play the Star, interviewers, music industry execs, agents, and fans throughout four stages of the Star’s career: the Prodigy (10-20), the Siren (21-30), the Mother (31-40), and the Crone (41-50).
Freeform System: “Planetfall Blackbox Instructions.” Planetfall. Incognita, LTD.
The purpose of the the blackbox scenes before Planetfall is to help players more closely engage with their character through intense emotional scenes guided by the facilitator. Facilitators can guide players in small groups through the following types of scenes: backstory, such as memories or prior relationships; dreams or nightmares; and fantasies.
Academic Workshops
Workshop: Hugaas, Kjell Hedgard, Sarah Lynne Bowman, and Doris Rusch. 2023. “Cultivating a Soulful and Sustainable Academic Journey.” Workshop given at 7th International PhD Summer School, Kaunas University of Technology, July 14, 2023. Palanga, Lithuania.
Workshop: Robinson, Raquel, Karin Johansson, James Collin Fey, Elena Márquez Segura, Jon Back, Annika Waern, Sarah Lynne Bowman, and Katherine Isbister. “Edu-larp @ CHI.” Workshop presented at 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, April 28, 2023.
Role-play has long been used as an active learning technique in educational and training contexts. In particular, Edu-larp (a structured, live action roleplay experience that teaches through social enactment and reflection) has been used in therapeutic contexts, training courses, and even an entire course curriculum. We propose to host a workshop at CHI 2023 which will connect CHI attendees of various disciplines interested in this topic, with the outcome to understand how edu-larp might be an effective way of augmenting existing teaching and research within HCI. During the workshop, attendees will participate in numerous edu-larp exercises designed to introduce and orient them to the concept, and facilitate discussion about the different ways edu-larp can be leveraged in the broad domain of HCI.
Workshop: Bowman, Sarah Lynne, Josefin Westborg, Josephine Baird, and Kjell Hedgard Hugaas. 2022. “Creating Order from Chaos: The Practice of Synthesizing Disparate Research Agendas into Coherence.” Workshop and larp for CIRCUS, Uppsala University, April 29.
A workshop and larp where participants play members of a small interdisciplinary research team working together to craft an abstract for initial review by funders. Each member has unique skills and disciplinary perspectives to offer the project, but can the group construct a coherent narrative that funders will find intriguing enough to pass to the next stage?
Workshops: Gullick, Charlotte, Shirin Khosropour, Grant Potts, Laila Taraghi, and Sarah Lynne Bowman. “Conflict Transformation Academy Workshop Series Level 1.” Austin Community College, Austin, TX. 2020-present.
A series of workshops teaching fundamental skills of conflict transformation to students, faculty, and staff. Key topics include perception checking, nonviolent communication, conflict styles, basic human needs, and the role of power in conflict narratives.
Workshops and Larps: Bowman, Sarah Lynne, Kjell Hedgard Hugaas, Shirin Khosropour, Charlotte Gullick, and Laila Taraghi. “Conflict Transformation Academy Level 2.” Austin Community College, Austin, TX. Online. January 2021-May 2021.
A series of workshops and larps teaching fundamental skills of conflict transformation to students, faculty, and staff. Key topics include perception checking, nonviolent communication, conflict styles, basic human needs, and the role of power in conflict narratives.
Workshop: Torner, Evan and Sarah Lynne Bowman. “Edu-Larp Design Workshop.” Role-playing and Simulation in Education Conference 2018. Northeastern University, Boston, MA. May 17, 2018.
This workshop led participants through a brief edu-larp design process designed by Evan Torner utilizing the Mixing Desk of Edu-Larp.
Workshop: “The Mixing Desk of Edu-Larp.” Edu-Larp Conference 2018. LajvVerkstaden, Malmö, Sweden, 2018.
This workshop led participants through a brief edu-larp design process utilizing the Mixing Desk of Edu-Larp, a tool designed to help designers understand key components of educational larps.
Popular Workshops
Workshop: Bowman, Sarah Lynne, and Kjell Hedgard Hugaas. “The Batman Effect: Unlocking Your Inner Superhero.” Knutepunkt 2021 Magic Book Program. Online. March 13, 2021.
A workshop that uses guided meditation, somatic experiencing, and worldbuilding in order to develop superhero alteregos for participants to use in times of challenge. The precursor activity to Agents of Empowerment.
Workshop: Brown, Maury, Sarah Lynne Bowman, Harrison Greene, et al. “Intro and Playstyle Workshop.” New World Magischola. Learn Larp LLC. 2016-2017.
This workshop introduces players to the New World Magischola play style and safety mechanics, including consent negotiations.
Workshop: Brown, Maury, Sarah Lynne Bowman, Harrison Greene, et al. “House Workshop.” New World Magischola. Learn Larp LLC. 2016-2017.
This workshop helps New World Magischola players in Houses develop a communal culture.
Workshop: Bowman, Sarah Lynne, Maury Brown, and Mila Ingals, et al. “Player Safety Workshop.” Convention of Thorns. Dziobak Larp Studios, 2016.
This workshop details the safety tools for the 2016 run of Convention of Thorns, a Vampire: the Masquerade larp in the Nordic style.
Workshop: Koljonen, Johanna, Sarah Lynne Bowman, Harrison Greene, et al. “End of the Line Workshop.” End of the Line. Participation Design Agency, New Orleans, LA, 2016, and Berlin, Germany, 2017.
This workshop details the playstyle, mechanics, and safety tools for the New Orleans and Berlin runs of End of the Line, a Vampire: the Masquerade larp in the Nordic style.
Workshop: Brown, Maury, Sarah Lynne Bowman, and Harrison Greene. “House Initiation Ceremonies and Rituals at New World Magischola.” New World Magischola. Learn Larp LLC. 2016.
This document provides instructions for students designing initiation rituals at the larp New World Magischola, emphasizing communal connection, sharing, and mentorship.
Workshop: Steele, Samara Hayley, John Stavropoulos, Sarah Lynne Bowman, and Sara Hart. “Crisis Management: Bleed, Harassment, and Trauma Workshop.”
While many communities and events are working hard to make their spaces safer, it’s not enough to have a Code of Conduct. They need to practice it. This set of exercises uses role-playing to practice how to deal with crises in role-playing spaces.
