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Long-distance LARPing is an Erasmus+ artistic research project which explores how we can build physical and digital spaces that foster connection and self-expression and where agency remains in the hands of the participants.
We draw inspiration from live-action role-playing games (LARPs). Our goal is to synthesise LARP design practices into a methodology for youth workers, social workers, artists and LARP enthusiasts to enrich their practices.
Join us for the whole program, for a single event, or make your own mix!
In short, LARP (or live-action role-playing) is a game of play-pretend. It carries similarities with both children games and improv theatre. But unlike in theatre, in LARP there is no distinction between actors and audiences - all participants are players, immersed in a fully embodied experience. The narratives are co-creations between the game designers and the players.
We strive to create a playful and inclusive environment where a group of participants can collectively invent, experience, learn and shape stories. They get a taste of what LARP is, how it feels to play and what skills you need to design one. We will explore LARP both in physical and digital spaces and in the liminal space in-between. We document our findings from each activity and write a methodology on good practices for youth workers.
Community building is an important aspect of this project and we want to understand how the themes we propose are valuable to our diverse group of participants. And ultimately we want to create a space to connect and share knowledge: A place to geek out.
We launch the project during Festival Digital! This Kick-off weekend focuses on introducing the participants and organizing team to one another and giving a taste of what LARP is by playing together. We facilitate two physical LARPs, a workshop in voice improv, character embodiment and figurine workshop.
Every other month we organize one Digi LARP. We have selected five role-playing games designed for variety of different platforms: phone, video chat, text messaging apps, teleltext. We always try to integrate a physical element in our Digi play. With this program we are proposing alternative uses of known platforms to inform us how these can be subverted.
During the VR weekend in Sickhouse, we take a deep dive into the expressive possibilities of virtual bodies (avatars) and investigate what a digital world needs in order to facilitate connection and self-expression. The main goal is to experiment with avatar embodiment, communication, and acting in virtual environments.
At these point of our two year program, we have shown a wide variety of LARPs. What follows next is the Double Trouble game jam. In this weekend, we invite our participants to channel the inspiration from the previous activities in designing a LARP themselves. Guided by a mentor, they will be prompted to prototype a LARP on the subject: how can we connect two distanced communities through play? We support our participants to do a physical, digital or mixed prototype, using the platforms and tools we got to know in the previous activities.
Our program culminates in our LARP showcase, where one prototype will be shown during Mutation festival, organized by Nerdlab and Overkill festival, organized by Sickhouse.
We finish our program with the Collective Train closing ritual - a unique, reflective LARP experience taking place during a train journey. More details will follow in due time, for now - patience, friends.
Long-distance LARPing is a collaboration project by Nerdlab and Sickhouse.
Join us on one or more events!
Nerdlab & Sickhouse once again bundle their forces to organise a couple of amazing interactive weekends around LARP - Live Action Role Play. This project, “Long Distance LARPing,” is a two-year research project developing a LARP that can be played in several places at the same time (no matter how far you are from each other) using digital platforms as a bridge to connect and interact!
A Zoom-based LARP by Chloe Mashiter. A group of friends are cut off from the world when a violent storm causes a blackout and a mysterious teletext becomes their only connection to the outside world. The first of five digi LARPs organized this year as part of the Long-distance LARPing project by Nerdlab and Sickhouse!
A Remote Reality Game by Carina Erdmann and Steph Holl-Trieu. Join us for Temporal Worlding, a game about the relations to time that shape our lives. Taking place on June 6, 2026, 3-6 PM, you are invited to a game experience that changes how you move through worlds by altering your perception of time. Temporalities become materials that can be shaped and sculpted through language, technology, and embodied action.
We will come together in person for an in-depth VR LARP session at Sickhouse. During this weekend, we will create our own avatars, play with avatar embodiment in VR and immerse ourselves in a VR LARP. We will roam around the open metaverse. We will also touch grass.
A digi LARP by Hazel Anneke Dixon. This August, in the middle of the hot season, we invite you for another digi LARP. Eating Oranges in the Shower 🍊is a remix of The Bathhouse by Rex England. It is about the queer joy that can be found in online communities and the connections that can be found in stories on those platforms.
Ever wanted to design your own live-action role-playing game? You're in luck! Between 4th and 6th of September, we will come together in person for a hands-on game jam session at Nerdlab. One of the games designed during the jam will be presented at the LARP showcase at Nerdlab and Sickhouse in February 2027.
A phone LARP by Peter Hagmann. It’s late. You are meant to be somewhere else. Instead you’re spending the night at this rundown motel, staring at a damp popcorn ceiling. You can’t sleep. Can’t concentrate. You need someone to talk to. The only light in the room is coming from the telephone sitting on the bedside table, a single red light blinking in the dark. “Hello, this is concierge speaking. How can I help you tonight?”
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