Masaryk University Brno

Faculty of Education

Department of English Language and Literature

Larp in English Language Teaching

Diploma Thesis

Brno, November 2015

Author: Bc. Dagmar Wiesnerová

Supervisor: Mgr. Lucie Podroužková, Ph.D.

Aaron Marc Collier, B.A.

Declaration

I hereby declare that I worked on this bachelor thesis independently, using only the sources

listed in the bibliography. The thesis contains my own translations of some of the cited sources.

I also agree that one copy of this thesis will be placed in the library of the Faculty of Education

at the Masaryk University and accessed for academic purposes.

Prohlášení

Prohlašuji, že jsem bakalářskou práci vypracovala samostatně, s použitím pouze citovaných

literárních pramenů, dalších informací a zdrojů v souladu s Disciplinárním řádem pro studenty

Pedagogické fakulty Masarykovy univerzity a se zákonem č. 121/2000 Sb., o právu autorském,

o právech souvisejících s právem autorským a o změně některých zákonů (autorský zákon), ve

znění pozdějších předpisů. Diplomová práce obsahuje mé vlastní překlady některých

citovaných zdrojů.

Souhlasím také, aby kopie této práce byla uložena na Masarykově univerzitě v Brně v

knihovně Pedagogické fakulty a zpřístupněna ke studijním účelům.

Brno, November 2015 Bc. Dagmar Wiesnerová

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my supervisors, Mgr. Lucie Podroužková, Ph.D. and Aaron Marc Collier,

B.A., for their help, advice, and comments as well as their patience, encouragement and support

through the whole time I have been working on this thesis.

I would also like to thank all teachers, future teachers, and students who took part in the

execution practical part of the thesis, either as participants or advisers, for their courage, time

and their valuable feedback. Writing this thesis would not be possible without them.

Bc. Dagmar Wiesnerová

Anotace

Diplomová práce LARP ve výuce anglického jazyka se zabývá poměrně neznámým

fenoménem larpu (název vznikl z anglického live-action role-play), rolových her a možností

jejich využití v reálném prostředí školní třídy nebo jazykového kurzu. Čtenáře seznamuje s

užitečnými a praktickými nástroji ke psaní těchto her a také spojuje design larpu s designem

jiných vzdělávacích her, především počítačových. Empirická část práce obsahuje dva hotové a

vyzkoušené scénáře, které byly navrženy se specifickými účely a omezeními a vyzkoušeny v

reálném prostředí s reálnými studenty.

Abstract

The thesis LARP in English Language Teaching is looking into the fairly unknown

phenomenon of larps, live-action role-playing games, and their application in the real classroom

and language course setting. It provides the reader with useful and practical tools to design the

games and links the larp design with the design of other educational games, especially computer

games. The empirical part of the thesis contains two ready-made playtested scenarios for

classroom use that were written for specific purposes and restrictions and playtested in real

setting with real students.

Klíčová slova

Larp, edu-larp, experimentální učení, gamedesign, vzdělávací hry

Keywords

Larp, edu-larp, experiential learning, game design, serious games

Content

A. Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1

B. Theoretical part ............................................................................................................................... 3

1. Defining larp .................................................................................................................................... 3

1.1. Live............................................................................................................................................... 3

1.2. Action .......................................................................................................................................... 4

1.3. Role .............................................................................................................................................. 4

1.4. Play .............................................................................................................................................. 4

1.5. Game ........................................................................................................................................... 5

2. Other commonly used terms........................................................................................................... 6

2.1. Diegesis ........................................................................................................................................ 6

2.2. 360° illusion ................................................................................................................................. 6

2.3. Nordic larp ................................................................................................................................... 6

2.4. Alibi .............................................................................................................................................. 7

2.5. Bleed ............................................................................................................................................ 7

2.6. Flow ............................................................................................................................................. 8

2.7. Immersion ................................................................................................................................... 8

3. Larps and other teaching methods ................................................................................................. 8

3.1. Larp and role-playing exercises ................................................................................................... 8

3.2. Larp and simulations ................................................................................................................... 9

3.3. Larp and drama ........................................................................................................................... 9

3.4. Larp and storytelling .................................................................................................................. 10

3.5. Larp and experiential learning ................................................................................................... 11

4. Edu-larps ........................................................................................................................................ 11

4.1. Assessment of edu-larps ........................................................................................................... 12

4.2. Examples of educational larps ................................................................................................... 13

4.2.1. The Village ............................................................................................................................. 13

4.2.2. Chaos Situation ...................................................................................................................... 15

5. Edu-larps and the state curriculum ............................................................................................... 16

5.1. The Framework Educational Programme for Basic Education .................................................. 17

5.2. The Framework Education Programme for Secondary General Education .............................. 18

6. Game design .................................................................................................................................. 20

6.1. Parallels between software development and game and larp design ...................................... 20

6.1.1. Waterfall ................................................................................................................................ 20

6.1.2. Iterative ................................................................................................................................. 20

6.1.3. Incremental ........................................................................................................................... 20

6.1.4. Agile ....................................................................................................................................... 21

6.1.5. Non-structured ...................................................................................................................... 21

6.2. Playtesting ................................................................................................................................. 21

6.3. Documentation .......................................................................................................................... 21

7. Parts of larp ................................................................................................................................... 22

7.1. Warm-up exercises .................................................................................................................... 22

7.2. Workshops ................................................................................................................................. 23

7.3. The actual game ........................................................................................................................ 23

7.4. Debrief ....................................................................................................................................... 23

7.5. Feedback session ....................................................................................................................... 24

8. Technical aspects of larp ............................................................................................................... 24

8.1. Props .......................................................................................................................................... 24

8.2. Space ......................................................................................................................................... 25

8.3. Materials .................................................................................................................................... 25

9. Safety in larp .................................................................................................................................. 25

10. Possible drawbacks.................................................................................................................... 26

C. Empirical part ................................................................................................................................ 28

1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 28

2. Into the Badlands .......................................................................................................................... 28

2.1. Introduction to the setting ........................................................................................................ 28

2.2. Instructions for running the game............................................................................................. 29

2.3. Reflections ................................................................................................................................. 31

2.4. Feedback.................................................................................................................................... 33

2.4.1. 1st run: β-testing ................................................................................................................... 33

2.4.2. 2nd run .................................................................................................................................. 33

2.4.3. 3rd run ................................................................................................................................... 34

2.4.4. 4th run ................................................................................................................................... 36

2.4.5. 5th run ................................................................................................................................... 37

2.5. General game observations....................................................................................................... 38

3. gheD............................................................................................................................................... 40

3.1. Introduction to the setting ........................................................................................................ 40

3.2. Instructions for running the game............................................................................................. 42

3.3. Reflections on the game ............................................................................................................ 43

3.4. Feedback during and after the game ........................................................................................ 43

D. Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 45

Attachments .......................................................................................................................................... 47

Bibliography ........................................................................................................................................... 62

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A. Introduction

The aim of this diploma thesis is to introduce a new and abroad, especially in

Scandinavian countries, increasingly popular way of teaching. It is a phenomenon known only

to a limited number of people, the larping community, although the awareness of larping

among the mainstream society is rising thanks to the internet, social media and so forth. The

Nordic larp community, both in individual countries and all over the world is growing.

I would like to show the readers that larps do not necessarily have to be weekend-long

battles that you need boffer swords for, which is the most common answer you get when you

ask people if they have heard about larping, but can be put into practice even in a classroom

setting. The phenomenon of larping has not been thoroughly explored yet, especially its

influence on people's psyche, but even from the limited resources as well as from the

experience of the larping community, it is clear that it has extraordinary benefits on many

areas of the learning process. The positive effects, however, are not used fully. I am

convinced that experiencing something is way more beneficial for one's development than

reading a text in a coursebook. Being a part of something that evokes strong emotions and can

never be repeated can change a personality. Educational larps can provide the students with

such a unique hands-on experience tailored to their needs and to the needs of the educational

system.

I am speaking about a unique experience that changes one's view of the world because the

motivation behind this thesis is precisely the same. In summer 2013, I had the honor to be a

participant of Larpwriter Summer School1, a project of a Norwegian organization

Fantasiforbundet and the Belarusian organization POST. Although I knew that larps existed, I

did not have any hands-on experience with them at all. My motivation for attending was that I

was interested if they can be used in language teaching. The expert talks on larps and

educational larps and the actual experience blew my mind and I have decided then and there

that this is something I want to do in my life: to share the magic I experienced with people

around me.

Therefore, the thesis is written mainly as an inspiration for practicing teachers and student

teachers. The practical part is consists of two ready-to-play and playtested larps that can be

used in the classroom. I hope it will inspire and help teachers in case they decide to design

and run their own larps. Even though the larping community is open to anyone interested,

1 http://larpschool.blogspot.no

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joining it might be difficult. Although teachers might have heard about larps, their ideas about

writing and executing larps might not be correct. It can also be scary to try out a fairly new

teaching technique, which, moreover, puts such pressure on the teacher. Writing and

playtesting new larps in a real-life setting proved to be a great way of introducing this

teaching tool to teachers and fellow student teachers.

This thesis is not the first thesis written about larps in English language teaching. In 2013,

Mgr. Lenka Schormová wrote a diploma thesis named Live action role-playing (LARP) as a

teaching tool. Unlike her though, I have focused in the thesis on the phenomenon of Nordic

larp, relied on sources mostly written by people from the Nordic larp community (most of

which I know personally), and on the actual game design. Designing larps does not differ

dramatically from designing any other games. In the theoretical part, I am therefore trying to

connect the design of serious (computer) games and even software to designing (educational)

larps. In a way, I feel that this thesis is picking up where Mgr. Lenka Schormová left off with

hers. Instead of focusing on a qualitative research, I have decided to approach the empirical

part of the thesis via a quantitative research, designing educational larps, running them in a

real setting with real students, and gathering feedback on them.

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B. Theoretical part

The purpose of the theoretical part of the thesis is to make the reader familiar with the

concept of larp and educational larp in general, to explain some of the community jargon, and

some of the concepts used to describe larp and the larping experience. One of the parts of the

thesis also tries to match the educational larps with the curriculum. A large part of the

theoretical part is dedicated to introducing larp design with connection to software

development and design of video and computer games. A great stress is also put on safety in

larp and on the specifics of designing edu-larps for first time players.

1. Defining larp

Larp (sometimes also written LARP) is an acronym for live action role-play, however, it

has been commonly used in the larping community both as a noun and as a verb (to larp).

Lizzie Stark describes the evolution of the word as follows: "In the United States, larp is often

written LARP, since it is an acronym denoting live action role-playing. The word is adaptable

– one can larp, play in a larp, go larping, be a larper. (…). The Nordic countries, which have a

long-established discourse on larp aesthetics, have already de-capitalized it."

For the purpose of the thesis, the author will keep using larp as a noun and occasionally as

a verb because the thesis is written in the context of the Nordic larp scene that the author is

familiar with.

To be able to fully understand the meaning of the word, we should take a look at the

individual words the acronym originated from individually.

1.1. Live

Larps are live: unlike RPGs, which are verbal and happen around a table (the most

commonly known example of RPG would be Dungeons and Dragons), larps are physical,

require space, movement and sometimes involve physical contact as well. Instead of just

saying what the character is doing, the player acts out the actions, feelings etc.

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1.2. Action

Larping requires active participation from the player, often physical. The action does not

necessarily mean boffer swords that are often associated with larping, especially in the Czech

Republic. There are many types of larp and the level of action required from the players can

differ greatly, from running around a forest to simply sitting around a desk discussing some

issues.

1.3. Role

In larps, the players assume an identity different from their own. Simply said, they play a

character whose personality traits, life experience or any other aspects might be very different

from their own (called playing "far from home") or similar (called playing "close to home").

Eirik Fatland offers three definitions of role:

a) "An actor's part in a play, film, etc.

b) The function assumed or part played by a person or thing in a particular

situation.

c) The affordances that are socially available to a given person in a given

context."

All of these definitions are appropriate for the role of a player in a larp.

1.4. Play

Rieber describes play as a voluntary activity, intrinsically motivating, often involving

active and physical engagement, distinct from other behavior by having a make-believe

quality."

The logical implication would be that play is a motivating activity that requires active and

voluntary participation from all participants.

Jean Piaget was one of the first researchers who took children's play seriously, although he

did not consider play to be an actual learning process: "According to a well-known formula

okay us an end in itself, whereas work and other non-ludic behaviors involve an aim not

contained in the activity as such" (147).

By contrast, Vygotsky's theory suggests that play actually facilitates cognitive

development: "Play is the source of development and creates the zone of proximal

development. Action in the imaginative sphere, in an imaginary situation, the creation of

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voluntary intentions and the formation of real-life plans and volitional motives – all appear in

play and make it the highest level of preschool development."

Tudge and Rogoff compare Piaget's and Vygotsky's approach in the following way:

"Although Piaget was primarily concerned with individual development, he believed that

discussion between children has a role to play in cognitive development. Vygotsky's theory

places a central focus on social interaction as a medium in which children develop, with

people who are more skilled in the intellectual technologies of a culture assisting children in

learning" (32).

Without actually giving preference to either theory, we can say that play is a very

important part both of the cognitive development and socialization process that children have

to undergo while growing up.

The question many researchers have been asking for years suggests itself: does learning by

playing work for children only, or can adults benefit from play as well? I, along with many

researchers and teachers using experiential learning, firmly believe that playing can be very

beneficial for learners of any age group. By giving students of all ages the opportunity, or an

actual alibi to play, we can restore the benefits play has on the cognitive development and

socialization. In order to use the proper vocabulary, we could, however, interchange the word

"socialization" with "soft skills."

1.5. Game

Salen and Zimmerman define game as "a system in which players engage in artificial

conflict, defined by rules, that result in a quantifiable outcome" (80). In other words, games

have strictly given rules that all players consent to follow beforehand and a measurable

outcome. We can, therefore, say that games are a form of play that is structured, goal-oriented

and evolves around a conflict or problem-solving. This is confirmed by Solvin, who states

that "any game worth playing is highly social and has a problem that needs solving within it –

an objective point in which each individual must become involved (...)" (5).

Although it might not seem logical at the first sight, larps are correctly placed in the

category of games. As Markus Montola argues in his article Social Reality in Roleplaying

Games, "social institutions such as role-playing games are built out of constitutive rules.

Roleplaying is possible because we can agree on our own constitutive rules and determine

how things count as other things in that part of social reality often called 'fiction‘. We use

rules to structure the process where we create diegeses in interaction, and although everyone's

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diegesis is different, the play proceeds as long as they are equifinal," (i.e. having the same

result).

2. Other commonly used terms

2.1. Diegesis

The word diegesis appeared in the previous citation. I think it is best explained by an

example. Carsten Andreasen gives the following example: "In movies, you often see both

diegetic and non-diegetic music. The diegetic sound is the sound, which both viewer and the

person on the screen hear (e.g. a passing car). The non-diegetic sound is sound only heard by

the viewer."

2.2. 360° illusion

In the 360° illusion, every single thing is diegetic. Non-diegetic things do not exist,

everything in the game area is real. Johanna Koljonen argues in her essay Eye-Witness to the

Illusion that it is not possible to achieve a 360° illusion. "Even in the best of 360° illusions,

some elements that disturb the fiction will remain. If nothing else, having previously seen the

players as themselves can provide a blip in the fiction's internal logic – a potentially

significant blip, since representational elements in indexical surroundings easily sabotage the

whole venture."

Therefore, 360° illusion is not something the designer should aim at when designing the

game because the result might not be worth the effort and the time. The designer can, of

course, try to support the illusion with some aspects (such as the location itself, sounds, props

etc.) but even a classroom can turn into a spaceship, a refugee camp or a castle in the minds of

the pupils.

2.3. Nordic larp

Nordic larp is quite difficult to define. However, I have decided to mention this term in this

thesis because a lot of the works cited are primarily concerned with Nordic larp and I do not

want to confuse the reader. Jaako Stenros defined Nordic larp as follows: "A tradition that

views larp as a valid form of expression, worthy of debate, analysis and continuous

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experimentation, which emerged around the Knutepunkt convention. It typically values

thematic coherence, continuous illusion, action and immersion, while keeping the larp co-

creative and its production uncommercial. Workshops and debriefs are common". I would like

to add that I have noticed that Nordic larps, especially educational, often have an underlying

political or sociological context.

2.4. Alibi

As mentioned before, an alibi is what we give players to enable them to play their

character. Nordic Larp Wiki defines alibi as "what enables players in larps to act in ways

which would not normally be possible." For example, the player himself or herself would not

lie to their friends in a particular real-life situation, but the game required that and it was in

accordance with the character, therefore the player had the alibi to lie. Once we remove the

alibi, the player does not have to feel bad about what has just happened because it was

actually the character who did it. Similarly, this psychology works the other way round and

influence the player positively. If the character was, for example, brave enough to raise their

voice to prevent an injustice, despite the fact that the player is shy and hates to talk in front of

a larger group of people, it was actually the player who raised their voice because they had an

alibi to do so. The experience can make the player braver in real life as well. Thus, the alibi

can and often does influence the player himself or herself.

2.5. Bleed

Bleed is experienced by players when the borders between their characters and themselves

as individuals began to fade away. It is possible that the feelings or thoughts of the character

are internalized by the player or vice versa. The player always brings his or her previous

experiences, traumas etc. into the game. Both positive and negative emotions are sometimes

triggered by something that appears in the game. Bleed does not always mean something

negative, for example if two characters are friends in the game, the players who have never

met before the game can still experience positive feelings towards each other after the end of

the game. In short, to bleed in larp means either bringing your outside experience into the

game (sometimes called to bleed in) or bringing the inside experience outside the game

(called to bleed out).

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2.6. Flow

Flow is a commonly used term not only for larping but for practically any activity. It is a

state in which we are the most productive, immersed in the activity and feeling good about the

activity and its result. The Workshop Handbook sums it up as a "mental state of operation in

which a person in an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full

involvement, and success in the process of the activity." This is the feeling we want to invoke

in our students in order for them to learn most productively. Using larp as a teaching tool can

help us achieving this goal.

2.7. Immersion

Nordic larp wiki defines immersion as "a state of mind where a player does not need to

actively suspend disbelief in the fictional universe, and where role-playing flows as naturally

and easily as if you really were the character." The player becomes so immersed in the game

or in the role that his or her acting almost stops being acting.

3. Larps and other teaching methods

Larps have a lot in common with role-playing games (RPGs), role-playing exercises,

improvisational theatre, and drama education and, of course, we can include them under

experiential education activities. In this chapter, I would like to point out some similarities

and differences between larp and role-playing exercises, simulations, improvisation, drama,

and show how larps belong into experiential education.

3.1. Larp and role-playing exercises

Scrivener describes role-play as an activity in which the "learners are usually given some

information about a 'role' (e.g. a person or a job title). These are often printed on 'role cards'.

Learners take a little preparation time and then meet up with other students to act out small

scenes (…)" (155). I would say that role-play is not that different from larp in terms of having

a role to act out. However, a massive part of a character in larp (as opposed to a 'role') is the

character's past and history. Everything that will not appear in the game as such but influences

the character. Scrivener points out that "a good set of role cards is often designed so that the

9

participants will have distinctly different points of view and natural disagreements" (156) in

order to trigger discussions and arguments. Creating conflicts is, of course, one of the main

aims of a larp designer as well because conflicts are usually the factor that moves the game

forward which is also said in the actual definition of games. Scrivener suggests further that

the students should swap cards after the actual role-play (156). I'd say that this is very

uncommon in a larp, although it is not impossible. The main difference between larp and a

role-playing exercise would be in the length and the level of immersion. Ladousse suggests

that role-plays "can be a quite simple and brief technique to organize." I would not say that

this is true about larps as they definitely take a longer preparation and execution time. As

already mentioned, another thing that is not very common with role-playing exercises is the

debrief, where the players reflect on their experience both as players and as characters and

which is an inseparable part of the larp experience and most of the experiential learning

activities.

3.2. Larp and simulations

Scrivener describes simulation as a large-scale role-play with additional extensive

background information. "The intention is to create a much more complete, complex 'world‘,"

Scrivener says (159). Taking facts and definitions into consideration, the difference between

simulations and larps is quite blurry. Ladousse actually says that it is impossible to make a

distinction between role-play and simulation. According to Ladousse, "simulations are

complex, lengthy, and relatively inflexible events (that) will always include an element of

role-play, though other type of activity, such as (…) discussion of options are also involved"

(5). From my point of view, an actual larp starts with the immersion, once the players are

immersed in the role-play so much that what was first 'only' acting and simulation actually

becomes more internal. Simulations are also widely and commonly used in adult education,

for example management training or training of law-enforcement and rescue units where you

do not necessarily need to have and immerse in a character, and a simulation of a situation is

enough.

3.3. Larp and drama

To compare larp and drama, we first need to define what drama is. The definitions from

different sources are quite divergent. Thornbury believes that drama is an umbrella term for

10

role-play, simulation, as well as other types of activities involving a drama element, such as

play-reading, recitation, and improvisation. (98)

Almond, on the other hand, although he does not provide a definition per se, he provides

many examples when talking about benefits of drama, such as putting together a play as a

group of students, producing a play, and using an authentic script. (10-11) The difference

from larp is then very clear. In larp, players do not have a script to follow at all, larp is pure

improvisation without any rehearsals. It is fairly impossible to repeat a scene. Just like in

drama, the players build their characters throughout the playing phase, the guidelines and

borders which you should follow in larp are, however, more unclear. What happens with the

character is up to the player (and his or her co-players), unlike in drama.

Brumfit and Johnson have an interesting point here: "By creating a dramatic situation in a

classroom – in part simply by acting out dialogues, but also in part by relabeling objects and

people in the room (supplemented by realia if desired) to prepare for imaginative role-playing

– the teacher can expand the classroom indefinitely and provide imaginatively natural

contexts for the language being used" (163). In other words, they suggest that drama and

dramatic situations can be created in different ways, not only by preparing and reading

screenplays.

Boyd (qtd. in Improvisation for the Theatre) stated that "playing a game is psychologically

different in degree but not in kind from dramatic activity. The ability to create a situation

imaginatively and to play a role in it is a tremendous experience, a soft of vacation from one's

everyday self and the routine of everyday living" (5).

It is obvious that although larp uses drama techniques, it differs greatly from what we

understand under drama activities as such. However, in order to prepare students for larping,

using some drama techniques to make them feel relaxed and prepared for the actual larp is

very beneficial. There are many activities across the spectrum of techniques of experiential

learning that can be used for various purposes. In larp, these techniques are called pre-game

workshops (s. chapter 7.2).

3.4. Larp and storytelling

Storytelling is an activity with a long tradition, not only in the classroom as the tradition

started long before there even were any classrooms. Scrivener points out that it is good to do a

storytelling activity for the activity itself, just for pleasure. "The aim here is the same as that

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of the tribal elder round the campfire or the mother reading to her children at bedtime (…)"

(337).

I am mentioning storytelling because, in a way, I feel that playing a larp is actually a form

of a co-creative storytelling. The players create their own story in the given setting, together,

and the story is always different based on their input (and many other factors). Even the most

heavily scripted scenario will always have a different result when played with different groups

of people, and even if we tried to replay it with the same group of people.

3.5. Larp and experiential learning

Larp can be included among techniques used in experiential learning. Kolb describes

learning "as a process whereby concepts are derived from and continuously modified by

experience. (...) Ideas are not fixed and immutable elements of thought but are formed and re-

formed through experience" (26).

By using larp in the classroom, we can give the learners opportunities to experience certain

things they otherwise could not and thus derive and modify more concepts. Kolb also suggests

that learning is based on a conflict. When we discussed what game is, we said that Salen and

Zimmerman described it as "a system in which players engage in artificial conflict" (80). The

in-game conflict thus gives the learner an opportunity to learn.

4. Edu-larps

Educational larps (or edu-larps in short) are larps that have been designed with and

educational aim. In my opinion, we can easily fit the edu-larps into the serious games

category, regardless whether we talk about computer games or live games. Johanna Koljonen

mentions in her talk Emotional and Physical Safety in Larp that "larp is a form of structured

play. That is why we sometimes call larps games."

Michael and Chen define serious games as follows: "The simplest definition of serious

games (…) is (that they are) games that do not have entertainment, enjoyment, or fun as their

primary purpose" (21). That does not mean serious games cannot be fun, entertaining or

enjoyable – on the contrary! We should, however, keep in mind at all times that the primary

purpose, the aim of the educational activity, is something else than "just fun".

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In a way, experiential education (or anything that differs from the "traditional" classroom

model in which the teacher serves as the main source of information) in general can be

perceived as a "break" from the "real" learning. I would like to argue that such approach is

erroneous and that similar statements undermine the importance of such activities thus

harming experiential education as well as the individual alternative approaches. The role of

the teacher has changed dramatically in the past decades. In alternative approaches as well as

in traditional school system, the teacher is no longer the primary source of information but

works as a facilitator who provides the students with tools they need to learn rather than with

the actual content. Larp can be such tool.

As Sanne Harder points out in her article Confessions of a Schoolteacher, "in the 21st

century, being a teacher is not about teaching pupils facts, it is about helping them internalise

knowledge, skills, and competencies. (…) Role-playing is a possible way of meeting some of

these challenges."

Michael and Chen also state that "serious games are games that use the artistic medium of

games to deliver a message, teach a lesson, or provide an experience" (23). This is very well

applicable to larps as well, because what else is larp than an artistic expression combining the

art of storytelling, drama, elements of experiential education, theatre and way more?

Michael and Chen point out that serious games break one of the characteristics of games,

and that is that game is voluntary, but again, that does not mean that serious games cannot be

fun. They also point out that sometimes the fun has to "take the backseat (…)" and the actual

aim of the activity takes precedence (21).

"(Games) allow the players to assume realistic roles, face problems, formulate strategies,

make decisions and get fast feedback on the consequences of their actions – all without the

cost of real world consequences or errors" (25-26). In other words, serious games say: It is ok

to make mistakes. It is ok to explore. It is ok to play.

4.1. Assessment of edu-larps

Chen and Michael state that "sceptics look askance at games (…), demanding proof that

the games teach anything useful, and asking how well the games teach compared to more

traditional methods" (111). At the same time, they agree that it is problematic to actually

measure the outcomes of serious games stating that "currently, assessment is limited to more

traditional testing approaches and self-assessments given by the players before and after

playing" (133).

13

When we take into consideration the fluency and accuracy switch as described by

Scrivener (160), we can definitely say that larps as a teaching tool are aimed at fluency rather

than accuracy. "There are times in class when a focus on accuracy – and therefore a greater

use of instant correction – may be appropriate” (Scrivener, 160). And then there are times

when the focus on accuracy might actually be hurtful for the purpose of the activity and in my

opinion, this is exactly the case. We want the players to feel safe enough to use the skills they

have previously learned.

Ladousse mentions another important aspect and that is the learners themselves,

questioning the purpose of the exercise and their own abilities. "(…) your students may (…)

worry about the mistakes they make as they carry out a role-play. They are likely to question

the usefulness of the exercise, or beg you to stay close to them and correct them every time

they make a mistake. It is essential to explain to these students that errors will be dealt with,

that you are aware of the ones they are making, and that you will not forget about them” (15).

4.2. Examples of educational larps

In this chapter, I would like to provide examples of two edu-larps that I had the chance to

play and later on to discuss some designer's choice with the designers. I would also like to

reflect on the experience I had both as a player, and as a game designer.

4.2.1. The Village

The Village is an edu-larp designed by the Pedagogiskt Centrum (Pedagogical and

Didactical Centre) in Gothenburg, Sweden. The Pedagogiskt Centrum promotes school

improvement across the Gothenburg region. They create and lead single theme classes as well

as comprehensive and long-term organizational development. They focus on tailor-made

initiatives that are designed in close collaboration with their clients and based on the

individual business' unique needs2.

The Village is an educational game that covers the topics of nationalism and history. It was

created "as a part of a three-game series about history, nationalism and reconciliation. The

game is a classroom format role-play where the participants play four different families in the

Village. The families have very different values and very strong opinions of each other based

on events during the latest 100 years. During the game, the four families have to solve 3

2 http://www.pedagogisktcentrum.se/about

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different conflicts by voting. When using this game in an educational context, the village,

families and conflicts can act as a metaphor for real-world events and conflicts, and the

feelings and thoughts the students experienced during the game can help them understand

some of the underlying mechanisms of human decision-making during long-term conflicts.”

The game is aimed at 15-year-olds and older, but can be run with younger pupils as well,

depending on their experience with similar educational activities.

At the beginning of the game, the students are divided into four groups that represent the

families. Rather than having individual characters, the groups share a group character. "By

grouping participants into families – without giving each individual a role to follow – the

participants can choose how active they want to play the game, but they can also relate to the

feeling of having a common goal and identity.”

During the game, the families experience three conflicts that are resolved by voting for

three possible outcomes (each family has one vote). Sometimes, the voting does not resolve

the conflict. The way the conflict is resolved has an impact on the future of the village. The

participants are allowed to negotiate with other families.

"The solutions available for each conflict are far from ideal. The reason for this is to force

the families into a mind-set of "us or them”. After the game, during the discussion, the

participants will have the option to come up with new, and better, solutions for the conflicts.

This is a way of making the participants reflect on what would be a good and sustainable

conflict resolution, and it can be a good strategy to discuss this further in relation to real world

conflicts.”

I had the chance to play the Village during the Larpwriter Summer School in 2013 and it

was the first edu-larp that I have played. I very much liked the idea of a "collective” character,

especially for first-time players. Although we would split up the group and negotiate with

other members of different families, it felt good that we had a core group to return to. For me

personally, it was fairly difficult to see the main topic of the game (i.e. nationalism) but

probably only because our run of the game was not "standard”.

I have used the collective character in my own larp (s. the practical part). The script for

running the Village can be found online3.

3 http://www.pedagogisktcentrum.se/sites/default/files/spel/the%20village_eng.pdf

15

4.2.2. Chaos Situation

Chaos Situation is an edu-larp created by Mohamad Rabah from Palestine. It is set in a

fictional Austria, which is still a developmental country where young people suffer from

unemployment. A group of these young people were brave enough to go for a strike against

the government4.

From what I have observed, setting a larp in a fictional world in one of the first-world

country that is troubled by some social inequalities is also fairly typical for Nordic larp. The

fictional Austria in this particular game has economic problems and high unemployment rate.

Non-formal education is not recognized and it is very difficult and expensive for young

people to be admitted to universities. Vocational or practical education is practically

nonexistent. People with special needs are not supported in any way, either financially or by

being included in the society.

The game is a close allegory to the events that occurred during the Arab spring. In the

beginning of the game, we were given our characters. There were three groups of characters:

the protesters, the government and two journalists. The government group included also two

business people. I played one of the protesters, a young girl who desperately wanted to be a

cook. The characters sheets were very simple and basic, we have, however, introduced our

characters to the whole group who then asked questions for which we had to improvise the

answers. Then we (protesters, members of the government and journalists together) created

posters for the protesters with slogans.

The room was visually divided into two parts and so were we, the players. The journalists

moved from one group to another, depending on what was happening in the game. There were

two stage lights, each positioned at one of the parts of the room. If one of the lights was on,

the other group was supposed to watch what was happening but was allowed to play a little.

The first scene of the game was aimed at the protests. We were protesting and the journalists

have interviewed us. After some 10 minutes or so, the lights switched and we, protesters,

watched the government officials discuss our situation while the journalists interviewed them.

Then, in the second part of the game, both groups have met to discuss the issue at hand. We

had to formulate our demands for the government. Formulating our requirements was

difficult, but then the government asked us to come up with a solution. We had no problems

agreeing on things in the group, but I felt that no matter what we say, it would be more or less

4 http://www.grenselandet.net/2015/10/arab-winter.html

16

impossible. We did not reach an agreement and in the end, the army intervened and

suppressed the strikes.

Both from a player's and designer's point of view, the game was very well written and

included very nice ideas. I especially liked one of the first exercises, the poster making. It was

great that we had something physical to play with and, at least for me as a protester, it

somehow made it easier to find a way to my character. The meeting with the government

officials enabled me to see how difficult things are from the other side as well. Since we were

unable to formulate solutions to our problems (and so was the government), we have reached

an impasse.

The only possible issue I have noticed was the fact that some of the characters were a little

unbalanced. For example, it must have been very difficult to play the role of a journalist

because they were present and active in all the scenes and sometimes actually pretended to be

live on TV. I can imagine this as an issue when playing this scenario with a group of students

who the game master does not know personally. The casting with non-players has to be done

properly and carefully, in order not to put too much pressure on some of the participants.

Another thing I was disappointed with (and would be way more if this were a real

classroom setting and not a festival) was the fact that we did not discuss the events of the

Arab Spring at all. However, it inspired me to search for more facts about the event.

5. Edu-larps and the state curriculum

In this chapter, I would like to point out not only how pupils can benefit from the use of

larps in the classroom, but also how larps are aligned with the curriculum, although it might

seem improbable at first.

Both Framework Educational Programme for Basic Education and Framework Education

Programme for Secondary General Education include a foreign language as an educational

area. However, the area of foreign language is not the only one that can be covered by edu-

larps. I would like to point out some other areas from the Framework Educational

Programmes that are closely related to why larps are beneficial for learners, and also to

provide examples.

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5.1. The Framework Educational Programme for

Basic Education

The Framework Educational Programme for Basic Education states that the expected

outcomes in the educational area of foreign language regarding interactive language skills in

stage 1 should be that pupils will "participate actively in a simple conversation, greet and say

good-bye to both an adult and a friend; provide the required information." The expected

outcome for stage 2 is that "pupils will in a simple manner, make themselves understood in

common everyday situations".

Role-playing games have been a commonly used tool to practice these skills. Experiential

education and larps, in general, can make this activity even more interesting and engaging (I

can, for example, imagine a larp about speed-dating where the pupils first create their

characters and then introduce them among themselves, trying to find the perfect match).

One of the outcomes of the educational field Humans and their world is that the pupils will

"express tolerance for their classmates' natural differences, strengths and weaknesses." I

believe that by putting the pupils into other people's shoes, you can achieve better

understanding and tolerance.

Yet another outcome is that "pupils will (be able to) distinguish basic differences among

individuals, defend their opinions during specific activities, admit a possible mistake, agree

with classmates on a joint procedure and solution." By giving the pupils an alibi to act like

different individuals, the teacher can easily scheme a scenario in which he or she will enable

the pupils, for example, to learn how to admit and correct their character's mistakes without

necessarily touching the pupil's feelings. As Ladousse points out with regards to role-playing,

"this 'playing' in role will build up self-confidence rather than damage it." We as teachers

need to ensure that the pupil will later on transfer the skills learned during the scenario to

similar real-life situations.

The Framework Educational Programme for Basic Education also includes drama

education as one of the complementary educational fields. The outcomes for Stage 1 are

following: "differentiate acted from real situations; acknowledge the rules of acting; put

themselves into simple roles and act naturally in them; explore themes and conflicts on the

basis of their personal acting; with the teacher's help, reflect upon their experiences from

watching a work of drama."

What I would like to add to the last point is that by using larps in the classroom the pupils

will be able to reflect upon their experiences not only from watching a work of drama but

18

from being included in the drama. I feel that it is also important to mention that not everybody

has the same experience from a work of drama, which is something that becomes more visible

when we not only watch it but also participate. Experience in larps open up a safe area where

these differences can be shared, understood, and accepted, just like we discussed above when

talking about Humans and their world.

In Stage 2, I would like to point out the following outcome: the pupils will be able to

"explore themes from various points of view and identify main themes and conflicts; be aware

of analogies between fictional situations and reality." For me personally, this is simply the

base of edu-larp. We create fictional situations, fictional worlds, fictional characters and

identities with inner and external conflicts whose aim is to teach us and let us explore more

about the reality we live in.

There are also many thematic areas in the Framework Educational Programme for Basic

Education that cannot be covered by a single subject and are therefore cross-curricular. The

thematic areas listed in the Framework Educational Programme for Basic Education are

personal and social education, democratic citizenship, education towards thinking in

European and global context, multicultural education, environmental education and media

education. Although these areas can be covered by in a variety of single-subjects, they are

quite often covered in language education as well. For example, democratic citizenship is a

very difficult concept to understand on a theoretical basis. On the other hand, experiencing the

hardships of maintaining democracy and basic human rights can help the understanding from

a practical point of view that can also enable the pupils to see why we think this is the right

way of doing things, despite the difficulties and downsides.

5.2. The Framework Education Programme for

Secondary General Education

The Framework Education Programme for Secondary General Education also includes a

foreign language educational area. One of the mentioned outcomes is that the student should

be able to "formulate his/her opinion in such a way that he/she is understood, using correct

grammar, spontaneously and coherently." From this outcome, I would like to point out the

word "spontaneously". Especially in foreign language learning, the communicative

competence is difficult to develop. There is not enough speaking time in class for all the

students to communicate, it is difficult to pretend that the communication is taking place in a

real-life situation and, at last, the students are often not motivated to speak or simply ashamed

19

or afraid. Larps can bring real-life communication to the classroom while giving the students

the freedom to join. It would, of course, be erroneous to think that by bringing larp into the

classroom, all students will miraculously start speaking freely. If they are unwilling or unable

to cooperate, they simply will not. But larps give them yet another opportunity to speak and

try out their communicative competencies while providing them with an alibi to speak.

Another learning outcome of the foreign language area says that "the pupil shall react

spontaneously and using correct grammar in more complicated, less common situations while

using appropriate phrases and expressions." In larps, the teacher can create and touch as many

topics and uncommon situations as he or she deems necessary.

In the educational area Basics of Civics and Social Sciences, some of the expected

outcomes include: "explain why and how people differ in the manifestations of their behavior

(...); illustrate on specific examples appropriate methods of coping with difficult life

situations; resolve possible disagreements or conflicts with others constructively; respect

cultural diversity and differences in the behavior of members of different social groups,

substantiate on specific examples what consequences prejudice can have; explain the nature

of some current social problems (...); explicate the nature of democracy, (...) compare the

position of a citizen in a democratic and in a totalitarian state; list examples of corruption,

analyse its causes and speculate on its possible effects, and assess the manifestations of

globalisation, provide examples of current global problems, analyse their causes and speculate

on their possible consequences." All of these areas, or rather outcomes (and many more), can

be used as topics for larps. Although these topics are included the educational area Basics of

Civics and Social Sciences, I am sure it would be possible to use them in English teaching as

well.

The Framework Education Programme for Secondary General Education includes cross-

curricular areas as well. These areas are Moral, Character and Social Education, Education

towards Thinking in European and Global Contexts, Multicultural Education, Environmental

Education and Media Education. Again, many of these areas can be and are often covered in

language classes (among others), topics such as global problems, environmental issues and

multiculturalism are often included and introduced in language coursebooks. Again, I believe

that having a personal experience with problems concerning these topics can be very

beneficial for the students. A real hands-on experience is way more engaging than just hearing

or seeing something.

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6. Game design

6.1. Parallels between software development and

game and larp design

When we talk about software development, there are several ways we can write software.

For the purpose of this thesis we can simplify the approaches into four branches:

6.1.1. Waterfall

Hughey describes the waterfall model as a traditional process of designing software in

which each step is followed by another in a given sequence. You start by defining the goals,

then lay out what you actually want to develop, move to documentation and then start

developing what you have planned. There is very little room for a sudden change or

alterations in general. Redesign or confrontation with the user's needs is not included of the

waterfall designing process.

6.1.2. Iterative

As Zimmerman states, iterative design is a design methodology based on a cyclic process

of prototyping, testing, analyzing, and refining a work in progress. In other words, a prototype

is designed that is then tested with the audience (or testers that match your target audience)

and adjusted based on the feedback. Then the product is playtested again. This approach gives

the designer a chance to incorporate the audience's wants and needs.

6.1.3. Incremental

Using the incremental design process means, according to Makabee, basically designing a

minimum viable product, testing it and then building more on top of what was already

designed. In our case, the minimum viable product (a term firstly introduced by Eris Ries in

his book The Lean Startup) would be a minimal playable scenario playtested with the

audience, evaluated and then either re-worked completely or broadened. When using this

approach, it is necessary to keep in mind the designer has to focus on the core and not on the

details (there will be time for the details as well). In the first stages, it is not important what

the players will be wearing or what music will be playing, but, for example, what is the main

21

topic, the actual plot and so on. The main difference between incremental and iterative design

is that when you use the incremental designing process, you add new features and details.

6.1.4. Agile

There are many different agile approaches. In short, we can say that agile designing

process combines iterative and incremental design approaches.

6.1.5. Non-structured

From my experience, there is also an approach is not structured in any way, or combines

the above-mentioned approaches in a way to suit the designer. The designer works on the

game intuitively, writing what part just comes to mind. It is, however, important to bear in

mind that educational games are very special because they have a purpose (other than fun).

The creative process should therefore always start with defining the educational aims and

goals of the game, just like when designing any other educational activity. As Sanne Harder

points out, "(…) using role-playing as a tool does not automatically ensure that all of your

teaching goals are reached. It is important to make a qualified conscious effort (…)."

6.2. Playtesting

Playtesting the game or at least parts of it prior to running it with the target audience is a

highly recommended practice. In the ideal case scenario, the audience the game is playtested

with should have the same attributes as the target audience, or at least should have experience

with experiential learning or larps. It is not necessary to playtest and execute the whole larp

during the test but the basic mechanics and the actual plot. When we refer to the incremental

designing process, the recommended thing to be playtested would be the minimum viable

product (a smallest functioning unit). Using the iterative designing approach, the playtest will

be repeated several times (α-testing, β-testing, etc.) until it is refined to meet the requirements.

Although it is extremely important to gather feedback on your work, it might be difficult to

hear that some of your ideas just do not work. The designer should not take this personally.

6.3. Documentation

Another crucial aspect of the game is documentation of the designer's choices and writing

a script, especially if the scenario should be replayable. Instead of writing a large

22

documentation beforehand (what usually is one of the first steps in the waterfall designing

approach), document the progress you are making while writing. As already mentioned, when

designing a serious game, it is vital to determine the aims of the activity beforehand (and to

review whether the activity still fulfills these aims during the designing process). Apart from

that, it is useful and recommendable to keep track of the designer's choices during the process.

It is highly recommendable to include even ideas that you have evaluated and decided not to

use.

7. Parts of larp

Although there is no strictly given structure, there is a number of individual parts that help

the actual game work, prepare the players to act like their characters, and help them get "out"

of them after the game. Some of these techniques are described below. Eirik Fatland called it

"para-larp" in his talk "Elements of Larp Design" during the Knutpunkt conference. Fatland

argues that "larp designers control the para-larp in order to enable and influence the larp."

Everything we design, every little piece around the actual game matters and should support

the point we are trying to make with the actual larp.

"To enable roleplaying, I need to identify the rules and symbols that actually matter. I need

to reduce these to their minimal components – not a whole language." (Fatland)

The following aspects need to be designed beforehand.

7.1. Warm-up exercises

Warm-up exercises are extremely important especially when we want the students to get

involved a difficult activity that larp is later on. The best practice is that the warm-up

exercises "do not aim to prepare or evolve the content of the larp itself" (Playing the learning

game, 101). They can be silly, even if you are planning on running a difficult game. The aim

of the warm-up exercise is to get the students cooperating with you and making them calm

down.

23

7.2. Workshops

Unlike warm-up exercises, workshops are aiming at preparing the players at playing the

game. Getting to know their characters and their aims for the game, explaining possible

motivations of the character or any other aspects of the game that might be unclear.

Probably the most important part to workshop are the safety techniques (s. chapter 8:

Safety in larp). The player always has to have the option to opt out.

7.3. The actual game

There is very little to be said about the actual game. It can be as long or as short as you

wish and design beforehand. The actual execution of the larp depends on many factors. One

of these factors is also how the game master and/or teacher interacts with the audience (s.

chapter 9: Possible drawbacks).

7.4. Debrief

In my opinion, debrief is the most important and sometimes the most neglected part of the

whole experience. Some designers mistakenly think that debrief session is for feedback. That

is untrue. The debrief session is an important part of the learning process in which the players

do not focus on the game itself but rather on their feelings and the outcome of the larp. It also

gives the participants a short transition phase between their characters and themselves. In

Playing the Learning Game, two main reasons for debriefing are mentioned:

1. "Making a comfortable transition from game to reality.

2. Providing an area for discussion about the topics of the game (109)."

The way the debrief will be done depends on many attributes of both the game and its

outcomes. You can either do it with the whole group or divide the group into smaller groups.

It is a good practice to have some questions prepared beforehand, depending on what you

want to know from your participants. Playing the Learning Game suggests using some of the

following questions:

- "What was the most difficult part of the game?

- What gave you the strongest impression during the game?

24

- What was the most interesting?

- Does this game have parallels to real-world situations?

- What was your most positive experience during the larp?

- What was the most negative experience during the larp?"

In addition, Playing the Learning Game also mentions the importance of having "questions

related to the specific learning outcomes of the game you are organizing (109)."

Eirik Fatland concluded his talk Does Larp Design Matter? by stating that "what we do, as

larp designers, is to describe and communicate the minimum requirements needed to direct

human creativity towards a shared purpose." In edu-larps, the shared purpose would be the

aim of the activity although the players/students do not have to be aware of the aim while

playing the larp.

7.5. Feedback session

Feedback is different from debrief as it should be aimed at the game itself, the topic, the

structure, some of the technical aspects, and on things that worked, did not work and that

could have been done better. I would like to stress out that it is extremely important to let the

players talk and not interrupt them while they are speaking with explanations of your

designing choices. You should consider incorporating the feedback (especially if it is

recurring) into the future runs of the game as well. It could happen, however, that it will not

be possible or that you will decide against incorporating the feedback for some reasons. That

is a perfectly valid decision, yet you should always consider what the players are saying.

8. Technical aspects of larp

It is not only the sets of activities that we want the players to go through. There are more

aspects of the game that the designer has to think of when designing the game.

8.1. Props

Props are things that we need to buy or make before the actual execution of the larp. For

example, when we divide the players into more groups, we need to differentiate them

somehow. Music and sounds are another important factors that can contribute to the player's

25

mood. Another important thing to consider are the costumes. Do the pupils need to wear any

special clothing or accessories, or will their everyday school clothes do? Do they need to

bring something from home? Do not forget that these pieces of information need to be shared

with the class beforehand.

8.2. Space

Another very important factor is the space in which we play the larp. Are there any

specific attributes we want the space we will be playing in to have? How big is has to be, how

many rooms do we need, and how should the space be divided? Should there be light? Does it

have to be a black-box? Is there going to be music or sounds played, and if so, how do we

ensure that everybody can hear it? Do we need any special equipment? What about

electronics? These are just some of the questions we need to answer with regards to the space.

8.3. Materials

We also need to prepare the materials that will be used in the game, such as character

sheets and other pre-written texts (messages, newspaper articles, letters etc.). Styling these

materials to fit the setting is also a great idea.

9. Safety in larp

Physical and emotional safety while playing larps is an extremely important thing to

consider. "Your job is to make your players be safe (physically and in other ways) - and feel

safe to explore and enjoy your game. This is not necessarily the same thing." (Koljonen)

Koljonen continued her talk by stating that in larp, unlike a theatre play, a person cannot

play at somebody, only with somebody. "You can be forced to participate, but you cannot be

forced to really, truly play." For the full experience, we need the pupils to play, to trust us,

teachers and designers, so that they are able to open up to the experience, or, as Koljonen puts

it, to "have the bravery to play".

"There is no need to 'protect' players from emotions (...), but we need to acknowledge them

and reflect upon them." (Koljonen) There are also techniques that we can teach the players to

use for their own emotional safety. We have to give them tools to leave the game, to steer it in

a safer direction, or to stop the game altogether. These techniques include "stop and break"

26

that is widely used in the larping community, especially in the Nordic larp. According to Eirik

Fatland, "the Kutt (cut) rule was invented in Norwegian larp in the 90s. The brems (break)

rule was added at Moirais Vev in 1997, together with a repurposing of Kutt to cover not just

medical but also emotional emergencies."

Basically, by saying "cut", the game is stopped altogether, whereas by saying "break", the

player indicates that he or she is getting uncomfortable and wants to steer the game in a

different direction, for example, to ease the pressure that the other players are putting on him

or her. I cannot stress enough how necessary it is to workshop these techniques before the

game, especially with inexperienced players, even if you think that the game is not about any

serious topics. Different people have different triggers that can trigger memories of previous

traumatic events. Unfortunately, you as a designer are unable to predict those. Koljonen says

about this that "players seem to react with the strongest emotions to fictional events and

situations that echo our own life experiences, not necessarily 'strong themes‘."

Another important rule that participants often break is using the third-person to refer to any

in-game actions out-game. Fatland states: "It is forbidden, post larp, to refer to any in-game

actions in the first ("I did…") or second ("you did…") persons. Only third person ("your

character did" / "My character did")."

10. Possible drawbacks

First-time players are people who have never larped before. The students are a very

specific group of participants, not only do they not (most probably) have any experience with

larping, but their attendance and cooperation is not optional. They did not consent to playing

in the traditional meaning. They simply have to play because you as their teacher make them

participate. There are many issues that can occur when designing a larp. I would like to point

out those that are specifically connected to designing a larp for first-time players. It does not

mean that first-time players will be bad at playing the larp or that they will not (at least try to)

cooperate, you just need to ensure that they have everything they need in order to play

because they do not know yet what it is that they need.

When talking about larp in a classroom setting, Miriam Lundquist introduced the term herd

competence. "When you go to a larp today, (...), most of the players have larped before and

this makes it so much easier for people who have not larped before. Usually, you won't be

27

able to separate people who are there for the first time and experienced players. When you

don't have the herd competence, you need to be aware of what you need to do extra."

While describing how to use drama in class, Scrivener emphasizes the trust the students

need to give us. "Success or failure of drama activities depends crucially on your perceived

attitude and that of the other students; without a certain degree of trust, acceptance and

respect, the chances for useful work are greatly diminished" (363). Trust, acceptance and

respect are virtues that most of us will be learning our whole life and using larps in the

classroom can help us realize this.

Lundquist also summarizes the role of the game master: "It is extremely important to make

the players feel safe and trust you, as the one leading this together with them, to make them

want to play and agree to play."

Lundqvist recommends the game master be active in the game as one of the primary roles

of a game master is to show first-time players how to larp. Also, the game master or game

masters work as a safety point. Anytime a player does not know what to do, he or she can

always reach out to them. I would add that this can happen either in-game (without breaking

the characters and the flow of the game) or off-game (for example in a designated off-game

area) and you have to tell the players in advance.

What I see as an undeniable benefit of having an active game-master in a classroom setting

is the fact that in this setting it is usually practically impossible to leave a group of pupils

alone without supervision. Being an active game master gives you an alibi you to steer it and

also to monitor the group and on what is happening in the game.

Another thing Lundquist recommends for first-time players is to have heavily scripted

scenarios with few but important choices. It can be a little boring, but it has a purpose. I see

the purpose for both the game master and the players. Although the players do not have the

herd competence, they will be very likely less stressed if they have clear and concise

instructions to follow rather than a complete freedom to explore a sandbox. It also enables the

game master to foresee the result of the game better.

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C. Empirical part

1. Introduction

When designing the empirical part of the thesis, I have decided that a qualitative study

would suit best the research needs and goals. From other researchers' conclusions it is clear

that larps can be used for educational purposes. The research quesion I was asking was if the

educational larps can work in our setting, both cultural and educational, and what drawbacks

can the teacher or designer experience. The secondary aim of the thesis was also to raise

awareness of edu-larps and popularize the necessary tools for design. I have decided upon the

goals and research method using the practical exercises from Qualitative Research Design: An

Interactive Approach by Joseph A. Maxwell.

2. Into the Badlands

2.1. Introduction to the setting

This larp was designed for an experiential learning course in Fryšták that is organized by

the English department of our faculty and is mandatory for bachelor students of the distant

study program. I have co-written this larp with Mgr. Eva Minaříková, Ph.D., who helped me

with the setting and plots, and also pointed out several bottlenecks and possible issues. She

also provided valuable feedback during writing and running the game and helped me run the

game in Fryšták.

The audience were adults, future teachers, of different ages and backgrounds. The number

of participants was known in advance but there was a potential risk that there will be people

missing. In the end, there were 46 participants out of 48. We have therefore decided to include

several characters that could be missing from the game in necessary.

We thought it would be good for the game if the game master were present in the game so

that he/she could steer it if necessary. We have therefore decided to incorporate the game

master as a NPC (non-playing character) and give him/her the role of the town mayor. Since

there were two of us running the game, we have divided the roles of GM and NPC, but they

could easily be represented by one person.

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The genre of the game was given in advance and it was Western, in order to match the

theme of the whole course. One complete run of the game was supposed to take 90 minutes

only due to tight schedule of the course.

The game is set in 1800's, Cactus Spine, Texas, USA. A railroad company is interested in

building a railroad through the town. It would mean a great financial benefit for the town, but

there are also possible problems. Some of the characters are pro, some of them are strongly

against the railroad. The result expected from the players is a decision whether the railroad

will lead through Cactus Spine or not.

2.2. Instructions for running the game

The following chapter contains a script that the game master should follow when running

the game. It can of course be accommodated.

Game Master: "Dear Fryšták participants,

Please let me welcome you in the town of Cactus Spine, Texas. We're now in the late 1800.

The Texas and Pacific Railway Company (also known as the T&P) is interested in building

their railroad through your city. You have gotten a week to think about it. You all have

different opinions about the railroad and what it might bring (or take away) from the city and

from you personally.

At the end of the week, you have gathered for a meeting of the city council which you are all

members of. Your task is to come to a conclusion whether or not there will be a railroad

through Cactus Spine or not.You have to choose wisely, with regards to the future generations

and consider all possible contributions to the city and problems that might arise.

Please let me introduce your mayor, Mr. John Fisher, who will be leading the city council."

The NPC comes forward.

GM: "Now, after you've met the mayor, you will each be assigned a character. Do not show

your character to the other players. Please note that the gender of your character might not

correspond to your own gender. In that case please use the face paint or other props to make it

visible to the other players (e.g. draw yourselves a moustache, wear a scarf etc.)"

30

GM randomly divides the characters, gives the players a few minutes to read them (5

min).

GM: "During the game you will portray your characters as described on your character

sheets. Please wear your nametag that came along your character sheet visibly during the

whole game to make it easier for other players.

Now, let's make a short introductory round as your characters. Briefly state some information

about yourselves, who you are, what you do for a living and if you have any relationships

(positive or negative) towards other citizens."

Introductory round (5 min).

GM: "Thank you all for your wonderful presentations. What I would like you to do now is to

imagine that this is Sunday, sometime before noon, and you are just walking outside of the

church after a sermon. You might want to thank the Reverend for a wonderful sermon, you

might want to ask somebody to join you for a picnic or you might want to tell somebody off.

Act as you think your characters would. If you think your character does not have any

personal relationships, feel free to create them on the spot."

Pre-game workshop (5-10 min).

GM: And now we're almost ready to play. There are some rules that we all need to follow so

that the game is a pleasant experience for all of us. If you start feeling very uncomfortable,

somebody is yelling at you or pushing you somewhere where you don't want to be, touching

you physically or making you feel uncomfortable in any other way, there's a safety word that

you can use. It is BREAK. If you use it, the game won't stop but the person pushing you will

ease the tension up. (GM and NPC provide an example)

If you feel like you need to stop the game for all players, you can use the word CUT. The

game will stop.

Don't be afraid of using the words if you feel like you need to. Emotional safety is very

important and although the game is easy and shouldn't touch any sensitive spots, we can't

guarantee it won't. So remember: CUT and BREAK.

There is no violence in this game, not even theatre slaps. The same applies to guns.

For the sake of other players, don't abuse these rules. Thank you.

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Are there any questions?"

Space for questions.

If there are no more questions, the mayor will now start the city council meeting."

The NPC comes forward, sits at a table or on a chair in front of a half-circle of chairs

and will once again introduce the topic, this time as if he or she were wrapping up the

facts for the citizens.

NPC: "Dear citizens of Cactus Spine, as you know, we have gathered here today to make an

important decision regarding the railroad. We have 30 minutes to come to a conclusion. What

do you think we should do?"

Then the actual game starts then (lasting 20-30 minutes). After the game, a short debrief

(5-10 minutes) and a reflection and feedback session will take place (20-30 minutes).

2.3. Reflections

This chapter includes some of the most important reflections and realizations we had

during the game.

- There was a model of a railway in the hall, so we decided to take the

participants to it for a short introduction of the activity. We even had a

board saying "Cactus Spine". It was a great idea as the participants did not

know what to expect and it was good to do something involving at least a

little physical activity.

- It is good to have the nametags ready beforehand.

- We have included a short countdown before the introductory round and the

additional pre-game workshop (s. next note).

- After the first trial run with the teachers, we have added a pre-game

workshop so that the players will get into their characters more. We have

asked them to walk around as they think their characters would and think

about who they are, how they're feeling, what's their history, marital status,

what kind of a person they are. Are they for example grumpy or cheerful?

- It is better to say the instructions first, then divide the characters.

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- After the first trial run with the teachers, we have also added a workshop –

creating a map. We have given the players a piece of paper and cards we

have drawn with the buildings in the city (barber's, saloon etc.) and asked

them to create the city. Then, during the game, if there was a suitable

opportunity (and there always has been one) they've gotten pieces of rails

cut from paper. We believe it helped them visualize and understand that

this is a serious matter.

- It is necessary to emphasize that the attitudes written in the character sheet

is only initial (so that the game can move on and does not get stuck). Also,

for first-time players, it is necessary to stress out that it is ok (and even

positive) to make up things, expand the characters, feel them, be them.

- In the circle, it is necessary to tell the players not to reveal their opinions

about the railroad yet. Also, during the "Sunday after church" workshop,

they shouldn't talk about the railroad, it is just a social gathering.

- It is good to give the players some 5 minutes after the game starts before

the Mayor comes and starts the official meeting. The players mix and

mingle and talk...

- A lot of pressure is put on whoever plays the Mayor, sometimes it is him or

her who has to move the game forward, especially if players are shy. It is a

possible fail of the design, or it might be a good thing.

- A countdown has been added at the end of the game (or in between the

debrief questions) in order for the players to "wake up" as themselves.

- We have invented and included a voting phase in the first game and used it

in the other runs as well, sometimes even twice. It sped up the game, added

emotions, and make some players start plotting and persuading others.

Since we had an even number of players, it was decided that if the final

voting ended in a draw, there will not be any railroad. This should have

been (but unfortunately was not) communicated to the players in advance,

before the game or in the beginning.

- For the debrief, we did two short rounds with a talking stick. The first

questions was: "in one word, describe how your character feels," the second

one: "describe how you feel right now, you can use more words." It would

be good to include the wake-up countdown between these two questions.

- The timing worked fine.

33

2.4. Feedback

2.4.1. 1st run: β-testing

A day before the participants arrived, we ran a trial run (a β-test) with the teachers and

assistants in Fryšták. It proved to be very useful. Although we have not gotten that much

feedback on the actual game, we got a lot of useful tips and hints instead. Some of them have

been implemented (map creating), some of them haven't for various reasons, mostly time

pressure.

The tips included:

- Creating a still picture as a pre-game workshop.

- Allowing the creation of pre-coalitions as a pre-game workshop, in order to establish

deeper relationships between the characters

- Creating 1-2 more relationships or couples.

- Using bullet points in character sheets instead of sentences.

- Creating a poster with main rules.

- Writing an article about the Pacific railway for the players to read after the game (for

example a news article of people protesting against the railway).

Strong characters included Rebecca, teacher, Cooper, and bartender. The style of play was

more like a comedy but it was a perfectly valid way of playing. Loud with a lot of scheming.

For the students' runs (2-5) we have discussed the questions from the worksheet as the

feedback.

2.4.2. 2nd run

The second run of the game was a first real run. Some alternations were included, the game

was loud and serious. Strong characters included Travis and Thomas, quiet characters were

doctor, Becky, and Daisy.

Feedback from this group of players included the following:

- One player works at nursery and uses larps and role-plays in her teaching.

- One player sees larps being used for companies, for training social situations.

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- One player thinks that larps can be used for teaching a certain topic.

- One player thinks that larping can be a relaxing activity.

- One player thinks that larps can be harder for teenagers.

- One player thinks that larps are demanding, it is quite hard to stay in character

(depending on the objective).

- One player thinks that larps are similar to theatre improvisation.

- One player thinks that playing close to home is individual, that's what makes

the designing difficult.

- One player thinks that larps can help with group dynamics.

- One player realized that they have limited vocabulary and needs to work on

that.

- One player thinks that larps can change your mind once you've been in

someone else's shoes.

- One player thinks that larps can show you different points of view.

- One player thinks that larps help use the real language.

- One player thinks that larps can help people listen and understand each other.

- One player thinks that character change helps.

- One player thinks that larps are entertaining.

- One player got a few new ideas for roleplaying that they can use.

- One player thinks that larps are nice to watch.

- It was difficult for one player to be somebody else and thinks it is not easy to

play if the character is different from your own personality.

2.4.3. 3rd run

In general, the third run was quieter and there was no shouting. The group seemed stuck at

several stages. The players felt they needed more details (e.g. timetables of the trains) as they

were unable to make the details up, or possibly they were not told this information during the

preparation phase.

The game stopped after 10 minutes when the players decided to take a preliminary vote

and voted against 7:4. This showed a possible flaw in the game. The group then started to play

with the map and arguing again afterwards, without any push from the GM. Neutral

characters worked nicely, at least from an outsider's point of view.

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There was one strong character, the Sheriff. Among the quietest characters were Frances

and Cooper.

Feedback from this group of players included the following statements:

- One player loves roleplaying, to try out things, not to be restricted by

themselves.

- One player is not keen on playing, prefers something from real life.

- One player thinks that larps can be used up to certain age only.

- Two players do not like to have a pre-written character. At least they would

have preferred if the characters were not randomly distributed.

- One player compared the activity to acting.

- One player finds positive that there are different degrees of structure.

- One player uses role-plays in teaching.

- One player likes the adaptability and the fact that the game changes with the

group, according to the group dynamics.

- One player pointed out that sometimes children do not want to participate.

- One player thinks it is a good tool for introducing people, making them talk.

- One player felt more relaxed than during most other activities at Fryšták.

- One player thinks it is good idea for children to open up.

- Two players thought it was easier to speak as somebody else, one player had

the opposite opinion.

- One player thought walking as the characters was helpful.

- One player says that the game teaches players to negotiate.

- One player liked his/her character and would have found it difficult to be any

of the other characters.

- One player thinks that discussion larps require strong themes.

- One player would be very careful about using this activity with children and

would customize it as (s)he hates to do what (s)he is told.

- One player if you can't relate to the character it is hard to "be" him or her

- One player thought (s)he did not have sufficient vocabulary to speak as the

reverend

- One player sad it is difficult to create a communicative task that would not feel

artificial (and this is one of those activities that felt natural).

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Testimonial from one of the participants of the third run: "It helped me very much to

forget about myself, making mistakes when speaking, my worries...and I felt very relaxed as

opposed to other activities in which you have to speak in front of people."

2.4.4. 4th run

Feedback from this group of players included the following statements:

- One player did not find it productive, does not like discussion, the game was

just a lot of shouting and she could not get her message across.

- One player thinks it develops improvisation and quick thinking which is

positive.

- One player had difficulty keeping a straight face.

- One player found it difficult to find arguments since the role did not fit with

him/her as a person.

- One player experienced complete disconnection with the character, but he/she

felt it was fine, even though the character was not close to home.

- One player thought that the game can reveal your own personality, for example

how you handle problems.

- One player found it very difficult to be neutral.

- One player thought it was more difficult to reach an agreement but it was

educational.

- One player uses larps in history classes.

- One player thought it was new and difficult to play somebody else.

- At first, one of the players thought it did not give him/her anything, then (s)he

realized (s)he had learned how to persuade people. Later on (sh)he realized that

"a trip back in time" would be perfect for American history classes.

- One player found it difficult to be religious and neutral.

- One player pointed out that with the map building, church, school, and prison

were the most important for the community, therefore others might have felt a

bit less important.

- One of the players liked the fact that (s)he was forced to speak as (s)he felt

more comfortable than in another activity that required speaking on the spot.

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What larping is good for according to the players:

- everyday situations

- civic lessons, voting

- children tend to remember more by doing

- it is not usable in all classes (e.g. for kids with ADHD)

- sometimes you have to have more control in the class

- it is a motivating factor

- effective language teaching in terms of vocabulary and real communication

2.4.5. 5th run

This run was very loud, one person was not respecting the safety rules and words. I, as the

Mayor, was tempted to actually stop the game but the player finally reacted when I, still in

character, said that they can be excluded from the meeting and thus will not be able to vote. It

was a very heavy moment for me, though. The player who has used the safety word later said,

during debrief, that she felt uncomfortable but still brave thanks to another player and the

Mayor.

Feedback from this group of players included the following statements:

- One player playing the investor experienced a lot of pressure.

- One player felt (s)he needed more information.

- One player found it very difficult to be neutral.

- One player did not respect the cut and break rule.

- During the game, one of the groups tried to bribe the reverend which was

an interesting and original twist.

- The player playing Rebecca did not get to talk much.

- There was no development regarding the opinions.

- One player was not convinced that this can be used for small children as

(s)he did not like the activity at all.

- One player has seen this type of activity used at a university and thought it

was good for engaging learners.

- One player had problems with the neutral character.

- One player thought it was good for observing people's characters during

the game (e.g. somebody's a natural leader which would manifest itself in

the game).

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What the players felt they have learned through the game included the following:

- learned more about the people rather than the language, but it worked as a nice

team-building activity

- setting people out of their comfort zones can be good

- found out that has limited vocabulary and has problems with modifying his/her

language to suit the role

- when comparing standard teaching and what they have experienced in Fryšták,

experiential learning is inspirational

- could use larps in class

- speaking without preparation without pressure

- discussion

- reasons to listen to other people

Eva (co-author of the game) said the following: "It is a classroom, not real life. But this

brings real life communication to the class."

2.5. General game observations

I, as the NPC or GM, observed during all or most of the runs the following:

- It does not work when the meeting starts right away, the players need a short

"transition phase".

- There usually is a person in every group that likes attention.

- Every run is very different. It also partially depends on what the GM forgets to

mention or stress.

- If the wrong person gets a "wrong" character, it does not work as it should.

- Every character is different depending on who gets to play them. For example the

character of Rebecca was very strong in the first run, and very quiet, almost not

participating in the second run.

- It is crucial to simply listen to the feedback without trying to speak up and explain

the designer choices. It is also very difficult sometimes because you, as the

designer, want to justify the choices you have made.

- It is necessary to have a great Mayor able to improvise since a lot of the game

39

depends on him or her.

- I cannot stress enough how important it is to emphasise the safety words. For the

first time in my larping history I have heard someone use the safety word.

Unfortunately, the other player did not respect it. This is the moment for the Mayor

to come forward and react to the situation. We were able to solve the situation but

I was considering stopping the game altogether for a moment. Safety in larp is

extremely important, even if it is a game that might seem very innoncent at the

first sight. First-time players need to be taught how to play.

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3. gheD

3.1. Introduction to the setting

I wanted to write this larp for a regular classroom. I have contacted Mgr. Bronislav Sobotka as I

knew he was interested in experiential learning and using it quite a lot with his students. I was

hoping he would be willing to let me experiment with his students. He was thrilled and we have

agreed to try it out. I wanted this to be as realistic as possible in order to prove that even a regular

classroom setting is a possible setting for edu-larps.

Mgr. Sobotka provided me with the necessary details such as number of the students, their level

of English, their age etc. We have decided that this was a great opportunity to teach the students

some extracurricular skills. Mgr. Sobotka was concerned with the fact that the students seem to

have an extremely short attention span. With regards to the refugee crisis and to the fact that most

of his students use social media where it is extremely probable to come across misleading and

tendentious content, he felt that this was a problem he wanted to address.

I have decided that I did not want to address the problem directly but rather lead the students to

discovering how media manipulate with information. It was very important to me that my own

opinions and views on the topic will not be visible in the game.

The students will play representatives of 4 different planets in a galaxy. Each planet has its own

language with English being their common language. The players will be informed about this and it

should give them an alibi to speak freely, without the fear of making mistakes. It also justifies

occasional mistakes as English is not the mother tongue of their characters. The aim of the game

(deciding among groups what is going to happen with the galaxy) should be motivating enough to

make the students speak. The genre of the game was therefore sci-fi to make it even more detached

from real-world as possible.

After a careful consideration, I have decided not to write individual characters and individual

relationships among them, but I felt it would be better to divide the players into groups and given

them a common character. That means that the whole group will be representing a group of

inhabitants of a planet. The individual planets (and thus the groups) will have certain relationships

and common history. The players will be divided into 4 groups of 3-4 players, depending on how

many students there will be present.

There were several reasons for this choice. The first is that with inexperienced players, it might

sometimes be troublesome if only one or two players/characters have an important piece of

information that needs to appear during the game. It might put pressure on the particular player and

also the chance that the information will not be presented in the game is fairly high. The other

41

reason was that since I wanted the players to feel as comfortable as possible, I decided it was a good

idea to give them a core group in which they would feel safe. I believe that in this type of a game

where conflict among players is a result the designer is aiming at, it is necessary for the player not

to feel alone.

The students will be divided into two groups in which they will play the game. It is therefore

necessary to engage the other students in a different activity for the duration of the game.

The groups are representatives from four planets who were sent to planet Hope. The planets have

long-lasting conflicts among each other and their own problems as well. The planet Hope offers

them all great conditions for life – at least that's what they say. The task is to find out whether there

are suitable life conditions and decide whether the whole population of the planet will move to

Hope. However, the characters do not know that there are going to be representatives of other

planets as well.

The backstory is quite important for the game as well, although the players do not know exactly

how and what has happened. Disinformation and miscommunication among planets has existed for

a long time. The governing body of the planet Hope decided that they could very easily take

advantage of this. They have made a plan to enslave the inhabitants of the other planets (their

engineers, research teams and also general population) to build spaceships and weapons for them.

However, despite the fact that they were able to build a spaceship that could travel through galaxies,

their technology does not go much further, although they try to hide it in front of the other

representatives.

As for the space, we have decided on using a regular classroom with tables pushed back against

the walls. For more physical discomfort, we have closed the blinds so that there was not enough

light.

Playing style involved high secrecy and space for plotting. The game master‘s style of playing is

active, directly controlling the game, interfering, in control of time management and the information

that gets into the game later on, game master is in role of the highest representative of the planet

Hope. He/she is also available for off-game consultations.

The main goal for the players was in a limited time frame decide what is going to happen, if

somebody is going to stay on the planet Hope and if so, who is staying.

The game consists of one act broken into parts by the game master. The game master gives a

deadline to the players and then delivers breaking news (s. attachment 5) to change the direction of

the game. The breaking news might be true (or might not). They are designed in such way that the

players should doubt them. At least two pieces of news should be distributed among the players (i.e.

the game itself will be divided into three parts). The game master ends the game when the time is up

but does not necessarily have to end it precisely after 40 minutes if he/she sees that there are still

42

things that need to be said or done. The game master should, however, give the players a five

minute notice before ending the game.

As for casting, I have decided to leave the division into groups purely on the students. I felt it

would not do any good if they were not in their social circle among their friends. It was brave

enough of them to trust me as it was so I did not want to stress them out further.

Because of the time limitation there were no pre-game workshops or warm-up exercises. I had

the two groups together for a 40-minute introduction in which we have covered what was going to

happen, they read the character sheets, consulted issues with me and so on. I have also

demonstrated the safety words: cut and break. I stressed out the importance of these several times.

3.2. Instructions for running the game

The first scene of the game starts when the game master ushers the group into the classroom one

by one. The characters believe that they will attend a meeting with the representatives of the planet

Hope and do not know that (however, the players do know as it would be impossible to keep that

away from them and also because it gives them something to play on in the first minutes of the

game). It is a good practice to give the players several minutes. If conflicts start to occur now, it is

perfectly fine.

The game master enters, introduces him- or herself and explains what has happened. The

representatives are now hostages of the planet Hope. Since the technology of the four planets are

not on such high level as the planet Hope's, they cannot get back home. The game master promises

them that if they decide to move the population to Hope there will be no wars, no hunger, but the

citizens will not be treated equally. The game master gives the players a deadline to decide what is

going to happen.

Then the discussion starts. The individual groups talk among each other. In different intervals,

the game master enters the game to interrupt them with the breaking news and to remind the players

of the deadline. In an ideal case scenario, the game master manipulates the players and makes them

feel uncomfortable. The game master needs to watch the game closely in order not to interrupt

important scenes.

Five minutes before the end of the game, the game master reminds the players of the deadline

for the last time. Once the game ends, each group has to say the final verdict. If they decide to stay,

they need to sign the agreement (s. attachment 5) to give them a physical representation of their

actions. According to the outcome, the game master has to alternate the ending so that it makes

sense. In the end, it is good to tell the players the backstory.

As a short debrief the game master will ask two questions: "How do you feel right now" and

"How does your character feel" and will ask the students to provide a single word for each question.

43

They do not have to answer if they do not feel like it.

A longer debrief and feedback session will follow with both of the groups together. It will

enable the students to compare the results of the two runs.

3.3. Reflections on the game

One of the issues I have encountered was the fact that there were two groups of students and

although it was possible to merge most of the pre-game and post-game activities together, it was

necessary to come up with an activity that would keep the not-playing group busy. Frankly, it did

not work out very well as the activity turned out to be confusing for the students. I firstly asked and

verified they understand the concept of hoax and then asked them to design a hoax on their own

while their classmates were playing the larp. I wanted the activity to be connected to the topic but I

should have thought more about it because it only led to confusion.

The first group of students seemed to be cooperating better but the game worked out well for

both groups. Both of the groups were talking, engaged in conversations, trying to come up with

solutions. There were two students in the second group who did not engage in the conversations that

much.

As for the game itself, the two runs were completely different. Despite the fact that I have

designed the game not to have a solution, the first group managed to do so. They were so driven to

solve the issue and return back home that it took me by complete surprise. I then had to change the

backstory a little, creatively and on the spot as I have impulsively decided to let the representatives

go. One planet from the other group has decided to stay. It was very interesting to watch the group

dynamics with this particular group. There were some natural leaders who seemed to make the

decisions for others. The result the group came up with was very complicated and involved some

difficult relations.

The mechanic of communicating information by the news worked very well.

3.4. Feedback during and after the game

An interesting point was that the second group of students tried to uncover real states and real

events behind the planets. I had to stress out twice that although it has been inspired by real events,

there is no such backstory for the game.

During the debrief session, several words were used with the biggest frequency. For the first

group, it was happy (with the result) and confused. For the second group, the most frequently said

words included confused and also neutral.

44

More than a half of the students said that they enjoyed the activity. More than a half were also

confused about the activity. I would not say that being confused was a bad result, on the other hand.

I considered it a success since they were mostly confused about the backstory and what was right or

not. We talked about this aim a little and they seemed to understand that there is not a single

backstory.

Some of the students said that they encountered problems with the names of the planets (that are

taken from Klingon and have actual meanings related to the game) as they were not able to

pronounce them correctly. Others did not mind and said they quite liked it. Two students liked the

idea of the words taken from another (artificial) language.

One of the students said that although (s)he did not like the activity, (s)he would rather do that

than learning any time. That made me think about the fact that the learning aim was not

communicated in advance properly (or at all). The question I then asked myself was whether it is

necessary for the students to know that they have been learning and what. We have, however, talked

about the purpose of the activity as well and most of the students correctly assessed the topic of the

game during the feedback session and linked it to the current refugee crisis. I felt this goal was

successfully met.

As for the language goals, the students were very pleasantly surprised that they spent so much

time talking fluently in English although several pointed out correctly that it did not work for

everybody. They also correctly noted that if somebody did not want to participate, they simply

would not.

45

D. Conclusion

The aims of the thesis as discussed previously were not only to prove that larps are a fully-

fledged teaching activities but also prove that they can be used in a regular classroom or language

course setting. By successfully designing and executing two games with quite a few restrictions and

given parameters (number of students, age, level of English, aims of the course or lesson etc.) I

have proven that larps can be used in various settings and are a medium that is flexible enough to

successfully fulfill the needs of the learners and educators.

The feedback and results of the empirical part clearly show that by using and teaching through

larps, the teacher can easily and naturally introduce students to global and more difficult topics. The

game itself is very important, however, we should not forget about all the elements that surround

the game. In educational games, the debrief and feedback are the most important elements as these

are the parts in which the educator can check whether the aims of the activity were met.

From the feedback, it became clear that this type of activity does not suit every type of learner.

What I found interesting was the fact that most of the time, it was the shyest learners, unsure of

their abilities, who enjoyed the activity the most. I think that this is the true power of larps.

Sometimes, all the students need is an alibi to leave their fears and worries behind to be able to

speak freely.

As for the benefits edu-larps have on language education, it became very obvious that it is an

activity that strives for fluency more than accuracy. I think that this is perfectly fine because often,

especially in a regular classroom or language course setting, accuracy takes precedence over

fluency. The learners seem to think that their language skills are not sufficient to lead a

conversation. Often, their assumptions are not correct. Therefore, providing them with an alibi to

speak (and, as the feedback suggests, making them forget all about their imperfect grammar and

insufficient vocabulary) and bringing real conversation to the classroom can be very beneficial.

A great attention must be paid not only to the way the game is written but also to the way it is

executed. First-time larpers and not voluntary larpers require more attention and more consideration

from the side of the teacher or game master. Safety is absolutely crucial. In order to cooperate with

the teacher and with the rest of the group, the players need to trust both the teacher and the group.

Writing and running a larp is a time- and energy-consuming activity but the benefits clearly

outweigh the downsides. I would like to strongly encourage teachers to start incorporating larps into

their everyday teaching. Learning by doing, learning by experience and by reflecting upon the

experience are the basics of experiential learning. Researchers have already concluded it works for

the students but it is also true for the teacher. Using larps as an educational method gives the teacher

46

a whole new perspective on their subject matter and also on their approach towards teaching thus

making it beneficial for the teacher as well, worth the time and effort.

47

Attachments

Attachment 1: Into the Badlands, Worksheet for players

The following description is from Seekers Unlimited, a nonprofit

organization that designs edu-larp experiences for students:

"Educational Larp (edu-larp) is a form of spontaneous, co-creative, active

learning. Edu-larp utilizes interactive experiences embedded within

conceptual narratives that inspire students to enjoy and retain their

lessons. The unique experience of role-playing enhances student

engagement, social skills, interest, and mastery of scholastic subject

matter.

The urge to enact narratives in a group setting is a natural expression of

human culture, an essential part of ritual activity cross-culturally. Tribal

cultures across the world enact participatory stories for pedagogical

purposes within a group setting, often containing mythological or

otherwise epic content. Therefore, these recent permutations of

interactive storytelling emerging in the twentieth century are best viewed

on a continuum of role-taking activities inherent to human social

behavior."5

After playing an educational larp (a live action role-playing game), what

are my first impressions/feelings? How do I feel about it?

What is a larp in my own words:

5 http://educade.org/teaching_tools/educational-live-action-role-play-edu-larp

48

Can I see myself using a larp in my classroom? Why?

Many things can be taught and learned through an edu-larp. What

other things, apart from English, could my students learn (e.g. social

skills)?

Larps:

- enable students to experience subjects instead of just reading about

them (learning by doing)

- teach students collaborative problem solving

- give the students the opportunity to experience the consequences of

their choice without being afraid of personal failure

Do I see any other benefits?

49

Attachment 2: Into the Badlands, Character sheets

Name and sex

Occupation

Age

Main personality trait

Relationship to the railroad

Thomas, male

Farmer

27

Hot-tempered

Negative. You're afraid that you will lose your land due

to the building to the railroad. You're secretly in love

with Daisy the teacher and if your ranch goes bankrupt

you won't have anything to offer to her.

Name and sex

Occupation

Age

Main personality trait

Relationship to the railroad

Cooper, male

Shopkeeper

55

Tight-fisted

Negative. You're afraid of the competition of other

businessmen that might come with the railroad.

Name and sex

Occupation

Age

Main personality trait

Relationship to the railroad

Billy, male

Saloon owner

31

Heavy drinker

Positive. The railroad will bring a cheaper whisky. A little

competition will do Cooper the shopkeeper good.

Name and sex

Occupation

Age

Main personality trait

Relationship to the railroad

Benjamin, male

Sheriff

42

Rational

Negative. The railroad will bring more outlaws to Cactus

Spine. You're old and might not be able to handle that.

Name and sex

Occupation

Age

Main personality trait

Relationship to the railroad

Hank, male

Huntsman

28

Honest

50

Negative. The railroad will destroy the wildlife. You

loathe Travis the investor since his business changed the

face of the city and land forever.

Name and sex

Occupation

Age

Main personality trait

Relationship to the railroad

Daisy, female

Teacher

21

Patient

Positive. History that you like to teach the most tells you

that you can't stop the development of the world, can

you?

Name and sex

Occupation

Age

Main personality trait

Relationship to the railroad

Sam, male

Doctor

57

Bossy

Positive. The railroad will allow people to have easier

access to medical care in the city.

Name and sex

Occupation

Age

Main personality trait

Relationship to the railroad

Frances, female

Cowgirl

26

Impulsive

Negative. There are special wagons to transport animals

as well and you're afraid that you'll lose your job due to

the railroad.

Name and sex

Occupation

Age

Main personality trait

Relationship to the railroad

Travis, male

Investor

36

Sly

Positive. The railroad will attract more people and you

might be finally able to built the hotel that you've been

dreaming of for at least ten years. You'd like the people

in the city to believe that you're on their side and that it

is not just money that matters to you though.

Name and sex

Occupation

Age

Main personality trait

Andrew, male

Reverend

49

Emotional

51

Relationship to the railroad Neutral. All you wish is that people would stop arguing.

Some of them should go to the church more often.

Name and sex

Occupation

Age

Main personality trait

Relationship to the railroad

Rebecca, female

Cafe owner

53

Schemer

Positive. You hope that the railroad will bring more

customers. Otherwise you might be forced to close your

cafe and you'll do whaterver it takes to prevent that

from happening.

Name and sex

Occupation

Age

Main personality trait

Relationship to the railroad

Jasper, male

Barber

34

Sarcastic

Neutral. You simply don't care about the railroad, things

will happen whether you want them to happen or not.

You have the same attitude towards the church and

Andrew the Reverend, which annoys him greatly (and

amuses you greatly).

52

Attachment 3: gheD, Character sheets

Qom

Hello and welcome to the planet toy'wI'‘a‘. Since your home language will not

allow you to pronounce the name correctly, you may call the planet Hope. The

common intergalactic language is English, therefore we would like to ask you

to keep using English even when talking among your group (purely for safety

reasons).

You are a group of delegates from planet Qom. Your task is to decide whether

the population of your planet will move to the planet Hope or not.

Historical background:

There are four inhabited planets in your galaxy: Qom, raQ, jonwI‘ and ghung.

Not so long ago, you were the richest of them. You helped the planet raQ with

financing a military research they were leading on a small moon orbiting

around jonwI‘. Your planet military leaders were very interested in the

research. However, for some reason jonwI‘ wasn't very happy with raQ's

research. The two planets found themselves in a war. You had no other choice

but stop funding raQ completely. You're in a cold war with jonwI‘.

Before the war, you hired the best of the best engineers from ghung. You don't

have any exact numbers, but supposedly there were thousands of ghung

citizens living on your planet, usually with their families. The future looked

bright.

raQ was supplying ghung with a rare cactus plant that is the most important

part of ghung citizens‘ diet because the fields on ghung were no longer able to

fulfill the demand. Because of the war, the production went down sharply.

ghung citizens are close to starvation.

Then, out of nowhere, a horrible earthquake struck your planet. Your radars

did not alert you. The damages were massive and you found yourselves

economically paralysed. You could no longer support ghung citizens and their

families. You started organizing transports of ghung citizens back to their

53

planet. Of course, the ships you are sending are not luxurious, but you really

can't afford to spend more money on the transports.

Your relationships to other planets in your galaxy:

raQ is not in a very good situation due to the war with jonwI‘. However, you're

glad that you don't have to financially support them anymore. In case the

conflict would escalate, you would take their side.

You're in a cold war with jonwI‘. If they decided to start an open conflict with

you, you wouldn't last long. They probably don't know that so it is improbable,

although not impossible.

You sympathize with ghung and its citizens, but you have to take care of

yourself in the first place. You're trying hard to solve the situation as soon and

as painlessly (and at the lowest cost) as possible.

Current situation:

Recently, the representatives from planet Hope have contacted you regarding a

solution for your unfortunate situation. They have offered the possibility to

host your entire population in exchange for work. They have sent you different

materials and it all looked good.

You, as the highest representatives of your home planet, agreed to come for a

visit. Your technology does not enable you to travel intergalactically. Hope has

sent a ship for you and promised to take you back home safely.

You expect this to be an easy and friendly meeting. The journey to Hope was

fast and smooth and so should be the rest of the meeting.

54

raQ

Hello and welcome to the planet toy'wI'‘a‘. Since your home language will not

allow you to pronounce the name correctly, you may call the planet Hope. The

common intergalactic language is English, therefore we would like to ask you

to keep using English even when talking among your group (purely for safety

reasons).

You are a group of delegates from planet raQ. Your task is to decide whether

the population of your planet will move to the planet Hope or not.

Historical background:

There are four inhabited planets in your galaxy: Qom, raQ, jonwI‘ and ghung.

Several years ago, you agreed with jonwI‘ that you will conduct research on

their orbiting moon. They were happy to let you use it. It wasn't cheap and in

the end you paid them a lot of money, but it was still worth it. Especially

because Qom was supporting you financially in exchange for the research

results. However, jonwI‘ somehow found out that the research was not purely

scientific, but could be in fact used in the military. They felt threatened and

deceived. They objected and wanted you to leave their moon immediately. You

felt deceived as well, after all, they agreed with the research. The conflict then

led to a war. You have been at war with jonwI‘ for several years now.

Before the war, you were supplying ghung with a rare cactus plant that is the

most important part of ghung citizens‘ diet because the fields on ghung were

no longer able to fulfill the demand. Because of the war, the production went

down sharply. ghung citizens are close to starvation. You feel sorry, but there is

nothing you can do.

Then, out of a sudden, a horrible earthquake struck Qom. The damages were

massive and Qom is not doing very well right now. There were some ghung

citizens living on Qom. Qom is now sending them back home.

Your relationships to other planets in your galaxy:

55

Your relationship to jonwI‘ is fairly clear: it is not positive! They let you use

their moon, then, after you paid all those money, they said you can't use their

moon anymore and then they attacked you without any reason.

You feel sorry for ghung citizens, but there is not much you can do for them.

From time to time, you send them some humanitarian aid, but that's all you can

do.

As for Qom, you used to be close friends, but now they're not doing so well

anymore. They can't do anything for you and you can't do anything for them.

Does it mean your friendship is over?

Current situation:

Recently, the representatives from planet Hope have contacted you regarding a

solution for your unfortunate situation. They have offered the possibility to

host your entire population in exchange for work. They have sent you different

materials and it all looked good.

You, as the highest representatives of your home planet, agreed to come for a

visit. Your technology does not enable you to travel intergalactically. Hope has

sent a ship for you and promised to take you back home safely.

You expect this to be an easy and friendly meeting. The journey to Hope was

fast and smooth and so should be the rest of the meeting.

56

jonwI‘

Hello and welcome to the planet toy'wI'‘a‘. Since your home language will not

allow you to pronounce the name correctly, you may call the planet Hope. The

common intergalactic language is English, therefore we would like to ask you

to keep using English even when talking among your group (purely for safety

reasons).

You are a group of delegates from planet jonwI‘. Your task is to decide whether

the population of your planet will move to the planet Hope or not.

Historical background:

There are four inhabited planets in your galaxy: Qom, raQ, jonwI‘ and ghung.

Several years ago, you agreed with raQ that they will conduct research on your

orbiting moon that you weren't using. You were happy to let them use it,

mainly because they paid you a lot of money. However, you somehow found

out that the research was not purely scientific as they said but had an extensive

military use. You felt deceived and also very threatened. Who knows why are

they working on it and what they plans are. You wanted them to leave your

moon immediately. They refused. Gradually, the conflict led to a war. You have

been at war with raQ for several years now.

The research was funded by Qom. You have decided not to attack Qom because

they were the most powerful planet in your galaxy. However, you're in a cold

war with them, not doing any business.

Recently, there was an earthquake on Qom. They seem paralysed, but you have

no idea how strong and powerful they still might be. You don't want to go into

an open conflict with them. There were some ghung citizens living on Qom.

Qom is now sending them back home.

Because of the war, raQ is no longer able to supply ghung with food. ghung

citizens are close to starvation. You feel sorry, but there is nothing you can do.

Your relationships to other planets in your galaxy:

57

Your relationship to raQ is fairly clear: it is not positive! You let them use their

moon in good faith and then found out they're conducting a military research

there and who knows what their next plans were! You couldn't keep it that

way and as a result, you found yourselves in a war with raQ.

As a consequence, you found yourselves in a cold war with Qom. You're quite

unsure what to expect from them. They have serious problems now, but you

have no idea what they are capable of. You are even suspicious that in fact

there was no earthquake, but Qom faked it.

The situation with ghung is really sad, but there's nothing you can do. Or is

there?

Current situation:

Recently, the representatives from planet Hope have contacted you regarding a

solution for your unfortunate situation. They have offered the possibility to

host your entire population in exchange for work. They have sent you different

materials and it all looked good.

You, as the highest representatives of your home planet, agreed to come for a

visit. Your technology does not enable you to travel intergalactically. Hope has

sent a ship for you and promised to take you back home safely.

You expect this to be an easy and friendly meeting. The journey to Hope was

fast and smooth and so should be the rest of the meeting.

58

ghung

Hello and welcome to the planet toy'wI'‘a‘. Since your home language will not

allow you to pronounce the name correctly, you may call the planet Hope. The

common intergalactic language is English, therefore we would like to ask you

to keep using English even when talking among your group (purely for safety

reasons).

You are a group of delegates from planet ghung. Your task is to decide whether

the population of your planet will move to the planet Hope or not.

Historical background:

There are four inhabited planets in your galaxy: Qom, raQ, jonwI‘ and ghung.

The planet raQ was conducting a research on a small moon orbiting around

jonwI‘. Qom was helping them finance it. For some reason jonwI‘ wasn't very

happy with raQ's research. As a result, the two planets found themselves in a

war. jonwI‘ and Qom are in a cold war.

Qom used to be the most powerful planet in the galaxy. They hired the best of

the best engineers from your planet. There were thousands of ghung citizens

living on Qom, usually with their families.

Then, out of nowhere, a horrible earthquake struck Qom. The damages were

massive and they found themselves economically paralysed. They did not need

your engineers anymore and, against their will, they started organizing

transports back to ghung. Many of your citizens have suffered during these

transports. There is not enough water or food for the long journey, and the

starships are overcrowded. It is a miracle none of the ships hasn't crashed yet.

Since the fields on your planet were no longer able to fulfill the demand, raQ

was supplying you with a rare cactus plant that is the most important part of

your diet. Because of the war, the production went down sharply. As a result,

you are close to starvation. Your planet is not able to support the people living

there, leave alone thousands of people that were living on Qom and are now

59

transported back. The only thing you can do is protest, but Qom does not seem

to be very interested.

Your relationships to other planets in your galaxy:

Because of raQ (and also jonwI‘) your nation is slowly starving to death. You

once had the best-educated engineers in the whole galaxy, but they still

weren't able to solve the problem with supply.

Qom is transporting your citizens back to your planet against their will. The

transports are horrible and what awaits them at home is even worse.

You could have been a technology empire, but you're not, because of others.

Your citizens are slowly starving to death and there is no other place to go.

Current situation:

Recently, the representatives from planet Hope have contacted you regarding a

solution for your unfortunate situation. They have offered the possibility to

host your entire population in exchange for work. They have sent you different

materials and it all looked good.

You, as the highest representatives of your home planet, agreed to come for a

visit. Your technology does not enable you to travel intergalactically. Hope has

sent a ship for you and promised to take you back home safely.

You expect this to be an easy and friendly meeting. The journey to Hope was

fast and smooth and so should be the rest of the meeting.

60

Attachment 4: gheD, Breaking news

!!Intergalactica breaking news!!

Hundreds, potentionally thousands of dead on planet ghung! Hunger has its first victims. How long will it take?

How many dead will it take for ghung engineers to start caring? Do they actually want to help the planet, or are

they just ruthless?

Intergalactica newspaper will keep a close eye on the actions taken by the ghung government! Follow us on

Intergalactic Facebook to have all the information the soonest you can!

!!Intergalactica breaking news!!

The editorial department of our newspaper has just received shocking information! The earthquake on Qom

was faked by Qom government!

But why would they do it? Do they want to attack and take over other planets? The only answer we got from

Qom government is "no comment". That does not sound very reassuring, now does it?

More information soon to follow!

!!Intergalactica breaking news!!

A technology to take control over your brain! Does that sound like sci-fi to you? Not anymore. A reliable source

has just told us that raQ army has developed such technology and are already using it! Can your brain be

hacked? We don't know.

Stay with us for more information!

61

Attachment 5: gheD, Agreements to be signed

We, the representatives of planet Qom hereby confirm with our signatures that we voluntarily and

without any pressure from toy'wI'‘a‘ representatives agree with the following:

1) The citizens of the planet Qom will move to toy'wI'‘a‘. The moving will happen in several

phases.

2) The citizens of Qom will become second-class citizens of toy'wI'‘a‘.

3) toy'wI'‘a‘ guarantees that the citizens of Qom will be treated the same way toy'wI'‘a‘ citizens

are.

We, the representatives of planet raQ hereby confirm with our signatures that we voluntarily and

without any pressure from toy'wI'‘a‘ representatives agree with the following:

1) The citizens of the planet raQ will move to toy'wI'‘a‘. The moving will happen in several

phases.

2) The citizens of raQ will become second-class citizens of toy'wI'‘a‘.

3) toy'wI'‘a‘ guarantees that the citizens of raQ will be treated the same way toy'wI'‘a‘ citizens

are.

We, the representatives of planet jonwI‘ hereby confirm with our signatures that we voluntarily and

without any pressure from toy'wI'‘a‘ representatives agree with the following:

1) The citizens of the planet jonwI‘ will move to toy'wI'‘a‘. The moving will happen in several

phases.

2) The citizens of jonwI‘ will become second-class citizens of toy'wI'‘a‘.

3) toy'wI'‘a‘ guarantees that the citizens of jonwI‘ will be treated the same way toy'wI'‘a‘ citizens

are.

We, the representatives of planet ghung hereby confirm with our signatures that we voluntarily and

without any pressure from toy'wI'‘a‘ representatives agree with the following:

1) The citizens of the planet ghung will move to toy'wI'‘a‘. The moving will happen in several

phases.

2) The citizens of ghung will become second-class citizens of toy'wI'‘a‘.

3) toy'wI'‘a‘ guarantees that the citizens of ghung will be treated the same way toy'wI'‘a‘ citizens

are.

62

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