Shapeshifter Problems
A downloadable LARP
This is a digital/online LARP (Live Action Role-Playing) game about those middle-of-the-night moments when you hop into a call or a chat with a friend who’s going through a lot. Offer advice, provide distractions, be a listening ear, sneak into side chats to detangle details that confuse you, and generally try to be there for your friend (even when you’re not sure if you’ll be much help). Explore the awkwardness, tenderness, resentment, care, and many other assorted expressed and suppressed emotions of a friend group of characters who are doing their best in the face of mundane and supernatural stressors.
This LARP was originally written as part of the 2022 Golden Cobra Challenge, and can also be found on the Golden Cobra site here. I drew on the Golden Cobra competition ingredients of Reflection and Midnight, as well as my own and friends' experiences of supporting each other via late night conversations about gender, relationships, and mental health.
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I ran this again a little while ago and it's still a wonderful time. We almost played in real time, but we ran an hour late for an hour-long game, so anyone attempting that needs either an organized group that can get all the prep done in advanced, or like an hour window for set up.
I repeated the multiple shifter types modification. The game wound up really silly and surreal instead of dramatic, but it was fun for the players involved. This time around we managed a scattered start, simulating adding characters to the chat and sending various attachments-- although I did still prep and share a whole bunch of tiger memes for the weretiger main shifter. The falling asleep distraction I played out was fully method.
We are planning to play the cast on a camping trip using another Indie favorite of mine, Campfire Memories. If I run this game a third time, I will actually attempt getting a side chat mechanic set up.
I ran this the other day and quite liked it! While my session diverged from the game as written (we all played shapeshifters of some kind, everyone started messaging at once, I played Animal Crossing on my Switch instead of a computer game, sidechats just didn't happen) it was pretty enjoyable. The hour time frame and the layered character choices worked really well. Plus I had a good excuse to share a bunch of cute seal memes!
That's very cool, thanks so much for sharing how your game went! It's interesting and helpful to hear how different sessions approach/engage with the LARP in different ways. Being an all-shapeshifter friend group definitely makes sense to me as one way to approach the game even if it's not strictly as written. I'm also glad the time format in particular worked well, that's one of the elements that's in there specifically because of the suggested theme list from the Golden Cobra Challenge.
Haven't played yet, but I really like all the roles/traits/distractions. They're very well thought-out and true to life. Hope I get to play this with friends at some point!
Thanks so much! If you get a chance to play it, I’d love to hear how it goes/anything that stands out to you from the gameplay process. The distractions in particular were largely pulled from things I’ve personally done at the same time as messaging with friends.