Nordic larpers rock

Sure, sometimes they overhype things. They twist the meaning of words like “alibi”. They say “fucking amazing” when any reasonable person would say “great”. They take a full page to describe a “game” that is actually just an improv exercise that could be summarized in one sentence. By the time you’ve understood what their last great theory was, they’ve already declared it obsolete and come up with another one. They seem like arrogant hipsters who are so rich and healthy and happy and bored in their real lives that they need games where experiencing sadness, HIV, pain and oppression are the main goals. And their latest pet peeve about it is not that it’s a dangerous or sick thing to do, but that it’s selfish and ignores the other participants’ enjoyment of the game.

But.

They sometimes do really awesome stuff.

Like organizing a larp summer school in Belarus.

Like organizing a very political visit in Israel and Palestine and then a game designed so that Norwegians and Palestinians can larp together.

And they are really, really good at communicating their stuff to the rest of the world.

They speak English. Their presentations are lively. Their slides look good, their books look good and their magazines even feel nice to the touch.

And the world is starting to listen: American larp scholars, journalists and game designers have been taking the road to Damascus.

But beyond this small minority of reverse pilgrims, yesterday the fantastic Nordic Larp coffee table book got the Diana Jones award.

Sure, GenCon may seem trivial in the same post as the occupied territories. But it shows that all the work and talent put into documenting games and communicating ideas and real-life projects in English is paying off.

That even a large hobby gaming culture mostly known for is competitiveness and number crunching is appreciating the change and the contributions that Nordic larpers have brought to the world.

So a big thank you to all Nordic larpers, a happy birthday to Petter Karlsson who wrote the top two linked articles, and long live the larper internationale!