LARP Resources

I'm frequently asked about where people can find good LARPs to run, and other LARP resources.

LARPs by authors I know, with LARPs I've enjoyed

I know and trust the quality of these LARP designers and authors. I've played a lot of their games.

The LARP Library

The New England Interactive Literature (NEIL) LARP Library contains a nice set of free LARPs. Some of these are games that won or were the result of the NEIL LARP Writing Competitions. I've played and enjoyed several of these LARPs, written by some of the best game authors in the greater Intercon community. I've co-written a couple. There's a lot of good games in here, to read, study, and run.

AE Games

Many of my friends in the Intercon community have written wonderful LARPs under the Alleged Entertainment banner. I've played and loved many of these games. There are some really clever and innovative ideas in several of these LARPs, which I've studied and adapted for some of my own games. I loved Resonance and Spring River. Time Travel Review Board and the 10 Bad LARPs series are well known, loved, and often run classics in our LARP communities.

Freeform Games

My friends Steve and Mo run Freeform Games, with a long list of murder mystery LARPs and more for sale. I've played in several other of their games in the past, and had a great time with them. These murder mysteries are designed to introduce new players into LARP. As of May, 2023, I've played in and loved four of Steve's Fermi Paradox LARPs, the first of which, The Roswell Incident, is available on their site.

Interactivities Ink

My friend Mike Young ("Hi Mike!") runs Interactivities Ink, which contains a long list of LARPs you can download for free. I've played and loved many of these LARPs. Check out K300, Plan Eight From Outer Space, the PRAWN trilogy (LARPs in a pool!), and The Final Voyage of the Mary Celeste (by my friend Jim McDougal).

Additionally, there are some things worth noting on his Things For Sale page:

FYI: Snugglebunny Ring Wraiths was actually written in negative five minutes! Mike's special that way!

Paracelsus Games

Paracelsus Games represents some of the work of Kristen and Warren. Their games are always in demand, and always fill very quickly whenever they run them at a convention. Ars Longa, Debrief, and Drink Me are great examples of small, intimate games that can get very intense. The Dance and the Dawn has run many times, with great reviews.

Peaky

Peaky is a regular weekend writing gathering in the UK. Some amazing authors write incredible LARPs at these events, and I've played many of their games. Burning Orchid is one of my all-time most intense and emotional LARPs I've ever played, because of the great material and the people I was playing with. I also had a great time running it for friends. I helped write Culture Crash as part of a Peaky weekend. These games are not free, but they are well worth the cost, which supports future Peaky weekends and more great LARPs.

Peaky Midwest

Peaky Midwest is a Peaky spinoff usually run in the Chicago area. More amazing authors write great LARPs at these events. I've played a significant fraction of these LARPs, and they include many favorites. News of the Apocalypse, Dungeon Owners Association, Better Living Through Robotics, Critical Path, and A Turn on the Radiance Rose are just a few of the Peaky Midwest gamed that were great fun for me. Grandma's Resting Place had six of us in tears in an emotionally intense LARP. I helped write Quest for Knowledge at a Peaky Midwest. Some of these LARPs are free. Those that aren't help support future Peaky Midwest weekends and more brilliant LARPs.

Large collections of LARPs by other authors

These are other LARPs I haven't investigated, so I can't vouch for their quality. Many of these LARPs are free to download.

Alexandria.dk

The Alexandria.dk website contains an incredible collection of LARPs, along with a large list of conventions. While this covers a lot more than LARP, the list of LARP scenarios is amazingly long. There are many LARPs available for download, including a couple of mine.

Golden Cobra

The Golden Cobra Challenge is an annual competition to write short, interesting LARPs, using a small set of ingredients. While these are compact, they are often very intense. Their Interactive Archive contains several hundred Golden Cobra LARPs. Their more static archive identifies the annual contest winners. There are a few familiar authors in the list. The Space Between Us (2020) was absolutely amazing when I played it virtually, in an international run by the author.

Interactive Dramas

Brian David Phillips has been around LARP a very long time. Brian is a well-respected academic (about LARP) who uses LARP in education, and to teach English in Taiwan. He hosts the Interactive Dramas website, which contains a list of downloadable scenarios. This site contains a lot more about LARP, which I clearly need to investigate further.

Itch.io

Itch.io contains a large selection of games for sale. If you use the LARP tag, you can find a long list of LARPs, LARP-like games, LARP artifacts, and more.

Labcats.org

The Labcats LARP Wiki website contains a nice collection of LARPs, along with a list of the sites that the information was extracted from. I recognize a lot of familiar authors on the lists, along with many more authors and LARPs I need to check out.

RPG.net

The RPG.net wiki contains a long list of LARPs. I recognize a few familiar authors on the lists, and some games I've played. This page is nicely grouped in terms of how many players are needed, and contains some larger games.

Stockholm Scenario Festival

The Archive of the Stockholm Scenario Festival provides a summary of the LARPs that ran at previous Festivals. Some of the individual entries have links where you can download specific LARPs.

Smaller collections of LARPs by other authors

More LARPs I haven't investigated, so I can't vouch for their quality.

Chamber Games

The Chamber Games website contains a small collection of LARPs written by Scandinavian authors. These games were written in 2007-2012.

Jeepform Games

The Jeepform Games website contains a collection of Jeepform LARPs written by Scandinavian authors. Jeepform is one of the creative flavors of LARP, with some fascinating mechanics to assist in telling the story.

Queer LARP Jam

My friend Olivia organized the Queer LARP Jam, which contain a small collection of LARPs written about the queer experience. There's talk about a queer LARP convention, which I'd love to attend.

Social Distancing LARP Jams

My friend Olivia organized the Social Distancing LARP Jam and Social Distancing LARP Jam 2, which contain a collection of small LARPs designed to play virtually. I love being able to LARP with friends who are too far apart to get together in person.

Vermillion Games

The Vermillion Games list of Parlor LARPs has a small collection of LARPs from 2005-2006.

How you can help!

I know there are a lot of other sites out there, so please send me a description and a pointer so I can check it out. (NOTE: I do not use or link to Facebrick pages. Facebrick is a cybersecurity and privacy nightmare.)