LARPing the Cold War

September 14, 2016 12:55 PM

I would love to play an Alternate Reality Game based on cold war spying that involved missions, spycraft, and participants wearing cool suits from the 1960s and tracking each other at a mall or performing dead drops or something like that. How could I make this happen?

I mean, I guess I could read a lot of Jane McGonigal, but beyond that I'm not sure where to start. I'm trying to make it friendly for older (I am fifty) players, perhaps, and not so much based on shooting each other with Nerf weaponry. Ideally, the game could take place at a mall and not attract the attention of security, or involve running.

Apologies if this is somewhat nebulous. Maybe there could be teams, missions, and a traitor component.

posted by mecran01 to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (11 answers total)

Talk to The Whelk, he seems to be pretty deep into it already.
posted by wenestvedt at 1:02 PM on September 14, 2016 [1 favorite]

Look up "megagames." It's a concept that's becoming pretty popular, and doing it at a mall would be a nice twist.

Happy to refer you to some of the people doing it in the US who would probably be happy to trade ideas, even if they're not in your area.
posted by michaelh at 1:11 PM on September 14, 2016 [1 favorite]

Making dead drops at the mall wearing a suit seems like a good way to spend some time with law enforcement.
posted by bongo_x at 1:20 PM on September 14, 2016 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Making dead drops at the mall wearing a suit seems like a good way to spend some time with law enforcement.

I would prefer that discretion be embedded in the DNA of the game, but I guess it could be a problem.

Somewhat related, and interesting: The Dead Drop Manifesto
posted by mecran01 at 2:02 PM on September 14, 2016

I myself am tempted to run a LARP where every participant is given a card saying :

"You are a spy for Country X. There is one person at this diplomatic affair who is a spy for Country Y, you must find and neutralize them. Z is the only person that you can trust. Protect them at all costs. "
posted by happyroach at 2:06 PM on September 14, 2016 [4 favorites]

Response by poster: Here is one link to Megagames, which appears to be based in the UK. Very tasty, thank you.

An organization with more of a North American focus.

I LOVE this stuff. It reminds me of the scenario planning done by GBN.
posted by mecran01 at 2:09 PM on September 14, 2016

Response by poster: How to leave a dead drop.
posted by mecran01 at 2:11 PM on September 14, 2016

It's mentioned in the dead drop link, but you might also enjoy geocaching!
posted by The otter lady at 2:35 PM on September 14, 2016 [3 favorites]

Ludocity is a wiki for "pervasive games" — that is, games that take place on a (spatially) large scale within public places. You might find some interesting stuff there.

As an example, maybe you'd be interested in Lose the Tail?
posted by a mirror and an encyclopedia at 2:37 PM on September 14, 2016 [1 favorite]

A bunch of my friends did The Last Defender when it was running. They had an incredible time. Most of us have also participated in megagames run by one of the societies you linked, and I can probably get you more resources if you Memail me.
posted by spelunkingplato at 4:15 PM on September 14, 2016 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: A recent article in Ars Technica on Megagames.
posted by mecran01 at 7:43 AM on September 19, 2016