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The Human World • 2017 rpg finalist

Clio Yun-su Davis • http://www.cysdavis.com/

For five people, played inside a shopping mall. 

Humans died out a century ago – all except one child put in cryosleep. Now that child has awoken and is in the care of androids programmed by the deceased parents to teach their child about the world in their absence.

Time has taken its toll on the androids. They’ve malfunctioned and view the world in extremes. The androids are:

A, who was meant to critique and analyze art, but now sees everything they encounter as art.

D, who was meant to see the influence of the divine in everything, but now believes the divine created every single thing for very specific reasons.

S, who was meant to encourage an appreciation of science, but now thinks every experience is a psychological experiment.

N, who was meant to balance the others out with healthy skepticism, but is now a nihilist who believes nothing has meaning.

The mall exists in virtual reality. The Child approaches a store or object and the androids must argue their case for why it fits their worldview. The Child awards a point to whoever is the most convincing. The android to be awarded seven points first wins.

Author Comments

This game can be adapted for different locations and experiences - a museum, wandering around a city, or a road trip if you’re going to be driving past tourist traps.

Judge Comments

I’m a fan of LARPs that require you to go out into the real world and interact with things. The way you transform the environment of a real-world shopping mall into your play space to tell the story of a group of broken androids and the human child they are trying to teach is really fascinating. - Jason Cordova


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