The transformative potential of immersive experiences within role-playing communities

The transformative potential of immersive experiences within role-playing communities

The transformative potential of immersive experiences within role-playing communities

Sarah Lynne Bowman & Josephine Baird

Abstract

"Analog role-playing games provide an avenue for players to explore a diversity of experiences and self-concepts by playing out new roles in a co-created fictional reality. This article provides a theoretical framework for this process, discussing the nature of consensus reality as a force that can suppress forms of identity expression that individuals find authentic. We discuss how live action role-playing (larp) and tabletop games can provide transformational containers, where individuals can explore new ways of being, relating, and enacting beliefs through the experience of increased agency. As an example, we discuss our larp, Euphoria, which was designed as a role-playing game environment reflecting queer performance spaces within which participants can express gender and sexual identities that feel more authentic."

Reference

Bowman, S. L., & Baird, J. (2022). The Transformative Potential of Immersive Experiences Within Role-playing Communities. Revista de Estudos Universitários-REU, 48. https://periodicos.uniso.br/reu/article/view/5028

Keywords

role-playing games, consensus reality, collective consciousness