From a lecture on designing better political games for the Larp Conference KOLA 2015 in Katowice, Poland.

1. Emotions
on the
chessboard
Designing a better political game
by Paweł Jasiński

2. Identifing the problem
● A Stale and tired formula
● Locked in time and place
● Lack of direction
● Not enough tension and suspense
● Problems with scale
● Dry and unappealing characters

3. On the shoulders of giants
Keynote:
Presented ideas or techniques might not be new;
or they might not be a new addition to political
games;
but it is important to use them knowingly.

4. Breaking with unity
● Different locations
● Time jumps
o flash forwards
o flashbacks
● Cut scenes
● Focus scenes
o managing spotlight
o monologues
o commentary
● Scene structure
o changing scenes
drama is life with the boring bits cut out

5. Structure of the story
● Linear storytelling
o Act structure - escalating the conflict
o Scripted events
o Fate play
● Branching storytelling
o Player choice
o Pivot points
● Marble storytelling

6. The beginning
● Flying start (in media res)
o players in action poses
o scripted scenes
● Slow start
o eg. dinner, formal introduction, opening speech
● Planning the beginning of each act

7. The ending
● Ending event
o expected or unexpected
o pre-planned or based on in-game decisions
o a single event or full epilogue
● Slow ending
o Time to wrap things up
o Cool down

8. Dealing with scale
● Providing the background
o the event team - players willing to play episodic roles
o players swapping between NPC and PC roles
● A setting of isolation and detachment
● Board game mechanics
● Scaling down

9. Adding perspective
● Adding a narrator or outside commentary
o emulating mass-media
● Participating audience in a political larp
o emulating the electorate
● Showing cause and effect
o two linked larps on different power levels

10. Reinventing the characters
● Proper character:
o confrontational (gamist)
o believable (simulationist)
o with dramatic potential (dramatist)
● Pragmatism is overrated. Emphasise:
o Morality
o Emotions
o Different POVs (including personal bias)

11. ● Fleshing out characters using cultural
references
A Song of Ice and Fire:
an example how calculated intrigue is interwoven
with pettiness, vice and lack of judgement.
Iconic characters

12. Playing to lose
● Redefining winning
o setting characters’ priorities
● Enforcing failure with game mechanics
o failure triggered by fate play
● The joy of failure
o rewarding failure with advancing the story
● Assymetry ≠ imbalance
it was worse than a crime; it was a blunder

13. Reinventing interaction
● Red telephone
o communication bottleneck, indirect communication
● Pass the message
o corruption of communication, information noise
● Fog of war
o obfuscating the actions of others; decisionmaking
based on limited information

14. Reinventing interaction (cont.)
● Internet wall
o bulletin board communication; global
announcements
● Retconning
o filling in blanks and fleshing out roughly sketched
relations
● Liquor on the table
o discreet cues to intensify play

15. Reinventing interaction (cont.)
● Two-faced politicians
o using masks as props
● Shadows
o attaching players (in-game or meta-game) as
“advisors” to other characters

16. Mechanics of interaction
● Non-violent conflict resolution
o domination - Ars Ordo
● Establishing hierarchy
o contest
o vote
o bid for areas of influence
● Purchasing favors
o social currency
o triggering fate (fate play)

17. Crossing genres
● Action
o simulated violence
o physical challenges
● Mystery
o puzzle or riddle solving
o piecing together the clues
o skill challenges
● Horror
o power exchange

18. Working with the players
● Co-creation
● Workshops
● Prologue
● Black box (meta-room)

19. Good luck with your game,
and remember:
Think outside the box!