These are the games originally selected for the '24 run of BOX. We've kept them here to give a sense of how future pitches could be formatted, but welcome ideas which are totally unrelated.
Bones of my Bones,
Flesh of my Flesh
Organised by Wrenna Robson
Family, grief, memory
7-10 players
How does a family change over time? What does it mean when people you love leave you? What happens when you run out of words to say to them? Is absence simply another form of presence?
This larp follows one extended family over several years of their life, as they experience ageing, maturation, growth, love, loss, and tragedy. During each family reunion scene, present family members will try to find ways to communicate through the barriers of time and diverging experience, while absent family will be a silent but active presence, ghosts at the feast.
Creating New Worlds
Organised by Usva Inei
art, materiality, connection
6-10 players
A group of non-human beings have had to abandon their world for an unknown reason and are travelling to a new world, untouched by sentient beings. The larp will involve the creation of a new society and a new world by and for these beings. The larp will involve three different scenes, which will be accompanied by different audio and visual cues. Creating New Worlds is an art-based larp, which explores the combination of role-playing and art-based workshop. The larp is completely non-verbal and will ask participants to communicate through art-making and the use of various art materials (such as paints, pencils, markers, playdough, paper, thread, etc.). Please note that you absolutely do not need to have any experience in art-making. Art-making will be workshopped and discussed in detail prior to the actual larp.
(The larp requires some dexterity as art materials are used. Participants also need to be able to sit on the floor.)
The Drinklings
Organised by Mo Holkar
Writing, Academia, Drinking
4 players
A group of friends meet regularly in a pub. They all work as respectable and esteemed scholars at an ancient university, but they all also write fantastical fiction in their spare time. The larp is made up of scenes depicting a series of their monthly meetings, at which they talk about their writing and how it's going, and bounce ideas around the table. The last scene, set much later, involves a group of critics discussing the work of these giants.
This is a light-hearted larp, with themes of friendship and the tension between support and envy/competitiveness.
Hench
Organised by Nicky Lawrence
Criminals, teamwork, backstabbing!
4 players
The Criminal Evil Overlord has summoned their team of henchpeople to a meeting in the basement of The S.L.O.E. Gym – which is not only the Secret Lair Of Evil, but also a handy training ground and money laundering operation.
The CEO is not pleased with you lot. Your last mission did not exactly go according to plan.
You’d better be ready for your next mission: making sure it’s one of your team-mates who ends up swimming with the piranhas instead of you!
A lighthearted non-combat game of secrets, teamwork and backstabbing.
Hero's Journey
Organised by Sarah Cook
Movement. Abstract. Embodied Archetypes.
Up to 15 players
Before there was language, you still knew story.
Close your eyes and let's begin.
This abstract LARP will connect you to your body and your ability to feel character through movement, posture, breathing, non-verbal sound and action.
Together we will travel to the classical elements, taking their power forward and into the jungian archetypes.
Grow from The Innocent to The Sage and explore all that is inside of you.
Come join us on the Hero's Journey and enter the place without words
(This LARP is suitable for all bodies, the amount of movement used in the LARP is up to the individual. It will use a range of sensory elements: sound, colour, touch, smell, which will be modified as needed for anyone's specific requirements - the LARP doesn't rely on these elements.)
Kingpins and Aces
Organised by Beckett Chapman
Coercion, Politics, Gambles
Up to 30 players
1972 Mafia Game: The five families have come together to play games, both literal and political.
A political larp where social hardskills are secondary to how you stack your hand, each player is equipped with a deck of cards representing their character's capacity to intimidate or sweet talk, and every time they try to win someone over to their goals, all parties involved will pull a card to determine the outcome before role-playing their wins and losses. A game of chance and machination, all set on the grimy backdrop of the American underworld.
Parents Evening
Organised by Vicky Smith
Magic, discovery, parenting
10-25 players
You're invited to parents evening, at the wizard school your child attends.
Is your child who you thought they were? Are they disappearing the teachers? What's that unusual thing they brought home? Will they pass maths?
You play either a magical or non-magical parent and will be given a description of your child and your goal for the session
This Larp involves:
Speaking to teachers and other parents to find out more about your child.
Learning how the magical world words.
Possible magical duels (non-contact) and cursed items
A small mystery
And perhaps finding out … you raised a baddie.
Starships and Space Slugs
Organised by Ross Millar
Schmoozing, skullduggery, deduction
10-20 players
Solar parliament is in session, and it’s time to have your say in service of your faction!
The population of Earth has spread among the stars, resulting in a number of disparate groups fighting for control of the hearts, minds and finances of the population. Time for diplomacy, the odd bribe, and maybe even a spot of political murder.
But with androids indistinguishable from humans, personal agendas taking priority over planetary concerns, and rumours of Brain Slugs taking over the minds of an unknown percentage of the population, this parliament may be an interesting one…