Jun 28, 2020

Emma and Gil welcome Banana Chan: game writer, larp/RPG
designer, board game publisher, horror movie buff, and pop-up
museum aficionado. We talk about writing for all kinds of games,
how game mechanisms support intense experiences in larp and RPG,
the effects of emancipatory bleed, and the effect of moving
roleplay online.

Content warning: we discuss games with intense themes, like
human sacrifice.

4m29s: The
Spire RPG 

5m59s: The
Circle is a reality show in which contestants are isolated in
their homes and can only communicate with others via a text-based
app. They’re free to adopt any persona they wish. You can watch the
first episode of the American reboot here.

6m27s: Pork roll vs. Taylor ham (two names for the same kind of
processed meat)
is a long-running debate in the Garden State. 

7m01s: Jean-Paul Sartre’s No Exit, a legendary
play with a classic twist.

9m03s: The RPGs This
Discord Has Ghosts In It and
Long Time Listener, Last Time Caller 

10m06s: For those of you just joining Ludology, welcome, and we
just covered safety tools in Ludology
227 – Respect the X.

11m27s: To make it clear,
bleed is a general term to describe a phenomenon (occurring
mainly in larp) where a character’s emotions and identity start
mixing into a player’s emotions and identity, and vice versa. It
can be extremely intense, and larps usually feature necessary
wrap-up sessions where players can talk out feelings that the game
brought up. Here is
an article with a couple of excellent examples of bleed. Jonaya
Kemper, who Banana mentions,
has written about emancipatory bleed here. Read more about
Kemper and her work
here.

11m59s: Here’s Albert
Kong’s tweet about emancipatory bleed.

12m21s: More info
about the Baphomet larp.

17m29s: Diplomacy
is a game that’s long-established for challenging friendships.

18m41s: Banana’s new RPG, Jiangshi:
Blood in the Banquet Hall, co-designed with Sen-Foong Lim

22m44s: Warp’s
Edge

24m51s:
Angelus Morningstar has a good write-up on cultural appropriation
in board games here. (Also, when Gil says “I wish this is
something more board games would do,” he means “hire cultural
sensitivity readers.”)

29m07s: They’re
Onto Me. The Golden Cobra
Challenge is a contest for freeform larp. 

31m06s:
Dads on Mowers, a module for the RPG Kids on
Bikes.

31m57s: Cobwebs
RPG.

32m19s:
Alice is Missing RPG.

32m37s: Banana is talking about an episode of the TV series
Masters of
Horror. This particular episode (which Gil and Emma will never
watch) is called “John Carpenter’s Cigarette
Burns.” 

33m53s:
Betrayal at Mystery Mansion is a re-implementation of Betrayal
at House on the Hill, but with a Scooby-Doo theme.

35m58s: As
We Know It.

37m32s: Roll20 is a website
that facilitates online RPG play. Discord is an online text/voice chat
program for gamers.

38m48s: By “corpse,” Gil is referring to the surrealist writing
exercise Exquisite
Corpse.

41m39s: Banana’s dinner party films: The Invitation,
Get Out,
Coherence. She
also mentions Midsommar.

42m28s: Here’s
the article Gil mentions that describes the benefits of
experiencing a horror movie entirely from its Wikipedia page.

43m02s: Here’s Avery Alder’s body horror RPG,
Abnormal.

44m08s: The Park Avenue
Armory, one of Gil’s favorite places in NYC. Banana discusses
The Funhouse in
Toronto, which is now closed.

46m05s: The mangaka Junji Ito.

46m58s: Battle
of the Boy Bands, a game by Clio Yun-su Davis and Vicci Ho that Banana published
under the Game and a Curry label. Enjoy some music from Stray Kids and
BTS.

50m05s: Night
Witches, by Jason Morningstar. We had Jason on in
Ludology 161 What’s the Story, Morning Glory? Banana also
mentions his game Juggernaut.

50m52s: Avery Alder’s Monsterhearts.

51m25s: Here’s the
moment in the video Gil was mentioning. Alex Roberts, who plays
the ghost, is the designer of the
award-winning RPG Star Crossed.

52m13: Gil is referring to
Ludology 226 – Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo
Buffalo Buffalo, in which Dr. Mary Flanagan discussed how
psychological distance helps people better associate with a
subject.

53m39s: If you’re interested in Goat-2-Meeting, here are
the details.

56m44s: The designers Banana mentions are: Jabari Weathers, Jonaya Kemper (mentioned
above), and Fertessa
Allyse.