In the comments to Have You Ever Run a Game Outdoors, Frank Filz and Scott M. linked up two RPGs with a twist.
Sherpa (by Stephan O’Sullivan, creator of Bunnies & Burrows) is designed to be played while hiking. In Stephan’s words, it “uses a digital watch with a stopwatch feature as a randomizer and a character sheet fits on the back of a business card.” Cooool.
The Nighttime Animals Save the World, created by Vincent Baker (Dogs in the Vineyard), is meant to be played while taking a walk with your kids. It even incorporates stuff you see, like fences, bushes and other features, into the story.
This is a fascinating niche, and one that it’s nice to know clever folks like Stpehan and Vincent have filled. Are there other RPGs out there that are specifically designed to be played outside?
Much as I’m an advocate of people getting more exercise (particularly gamers, who are world-renowned for their sedentary lifestyles), this sounds too much like an tabletop RPG version of exergaming. I say, if you want exercise while you play, LARPing is the best way to go.
Definitely an interesting concept. I know I’ve run single sessions for people while taking walks. It was an interesting experience, made it a little harder to act out some of the stuff, and display the characters, but overall it was a good experience.
There is a certain comradarie gained when walking with someone, kind of opens you up to talking and speaking. Providing the game doesn’t require much rolling(or other mechanics that can’t be performed easily while walking), and works with the context of constant movement, it’s not a bad idea.
Having just read the “Nighttime Animals” page, I have to say that this is absolutely amazing. It’s well put together, simple enough for kids to understand, and it lets you bring the youngsters in to something the parents (hopefully) like to do.
This is so weird. I just went hiking with my wife and kids on Friday at Starved Rock State Park in Utica, Ill., and I thought, what a great place to game outdoors. I wonder if there’s a game that’s suited for it. Thanks for the links.
I’ve been to O’Sullivan’s web site several times over the years when reading about the Fudge game system. And even though I had seen the link to Sherpa probably dozens of times, I was always so focussed on seomthing else tha I never clicked the link. I wish I had sooner than today, because it would be a perfect game for playing outside. Put your favorite character sheet in a little plastic protector for ID cards and you could probably even play it in the rain! 🙂
All credit to Frank and Scott — these are great links. 🙂
(And I love the idea of plastic business card holders for Sherpa.)
I used to do this to entertain my little brothers and sister all the time. I’d craft stories for them to role-play. It wasn’t LARPing, but once in a while a little dramatic rendition would be used for color. We did this all over the Catskills and Europe for years. It was great if you don’t need to rely on dice.
Stephen: That’s pretty much how I got my start as a gamer, through collaborative, systemless storytelling. I hadn’t thought about these games (Sherpa, etc.) as hearkening back to that, but you’re absolutely right that they do.