The Devil You Know
October 18.-20., Vier Youth Camp
near Stavanger, Norway
23 players
Organized by Nina Tunge-Kvamme and Thor Egil Bokn
Larp design by Janusz Maxe and Nina Tunge-Kvamme
What is this larp about?
Art by Julia Pivén
A group of people have circulated in the mental health care system for a long time and are gathered at a remote location. They all attended the same youth camp several years ago, and have since had great difficulty functioning normally in society. They have fragmented memories from the time before the camp, they isolate themselves and show signs of delusions.
One half of the participants play possessed humans, and the other half play their demons. They are paired together, stuck with each other in a toxic and co-dependent relationship that has lasted since the youth camp.
The larp is set to present time and is about people who struggle to break free, trying to reach out to other humans and create a connection, and about the demons who are fighting to remain in control.
The Devil You Know is a larp that touches on loneliness and isolation, but the story is about finding hope and building friendship.
Cores of the design
Co-play between the possessed and demon
The players sign up in pairs and play very closely with and against each other. Together they build the play they want and the relation between their characters.
Even if both patient and demon characters have relations with others in the environment, much of their play is influenced by the co-operation with their partner.
Improvised and affirming play
There is no ready-made, complicated backstory to chart and explore. It is created, negotiated, defined and redefined dynamically by the players during the larp.
Neither the demons nor the staff at the institution are opponents to be conquered. Instead, we create the contrasts between the normality and demonic together.
Reality change
The demons can change the patients’ reality through hallucinations, taking control of the human through possession, creating and participating in black box scenes and by influencing the surroundings.