ACCESSIBILTY & INCLUSIVITY AT OUR GAMES
We believe that accessibility and inclusivity at LARP is an ongoing conversation, and that we can always learn and improve as game runners. As such, we have sought out and taken both positive and constructive feedback from players and observers alike, and worked hard to implement these improvements into our games. We have tried to expand and improve our understanding of how best to support players to engage safely with our games, and we have applied this knowledge to the way our games are planned, written and run.
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We have learned that applying "blanket approach" rules (eg as to who is and isn't safe to engage in combat at our games) is absolutely not the right way to improve accessibility OR safety, and as such we no longer have prescribed "non-com" rules in our systems. The only time we will ever disallow someone to engage in combat is if we witness unsafe fighting during an encounter in-game and need to make a ref safety call to prevent injury to our players and crew.
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OUR ACCESSIBILITY & INCLUSIVITY ETHOS
Our current approach is:
1) To be upfront about the nature of our games.
- By providing as much information as possible to all players about what to expect and any potential risks, individuals can self-assess based on their knowledge of themselves as to whether they feel confident to safely engage with our games.
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2) To work closely with the individual to find the best way of assisting them to fully engage with all aspects of our games.
- We try to make ourselves very available for people to chat with us about support if needed, and can be contacted in multiple ways across multiple platforms to maximise ease.
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OUR CORE SUPPORT TEAM:
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We have members of our game team with lived experience of disability and accessibility needs.
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All members of our game team have formal accessibility, sensitivity, and equality & diversity training in various forms.
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Two members of our game team are trained mental health first-aiders.
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OUR PROMISE TO OUR PLAYERS:
We will continue to learn, to develop, and to take feedback on board to provide better accessibility & inclusivity at our games.
"I LIKE THE SOUND OF YOUR GAME BUT I'M WORRIED I'M NOT FIT ENOUGH."
IS THIS YOU? HAVE A READ OF THIS FIRSTHAND ACCOUNT FROM ONE OF OUR REPEAT PLAYERS WHO ALSO HAD THE SAME THOUGHT!
"As someone who uses a walking stick to help with mobility, and suffers from fatigue and mental health issues, I would never have thought a 24 hour survival horror battle-royale LARP would be for me. But I wanted to try anyway, mainly because I loved the Hunger Games setting, and knew some others who were going. I’m so glad I did. Not once have I felt excluded from anything because of my disabilities. I was able to get stuck in with the game world, and felt supported the entire time. The system has some very clear safety calls and Out Of Character check-ins, so I knew I was in good hands if I needed to take a break for either mental or physical health. You don’t have to be a fitness freak to have a good time - running doesn’t necessarily mean survival, and you can always choose to hide instead of fight. There are plenty of different play styles, and the game team are exceedingly accommodating with anything you need for accessibility reasons. And, without spoiling too much, even if your character dies, there’s still plenty of ways to get involved in the game without feeling like you’re losing out. Now, I won’t sugar coat everything - if you’re a wheelchair user, it may not be the game for you, simply because of site terrain - however, I imagine crewing it as a Non-Player Character might be possible! I will also admit, I do have to spend some time off after the game to recover - but that’s mostly because I push myself a little further than I should (my own fault), as to me it’s worth putting in a bit of extra energy to create wonderful roleplay moments that have stayed with me, and are probably going to for the rest of my life. That said, the game team are very good at reminding people to self-care, their mental and physical first aiders are amazing, and there’s no judgement if you need to take some time for yourself out of play to decompress after any intense roleplay. The Tithing has become one of my favourite LARP systems. It’s so immersive, inclusive, cathartic and outright fun!"