Analog Role-playing Games (RPGs)
Analog role-playing games (RPGs) involve embodying characters in fictional scenarios through a process of spontaneous, co-creative play. Common forms include tabletop (TTRPG), live action role-playing games (larp), and freeform. While analog role-playing games are playable in hybrid digital formats through video conferencing and text software, they differ from video games such as computer role-playing games (CRPGs) and Multiplayer Massively Online Role-playing Games (MMORPGs) in that the computer interface is not pre-programmed in terms of the story, characters, and affordances of the game.
Transformative Game Design
Transformative game design to experiences intentionally shaped to invite personal and social change in the participants. For the purposes of EDGE, transformative game design refers to analog role-playing games designed for leisure, therapeutic, or educational settings for the purposes of informal, nonformal, or formal learning.
Our definitions of transformation:
- A prolonged and sustained state of change.
- A process or series of processes that lead to growth.
When inspired by role-playing experiences, transformation can be:
- A state that alters a person’s view of themselves, others, or the world in significant ways,
- A state that shifts the way a person relates to others interpersonally, and/or
- A state that has the potential to shift social and cultural dynamics in ways that can build toward greater awareness, peace, and justice.
More definitions to come!
