Mirror World Creations’ Game of the Month for June is Fragile Recall, a one-on-one phone larp centered around the concept of speaking to your own past life.
Fragile Recall is a larp born from a cheat.
Very occasionally I hang out in immersive theater forums, and more than occasionally on those forums, people get excited. They’ve experienced something new, something profound, something that really resonated with them — something awesome. I’d ask them about their experience and when they described it, it always sounded really moving…and nine times out of ten, it also sounded like therapy, the profoundly-affected participant awestruck by the effect of simply talking to to someone outside their daily life who asked hard questions and actively listened to their answers.
From this I concluded that “providing therapy” — here defined as “providing a player with someone outside their daily life who asked hard questions and actively listened to their answers” — was an absolute hack when it came to inducing cheap emotional thrills. And since I am a hack artist at heart, I wanted to try my hand at it. Complete with fictional masking, of course: I am a larpwright.
So I got to thinking, how could I bring that profound experience to a one-on-one larp, and let people talk through their own lives with someone? And if so, what sort of person would be interested in who you are right now, without knowing you already?
And then, lightbulb moment while passing a streetfront psychic: what if you were talking to your past life?
Your past life would absolutely be interested in you. They’d want to tell you about themselves, and listen to your problems, and maybe offer some perspective. They’d have a vested interest in making sure you don’t repeat the same patterns that they regret. They’d have a perspective unlike anyone else.
Fun thing about me: I’m a history nut. So of course when I thought of that idea, I rabbit-holed into historical figures, keeping it limited by sticking with historical figures who might have plausibly called a psychic on a phone line. Eventually I had a line-up and then…well, the rest is history.
I don’t want to share too much about the behind-the-curtain setup of Fragile Recall. Because it’s a one-on-one phone larp, it will be different for each person. But damn, I’ve had some good reviews for this thing. The history nerd in me is most gratified by the player who wanted to lay flowers on their past-self’s grave. But the larpwright in me begs another testimonial:
“As a first-time larper, I had no real expectations about what Fragile Recall was going to be like. Fun way to jump right in, though! Having no real idea about what you’re going to get and who you are going to get to talk to really opens up the experience to make it fun and playful and unexpectedly moving. I found myself empathizing with this woman’s story… and really aching for her that her life was cut so short. We got the chance to talk through some things in my life that became personal, and she had some great perspective about them. For me, this was a great first larp experience, something that the actor helped shape with their on-the-spot improv and flexibility. I would definitely recommend Fragile Recall to newbies like me and to experienced larpers, especially if you’ve never tried a phone larp. It was a great experience!”
I hope you’ll give Fragile Recall a shot. You can sign up here at Mirror World Creations — use code “TRYRECALL” for 15% off.
