A Garden of Forking Paths

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A Garden of Forking Paths

Genre
Literary fiction
Number of players
12
How long it runs
4 hours
Date written
2012
Credits
Susan Weiner, Vito D'Agosta, Nat Budin
Website
A Garden of Forking Paths


A Garden of Forking Paths is a theatre-style larp by Alleged Entertainment. The game was inspired by the story "The Garden of Forking Paths" by Jorge Luis Borges, and is an example of a tale-telling game. It is often used as an example of the American freeform style.

As a tale-telling game, the larp has two stories - an outer story and an inner story. The outer story (12 characters) is set after the memorial service for an old man. He has written a book, which his surviving relatives have been told to publish. The inner story (4 characters) is the story told by that book. Because of the mismatch in character numbers, the characters play (and switch between) multiple simultaneous iterations of the inner story, in which different choices are made. Unusually for a tale-telling game, the primary focus is on the inner story rather than the outer one.

Summary

Each year, Barbara has a garden party for her birthday. She brings her family to enjoy a quiet meal in her beautiful and well-tended garden. This game charts the course of her life and the lives of those around her through the decisions made at these parties.

A Garden of Forking Paths is a LARP told in scenes. This is a game heavily inspired by Jeep format, not a traditional LARP. In each scene, four characters will face certain dilemmas, and make decisions that will affect the course of their lives. At the same time, two other groups of players will be playing the same characters and, possibly, making different decisions. Between scenes, players will be shuffled into different groups. They will generally play the same characters, but those characters may have made different decisions in the prior scene, causing them to start the next scene in a different situation.

External links