Strandfall is now open for sign ups – Strandfall

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Strandfall is now open for sign ups

Adrian Hon

Jun 2

Five years ago, a mysterious disaster unleashed lethal, invisible storms across the world. Today, you’ve joined a scientific expedition to Edinburgh that hopes to put humanity back on its feet. You have three hours to deploy prototype spatial computers across a park and investigate the storms – but not everyone will get what they want, and no-one will emerge unscathed.

Strandfall is an orienteering-style live action role playing game (larp) for 20-30 people, inspired by Stalker, Death Stranding, Eclipse, Station Eleven, and solarpunk, made in the Nordic larp tradition.

If this sounds interesting, please sign up! We aim to invite a balanced group, mixing local participants with those traveling from further afield, as well as complete beginners with experienced larpers. Places will be extremely limited.

Date : September 5th 2026, from late morning to afternoon

Location : Cammo Estate park, Edinburgh

Cost : Free (this is a prototype experience with new technology)

Sign up

Strandfall is made by Experimental Social Scene, a new collective that re-enchants the world through embodied, technology-assisted play. It consists of Adrian Hon and Alex Macmillan. We’ve previously worked on Zombies, Run! and Perplex City. We’re supported by Immersive Arts funding.

What makes Strandfall different

Many larps involve sci-fi or fantastical gadgets. Usually, players rely on the power of imagination and role play to collectively perform their functions.

In Strandfall, we’re building our handheld spatial computers – “McNair-Feldman Devices” (named after their fictional inventors) – for real. They contain a low-power, long-range radio for mesh networking beyond cellular and wifi service, a GPS radio, accelerometer and compass, a small ePaper display, all housed in a custom 3D-printed enclosure designed to be mounted on a standard camera tripod.

Players will deploy MFDs across the park to create a network, use them to forecast the invisible storms, relay that information back to players at the base, and then track and even “storm chase” them while in scanning mode. Other players might use MFDs like surveyors, pinpointing the effects of past experiments in the park or discovering the boundaries of a mysterious Stalker-like exclusion zone.

We think smartphones are anti-enchantment devices. All too often during interactive theatre and ARGs, we see participants fixated on their glowing screens. Our custom-made MFDs are how we integrate technology into our experience while keeping everyone in the moment.

Time, Location, Logistics

Strandfall begins in the late morning with a mandatory onboarding workshop lasting 1-2 hours. The game itself will be 3 hours, followed by a short debrief.

While it takes place outdoors and involves a lot of physical activity, around a third of players will not be expected to walk or run at all during the game itself.

We will have a gazebo at our “base” but otherwise there will be no dedicated shelter. Strandfall will go ahead even in rain, but we may cancel the larp if the weather is very poor or dangerous.

Cammo Estate is a local nature reserve with woodlands, glades, grassland, and ruins. While we have permission from Edinburgh Council to run Strandfall in the park, other parkgoers will be around and players must keep to paths and leave no trace.

There is very limited parking locally so we encourage everyone to take public transport where possible – Cammo Estate is only 35 minutes from central Edinburgh by bus. The area is also fairly well-served by taxis and Uber.

No costumes will be required, but we will require players to wear safe, supportive footwear and clothing.

We will have limited snacks and drinks but no meals, so players should bring their own food and drinks.

What kind of larp is Strandfall?

You don’t need any experience with larps to play Strandfall. However, experienced larpers might find this information useful:

Themes : Strandfall is a sci-fi story set in a post-apocalypse, with an emphasis on climate change, co-operation, and adaptation. This makes it similar to the “solarpunk” genre. We’re inspired by works like Death Stranding, The Ministry for the Future, Station Eleven, and Eclipse. The main themes are loneliness, trust, and co-operation.

Style : We’re closest to the Nordic tradition of larp. We tackle serious themes and give players wide latitude. At the same time, large parts of the experience are pre-determined, similar to many sci-fi blockbuster larps.

Characters : Since we expect to have a lot of players new to larp, most characters will have very light backstories. However, some players will be given more detailed stories.

Workshops : We’ll have a 1-2 hour workshop to help set up the world of Strandfall, get into character, and practice using our custom “spatial computers”. This workshop is mandatory for all...