In 2022 Someday Stories produced a short documentary film about larping and how it improves people's lives. The documentary was featured on Stuff, as well as on Seven Sharp.
Because LARP is a novel and colourful activity, it's often the subject of media articles. Here are some excerpts from articles that NZLARPS has helped to arrange.
We'd love to help you create a media piece about LARP in New Zealand. We can provide experts to discuss LARP with you, and organise access to events. Please email marketing@nzlarps.org (external link) to discuss your needs.
We know that LARP isn't very well known, so here are some tips to help you get the most out of covering it.
Firstly, LARP is an experience not a performance. The best way to explain LARP to an audience is to throw caution to the wind and try it yourself.
Having said that, a LARP expert can help you avoid factual errors. It's very hard to get a good grounding in the scale and diversity of LARP without significant research.
Because LARPs don't usually have an audience, sometimes LARPers find having journalists at events distracting. Work with organisers to find a suitable LARP and to cover it without being disruptive.
We're happy to arrange for you to attend the Auckland LARP convention Chimera, which runs every August. Chimera has a variety of 3-hour LARPs in different styles. There are breaks between games, giving you a chance to talk to participants out of character about their experiences.
LARP is a very diverse medium, it's not all fantasy with foam weapons. In New Zealand games have been run about everything from revolution and cults to Perestroika.
International LARPs are varied too. There are LARPs in Belarus designed to inspire political change, and LARPs in the USA and Denmark that teach the high-school curriculum. The settings aren't all from genre fiction. They include prisons, offices and hobos living on the road.
We recommend these sources: