Practical
Game dates
Run 1: Jun 27 - Jul 1 2024 (Thursday to Monday)
Run 2: Jul 3 - Jul 7 2024 (Wednesday to Sunday)
Run 3: Jul 10 - Jul 14 2024 (Wednesday to Sunday)
Players are expected to arrive at the location between 4-6pm on the first day of their run (Thursday/ Wednesday). The first evening and part of the second day will be mandatory briefings and workshops. During the first night it is possible to leave (e.g. to a comfy hotel) and return to the location by 9am the next day.
The game itself will begin on the second day and run non-stop for the next 48 hours. The two nights in between are fully in-game and players should stay at the location.
The larp will end in the early evening on the fourth day (Sunday/ Saturday). After the larp there are structured debriefs. While these are non-mandatory, debriefing is highly recommended due the heavy themes of the story. After the debriefs end at around 8pm you are welcome to stay one more night at the location for the (alcohol free) afterparty, or you can also leave the location e.g. for a comfier night in a hotel. Players must leave the location latest at midday on the fifth day (Monday/ Sunday).
Prices
Standard ticket 550 €
Subsidized ticket 250 €
Sponsor ticket 600€ or 650€
More detailed information about prices, sign up process and casting here!
Location
The larp is played at Torpparinmäki elementary school in Helsinki (address: Ylä-Fallin tie 54, Helsinki, Finland), the same location we had in the 2019 runs. The school is located close to the Helsinki-Vantaa airport and is easy to reach with public transportation from the airport and from Helsinki city center.
You can plan your trip in the Helsinki region with this public transportation journey planner.
The building is a modern school with up-to-date amenities including showers and plenty of unisex single person toilets. There are two group shower rooms with five showers in each. The showers and the adjoining locker rooms will be divided into non-male and non-female during the run. Shower and toilet facilities will be freely available throughout the event, with the exception that there will be a daily allotment to reserve 15 minute private showering times.
The building has two floors with an accessible elevator between the floors. All main areas are wheelchair accessible and there are wheelchair accessible washing and toilet facilities throughout the location.
Sleeping arrangements
Sleeping will take place either in in-game rooms of roughly 20 sleeping spots per room or offgame in a bigger gym hall. All sleeping areas are mixed gender and shared with a minimum of 20 people. There are no private sleeping areas. Players of characters with assigned ingame shifts will be hot bunking with somebody from the other shift (when you wake up someone else comes to sleep in the same bed).
The in-game rooms have both bunk-beds and mattresses on the floor, and the offgame sleeping is on mattresses on the floor. Mattresses will be provided by the organizers, but players need to bring their own pillows as well as sleeping bags or blankets.
There are outlets in the sleeping areas for e.g. CPAP machines.
A soundscape will be present throughout the larp, and some events will cause a significant rise in the volume. While we try to ensure that the sleeping quarters will be kept quieter, some of these sounds will carry to these areas as well. If you are a very light sleeper, this is something you should take into account.
Shifts for military characters
Characters who are part of the military will have shifts dedicated to being on-duty, off-duty, and sleeping. There are events happening also during the night and the night-time on-duty is divided between the shifts. Events are planned so that characters will not need to be woken up during their allocated sleeping time. Characters and players can also take a nap during their off-duty time.
There are three different shifts; Lunar, Solar, and Twilight. The Twilight shift will be added to the roster during the game as more characters enter ESS Odysseus.
The schedule for shift is as follows:
Off-game spaces, breaks and safety
For us, player safety is at the core of any larp, and for that reason we will have a full-time safety team available for players on location throughout the event, as well as before and after the larp. Learn more from Safety and rules.
There will be an offgame room where you can chill for a bit and talk to our safety team or the runtime GMs when needed. The offgame room will have natural light, no soundscape and access to the outdoors for some fresh air.
The larp will run for 48 hours non-stop and will have no scheduled breaks, but it is always possible to step out of the game to have a breather. We want to stress that there are no bad reasons for doing so! You are always welcome to the offgame room if, for example, you are experiencing an emotional overload, need to recalibrate your game with another player, or simply need a small break.
If you need to be offgame for a longer period, please inform the safety team so that we won’t worry unnecessarily.
There is a dedicated smoking area outdoors outside the building. Smoking breaks are always offgame.
Meals
Meal times during the game
08:00 - 10:00 Breakfast
12:00 - 13:30 Lunch
15:00 - 16:30 Afternoon snack
18:00 - 19:30 Dinner
02:00 - 05:00 Late night snack
There will also be some snacks available at all times, as well as fresh water, tea, and coffee. Should a player miss a mealtime, it is possible to pick up a warm meal outside the scheduled meal times.
On the arrival day (Thursday or Wednesday) there will be no dinner but an evening snack. On day four, the departure day (Monday or Sunday) only breakfast will be served and players need to have left the location before lunch time.
Most of the available food will be vegetarian/vegan and lactose free. We will do our best to accommodate all allergies and special diets, and our aim is to provide full meals for all our players and run-time crew. Menus will be published before the game, so you will be able to check beforehand that there will be suitable options for your diet.
We will have some fridge space reserved for players who need to store e.g. special diet food or medicines.
Accessibility and triggers
Our aim is to create an event that will be as accessible as possible. However, due to the complexity of the game environment, it may be impossible to prepare for all individual requirements, and depending on the kind of accessibility needs you have, some character groups might be less accessible than others. If you have any questions regarding your individual needs, please do not hesitate to contact the organizers.
Almost all our characters are written as gender neutral, so the gender of the character will be up to player’s own preferences.
Ingame discrimination and inequality based on ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation does not exist in the game world, and any bullying behavior based on them is forbidden both in- and offgame.
All the main spaces at the location are accessible with a wheelchair or other mobility aids. The fighter cockpits utilized by pilots and some of the engineering tunnels, however, are confined spaces with limited accessibility. Land missions for the marines will take place outside of the main location, mostly in forests and other similar types of difficult terrain with players transported to these missions in a van.
The ingame area is rather big, but it will be completely shut off from the outside and there will be no natural light in these spaces. All lighting will be artificial and will change according to various events happening onboard the ship (e.g. alarms, combat situations). There will be a constant environmental soundscape of various spaceship sounds which will also react to different events. Smoke machines will be used at selected events.
Some tasks in the larp will include simple skill checks (for example the spaceship simulator Empty Epsilon, engineering puzzles, science puzzles and land missions). The game will utilize various game-like mechanics to help players play out the full competence of their characters. For many civilian characters, these skill checks will not be present at all.
On the medical side of things, there will be a lot of fake blood present, as well as very graphic and real-like prop injuries and simulated medical conditions (e.g. nausea, fainting). For the players of medics, these will be impossible to avoid, and others might also unexpectedly encounter glimpses of them.
Costumes
There will be an additional costume rental fee for characters in the following groups: officers and bridge crew, pilots, engineers, marines, medics, and scientists. The fee will vary from approximately 30€ to 60€, depending on the character group. The rental price will include a uniform jacket or an overall, a t-shirt with the emblem of the ship the character has been stationed on, as well as any weapons or other equipment the character needs during the larp. The t-shirt can be kept by the player after their run.
All costume pieces will be custom made for our game and will be size inclusive. A questionnaire asking for the player’s clothing size will be sent out after casting to inform us of the size range needed. The costume designs along with the final rental prices will be finalized and published as soon as possible (by the end of 2023 at the latest).
For other character groups (civilians and Velians), players are expected to create their own costumes with the assistance of our costume guidelines. Costume guidelines will be published well in advance.
What to pack
What you need to bring:
Pillow and a sleeping bag or blanket+bedlinen
Earplugs, sleep mask etc.
Towel and other hygiene supplies
Medications and other essential personal items
Change of clothes
Comfortable shoes
Costume for your character (full or in part, depending on the character group)
Latex or similar semi-realistic melee weapon replicas (for characters that might carry one)
Any personal items your character might carry with them (pictures, wedding rings, lucky dice, etc.)
What we provide:
Rental jackets or overalls, a t-shirt (1 pc) (except for civilian + Velian characters)
Nerf guns and darts
Military equipment (tactical vests, helmets, etc.)
All plot related items (e.g. letters, rare artifacts etc.)
Documenting the game
Some of the ingame areas will have video surveillance during the runtime. These video streams will not be recorded. Video surveillance will cover all important areas of the ship, but sleeping areas or bathrooms will not have cameras. The video surveillance will serve the offgame monitoring needs of the organizers as well as the ingame needs of the ship’s internal security team.
There will also be several photographers present documenting the event (photos and possibly video). Participants can opt out of being photographed, and all photographs (also those taken by players) must be approved by the people in the photographs before publication.
Published photos and videos might be used in marketing of any future reruns, Illusia ry events, and as reference materials for any related talks, reports, and other similar purposes without further agreement. Participants may ask material where they are presented to be removed at any point.
Photographing and videotaping the event during in-game time is strictly limited to our own photography and documentation team. Players are welcome to take pictures and video during off-game time before and after the game as long as they ask for permission from all who will be visible on the photographs and/or video footage.
Run 1: Jun 27 - Jul 1 2024 (Thursday to Monday)
Run 2: Jul 3 - Jul 7 2024 (Wednesday to Sunday)
Run 3: Jul 10 - Jul 14 2024 (Wednesday to Sunday)
Players are expected to arrive at the location between 4-6pm on the first day of their run (Thursday/ Wednesday). The first evening and part of the second day will be mandatory briefings and workshops. During the first night it is possible to leave (e.g. to a comfy hotel) and return to the location by 9am the next day.
The game itself will begin on the second day and run non-stop for the next 48 hours. The two nights in between are fully in-game and players should stay at the location.
The larp will end in the early evening on the fourth day (Sunday/ Saturday). After the larp there are structured debriefs. While these are non-mandatory, debriefing is highly recommended due the heavy themes of the story. After the debriefs end at around 8pm you are welcome to stay one more night at the location for the (alcohol free) afterparty, or you can also leave the location e.g. for a comfier night in a hotel. Players must leave the location latest at midday on the fifth day (Monday/ Sunday).
Prices
Standard ticket 550 €
Subsidized ticket 250 €
Sponsor ticket 600€ or 650€
More detailed information about prices, sign up process and casting here!
Location
The larp is played at Torpparinmäki elementary school in Helsinki (address: Ylä-Fallin tie 54, Helsinki, Finland), the same location we had in the 2019 runs. The school is located close to the Helsinki-Vantaa airport and is easy to reach with public transportation from the airport and from Helsinki city center.
You can plan your trip in the Helsinki region with this public transportation journey planner.
The building is a modern school with up-to-date amenities including showers and plenty of unisex single person toilets. There are two group shower rooms with five showers in each. The showers and the adjoining locker rooms will be divided into non-male and non-female during the run. Shower and toilet facilities will be freely available throughout the event, with the exception that there will be a daily allotment to reserve 15 minute private showering times.
The building has two floors with an accessible elevator between the floors. All main areas are wheelchair accessible and there are wheelchair accessible washing and toilet facilities throughout the location.
Sleeping arrangements
Sleeping will take place either in in-game rooms of roughly 20 sleeping spots per room or offgame in a bigger gym hall. All sleeping areas are mixed gender and shared with a minimum of 20 people. There are no private sleeping areas. Players of characters with assigned ingame shifts will be hot bunking with somebody from the other shift (when you wake up someone else comes to sleep in the same bed).
The in-game rooms have both bunk-beds and mattresses on the floor, and the offgame sleeping is on mattresses on the floor. Mattresses will be provided by the organizers, but players need to bring their own pillows as well as sleeping bags or blankets.
There are outlets in the sleeping areas for e.g. CPAP machines.
A soundscape will be present throughout the larp, and some events will cause a significant rise in the volume. While we try to ensure that the sleeping quarters will be kept quieter, some of these sounds will carry to these areas as well. If you are a very light sleeper, this is something you should take into account.
Shifts for military characters
Characters who are part of the military will have shifts dedicated to being on-duty, off-duty, and sleeping. There are events happening also during the night and the night-time on-duty is divided between the shifts. Events are planned so that characters will not need to be woken up during their allocated sleeping time. Characters and players can also take a nap during their off-duty time.
There are three different shifts; Lunar, Solar, and Twilight. The Twilight shift will be added to the roster during the game as more characters enter ESS Odysseus.
The schedule for shift is as follows:
- Solar:
- sleeping from 20:00 to 04:00
- on-duty from 04:00 to 08:00, and from 16:00 to 20:00
- Lunar
- sleeping from 04:00 to 12:00
- on-duty from 12:00 to 16:00, and from 00:00 to 04:00 (extended shift on the first day)
- Twilight
- sleeping from 00:00 to 08:00
- On-duty from 08:00 to 12:00, and from 20:00 to 24:00 (shifts begin on the second day)
Off-game spaces, breaks and safety
For us, player safety is at the core of any larp, and for that reason we will have a full-time safety team available for players on location throughout the event, as well as before and after the larp. Learn more from Safety and rules.
There will be an offgame room where you can chill for a bit and talk to our safety team or the runtime GMs when needed. The offgame room will have natural light, no soundscape and access to the outdoors for some fresh air.
The larp will run for 48 hours non-stop and will have no scheduled breaks, but it is always possible to step out of the game to have a breather. We want to stress that there are no bad reasons for doing so! You are always welcome to the offgame room if, for example, you are experiencing an emotional overload, need to recalibrate your game with another player, or simply need a small break.
If you need to be offgame for a longer period, please inform the safety team so that we won’t worry unnecessarily.
There is a dedicated smoking area outdoors outside the building. Smoking breaks are always offgame.
Meals
Meal times during the game
08:00 - 10:00 Breakfast
12:00 - 13:30 Lunch
15:00 - 16:30 Afternoon snack
18:00 - 19:30 Dinner
02:00 - 05:00 Late night snack
There will also be some snacks available at all times, as well as fresh water, tea, and coffee. Should a player miss a mealtime, it is possible to pick up a warm meal outside the scheduled meal times.
On the arrival day (Thursday or Wednesday) there will be no dinner but an evening snack. On day four, the departure day (Monday or Sunday) only breakfast will be served and players need to have left the location before lunch time.
Most of the available food will be vegetarian/vegan and lactose free. We will do our best to accommodate all allergies and special diets, and our aim is to provide full meals for all our players and run-time crew. Menus will be published before the game, so you will be able to check beforehand that there will be suitable options for your diet.
We will have some fridge space reserved for players who need to store e.g. special diet food or medicines.
Accessibility and triggers
Our aim is to create an event that will be as accessible as possible. However, due to the complexity of the game environment, it may be impossible to prepare for all individual requirements, and depending on the kind of accessibility needs you have, some character groups might be less accessible than others. If you have any questions regarding your individual needs, please do not hesitate to contact the organizers.
Almost all our characters are written as gender neutral, so the gender of the character will be up to player’s own preferences.
Ingame discrimination and inequality based on ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation does not exist in the game world, and any bullying behavior based on them is forbidden both in- and offgame.
All the main spaces at the location are accessible with a wheelchair or other mobility aids. The fighter cockpits utilized by pilots and some of the engineering tunnels, however, are confined spaces with limited accessibility. Land missions for the marines will take place outside of the main location, mostly in forests and other similar types of difficult terrain with players transported to these missions in a van.
The ingame area is rather big, but it will be completely shut off from the outside and there will be no natural light in these spaces. All lighting will be artificial and will change according to various events happening onboard the ship (e.g. alarms, combat situations). There will be a constant environmental soundscape of various spaceship sounds which will also react to different events. Smoke machines will be used at selected events.
Some tasks in the larp will include simple skill checks (for example the spaceship simulator Empty Epsilon, engineering puzzles, science puzzles and land missions). The game will utilize various game-like mechanics to help players play out the full competence of their characters. For many civilian characters, these skill checks will not be present at all.
On the medical side of things, there will be a lot of fake blood present, as well as very graphic and real-like prop injuries and simulated medical conditions (e.g. nausea, fainting). For the players of medics, these will be impossible to avoid, and others might also unexpectedly encounter glimpses of them.
Costumes
There will be an additional costume rental fee for characters in the following groups: officers and bridge crew, pilots, engineers, marines, medics, and scientists. The fee will vary from approximately 30€ to 60€, depending on the character group. The rental price will include a uniform jacket or an overall, a t-shirt with the emblem of the ship the character has been stationed on, as well as any weapons or other equipment the character needs during the larp. The t-shirt can be kept by the player after their run.
All costume pieces will be custom made for our game and will be size inclusive. A questionnaire asking for the player’s clothing size will be sent out after casting to inform us of the size range needed. The costume designs along with the final rental prices will be finalized and published as soon as possible (by the end of 2023 at the latest).
For other character groups (civilians and Velians), players are expected to create their own costumes with the assistance of our costume guidelines. Costume guidelines will be published well in advance.
What to pack
What you need to bring:
Pillow and a sleeping bag or blanket+bedlinen
Earplugs, sleep mask etc.
Towel and other hygiene supplies
Medications and other essential personal items
Change of clothes
Comfortable shoes
Costume for your character (full or in part, depending on the character group)
Latex or similar semi-realistic melee weapon replicas (for characters that might carry one)
Any personal items your character might carry with them (pictures, wedding rings, lucky dice, etc.)
What we provide:
Rental jackets or overalls, a t-shirt (1 pc) (except for civilian + Velian characters)
Nerf guns and darts
Military equipment (tactical vests, helmets, etc.)
All plot related items (e.g. letters, rare artifacts etc.)
Documenting the game
Some of the ingame areas will have video surveillance during the runtime. These video streams will not be recorded. Video surveillance will cover all important areas of the ship, but sleeping areas or bathrooms will not have cameras. The video surveillance will serve the offgame monitoring needs of the organizers as well as the ingame needs of the ship’s internal security team.
There will also be several photographers present documenting the event (photos and possibly video). Participants can opt out of being photographed, and all photographs (also those taken by players) must be approved by the people in the photographs before publication.
Published photos and videos might be used in marketing of any future reruns, Illusia ry events, and as reference materials for any related talks, reports, and other similar purposes without further agreement. Participants may ask material where they are presented to be removed at any point.
Photographing and videotaping the event during in-game time is strictly limited to our own photography and documentation team. Players are welcome to take pictures and video during off-game time before and after the game as long as they ask for permission from all who will be visible on the photographs and/or video footage.
