In the hills of Appalachia, a unique gathering is about to unfold. Once a year, legendary creatures like Bigfoot and the Mothman — known collectively as “Cryptids” — convene at CryptidCon. It’s a chance to settle differences, discuss pressing issues, and forge unlikely friendships. 

This live-action role-playing game (LARP) for four to 40 players introduces strategies used by Remake Learning to collaborate across professions and unlock the power of groups to achieve goals bigger than any single person could on their own. Players join cryptid factions, each with distinct traits, goals, and perspectives, learning why the monsters in all of us can make it hard to work together, and how to overcome that challenge.

The game’s blend of role-playing, storytelling, and strategy demonstrates the challenges of working with people with different training backgrounds and sets the stage for participants to develop creative solutions.

We are currently developing a second version of Monsters of Appalachia that works for conference and workshop timetables.

Lead Game Designers
Kaitlin Heller, Elaine Fath

Faculty Lead
Jessica Hammer 

Art
Vivian Young

Original Research and Prototyping
Vivian Young, Lanning Zhang, Varun Girdhar, Jiaqi Zhang

Narrative Game Design Consultation
Meg Baker, Gabriel De Los Angeles, Avonelle Wing 

Special Thanks
Tyler Samstag, Remake Learning
Design DNA from Seven Wonders, Wanderhome, Larps from the Factory, Atonement (In Nomine LARP by Chris Hall and Jessica Hammer), the Atlantis prototype by Lanning Zhang and spring 2023 student cohort, The Bureau prototype by Jiaqi Zhang and spring 2023 cohort.

Platform
Analog
Live Action Role Playing Game
Collaborative Storytelling Game