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welcome – about game – authors – contact

WELCOME

Purges is a larp game for approximately forty players. In a single weekend, you will experience passionate celebrations, mandatory mourning, bold planning and insidious scheming, rousing public speeches, interrogations and executions. You will experience intense political purging, and we will make sure it will be ruthless and absurd.

While borrowing from the era of the Great Purge, we do not want to create a historically accurate game. Though these tragic events are widely known, the Stalinist purges serve mainly as a stage to share a story about the taste and volatility of power. This darkly comedic game was inspired by many totalitarian regimes, as well as modern Czech and European politics.

 

The game won’t be held at 2022.
Are you wondering what such Purges can look like? Check out these photo albums. Our reflection of the game and the feedback survey is here.

The game will run in spring 2027. Signups open on May 1, 2026.

Design document

Only a few days left until the Central Congress of the Party. While the Leader is busy working in his office, politicians from individual Soviet republics gather in his vicinity, together with artists, agitators, ideologues, academics, NKVD agents, soldiers and representatives of foreign Communist parties. They are eager to prove to the Congress that they fulfil the Leader’s will better than anyone else. They will be debating, preparing banners, making quick political decisions… and, once in a while, ideologues will receive a letter from the Leader’s office summarizing what the Leader considers to be best for the people. Then it will be time for self-critique, pointing out the others´ mistakes, quickly exchanging kompromat and hoping that this time, the men in leather jackets will not come for you. Vigilance is necessary! The real enemies of the revolution could be hiding anywhere and only utmost awareness can help us against the insidious actions of counter-revolutionaries and all the other kinds of traitors.

Characters

For the game, we will divide the characters into individual “working groups”, each with significantly different content. Some will draw up bold military plans, others will write poems or deliver speeches while others stage trials and prepare executions. Every group has a clear agenda deeply connected to what others are doing. At the same time everybody needs to be very aware of the current political atmosphere. Every single character is ambitious, corrupt in their own way and willing to do horrible things to advance their goals.

You will get relatively brief character sheets focused on their past relationships, actions and held political stances. We will also embellish these a little in the pre-game workshops, but the game is mainly structuralist in its approach to content and power. As in a proper political system, things are connected, everyone has a job to do and the conflicts and fun stem from the endless grinding of the political machine. And kaviar and vodka.

Playing style

We will stage five acts built around different Party Celebrations, each having a slightly different vibe and ideas. The chapters will be gradually shortening  and accelerating towards the finale. We would like to create a feverish spiral of madness, a danse macabre of ambition, ideals, lies and lost lives. But we also want to capture the poetic charm of it all: and we want a game where tears are saved for weeping over a great hero. As things get faster and more feverish, comrades get very emotional both in their on-stage, expressive hate against horrible traitors, and their tears for what was lost and unending love for the Leader.

 

How will we achieve that? You can read more about the mechanics of the game in the design document (here). You can also look forward to hospitals, gulags, executions and vodka.

How much

The game is volunteer-run and we very much believe in a horizontal approach to running games. Meaning that to have fun, you also need to invest yourself. We will do what we can to ensure you have a good time and we have great belief in your self-responsibility. Using the principles of group creative development, the game needs players´ direct and active involvement. And we certainly hope that if you will be able to help us clean the location after the event, you will.

The game costs 250 EUR. The price does not include a deposit of 50 EUR. We will be happy to return the deposit to you, as long as you come on time on Thursday and help with the cleanup on Sunday.

Practical and sign up- NEW

Purges will take place on 17.-19.10. 2025 In Terezín, Czechia. The venue has heated rooms and basic facilities (no showers), you will have options of hiring hotel rooms in a nearby hotel. 

The visual style of the game works with hyperbole and some basic theatre techniques. Players are expected to bring their own white shirts and red accessories, while the organisers will supply the more complicated part of the costumes (think military uniforms and NKVD coats).

Vegetarian food (with some meat options in buffets) is provided to the players, with menu being known 14 days in advance. We source the food from local business and will not be able to accomodate for individual changes in the menu, but you will be able to store your food in a fridge. During the whole event (including workshops) the event will be supported by a bar. As part of the design, there will be alcohol available throughout the event: you can read more on that in the design document in the part Vodka!. However, while drinking is an important part of building a better world with the Leader, being drunk is not an objective of the game and comrades that have had enough will be supplied just by non-alcoholic beverages.

Cancellation terms

  1. After the payment deadline, the cancellation fee is 10% of the ticket price.
  2. A month before the game or less, the cancellation fee rises to 50% of the ticket price.
  3. Two weeks before the game or less, the cancellation fee is 100% of the ticket price.
  4. If a paying replacement player is found for the cancelled spot, an amount higher than noted above can be returned – but only up to 90% of the ticket price; the 10% fee is always non-refundable.

OUR TEAM ★ AUTHORS

First instance of Purges was made by David František Wagner, Lucie Chlumská and Tomáš Fechtner.

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David František Wagner

lucka

Lucie Chlumská

tomas

Tomáš Fechtner

He is a political advisor, historian and author of games. He has already surpassed the existing larp production plan set for a human lifetime and continues to work for the larping’s greater good. He’s committed to meeting his productivity target of packing the Purges with laughter, tension and abrupt twists.
She is an HR manager, psychologist and author of games. For several years, she has been surpassing the labour productivity goals when it comes to writing and organizing larps, strenuously working to provide cultured life for the people. With Purges, she is committed to succeed and exceed when creating a new class of comrades: captivating, determined and passionate characters eager to celebrate the Leader. If they live long enough to attend the Party congress, that is.
He is a computer scientist who finally understood it was time to change sides and start creating larps instead of just playing them. His production target is to give the Purges an atmosphere so dense and so absurd that the gulag will feel like a holiday destination.

The 2025 remake is done by following comrades:

h

Hayley-Isabella Cawley

m

Michal Kunc

k

Kamila Tomášková

Hayley is an emergency doctor in Scotland as her day job, and sometimes moonlights as a writer / game designer / niche internet microcelebrity (to her shame). Her promise to the leader is to make The Party a memorable one!

Michal is a non-profit operations manager from Prague, musician and game enjoyer. His promise to the leader is that no plea of the people shall remain unanswered!

Kamila is a product owner and non-profit volunteer living in Prague who greatly enjoys larps and climbing. Her promise to the leader is to make sure all their wishes come true.

harry

Harry

adam

Adam

Harry is an actor and writer from England. His promise to the leader to keep everyone entertained, whether its a good idea or not.

Adam is a trader in the energetics industry and a former teacher with a big passion for games of all sorts. His promise to the leader is to make sure that all comrades know how to contribute to our common goal of building a better future.

The Purges team does not in any way support stalinism, fascism, opportunism, revanchism, corruption and all other ideologies/ political practices we satirise with Purges.

You can contact us on cistky@rolling.cz, we will be monitoring that at least once weekly.

OUR TEAM ★ AUTHORS

46523787_10215607908303999_8184949786219118592_n2

David František Wagner

He is a political advisor, historian and author of games. He has already surpassed the existing larp production plan set for a human lifetime and continues to work for the larping’s greater good. He’s committed to meeting his productivity target of packing the Purges with laughter, tension and abrupt twists.
lucka

Lucie Chlumská

She is an HR manager, psychologist and author of games. For several years, she has been surpassing the labour productivity goals when it comes to writing and organizing larps, strenuously working to provide cultured life for the people. With Purges, she is committed to succeed and exceed when creating a new class of comrades: captivating, determined and passionate characters eager to celebrate the Leader. If they live long enough to attend the Party congress, that is.
tomas

Tomáš Fechtner

He is a computer scientist who finally understood it was time to change sides and start creating larps instead of just playing them. His production target is to give the Purges an atmosphere so dense and so absurd that the gulag will feel like a holiday destination.

The game is organized by: Rolling, Association for the development of role-playing and education games, Fučíkova 283, 411 55 Terezín, Tax Identification Number: 02296802, registered at the Regional Court in Hradec Králové under ref. number L 8720.

Bank account:

  • IBAN: CZ6020100000002900910885
  • BIC/SWIFT: FIOBCZPPXXX
  • Account name: Rolling, o.s.
  • Bank address: Fio banka, a.s., V Celnici 1028/10, 117 21 Praha 1

Contact the team: cistky@rolling.cz.

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Web created by Grafická Huť 

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