Redefining Art in RPGs

I am invited to a TEDxYouth conference in Beijing to talk about Redefining Art and of course I will take about the art I know best: Tabletop Roleplaying Games! This is not my first TED talk at this youth conference and the fact that they invited me back for the 4th time now is reassuring that they trust that I know what I am talking about.

In my presentation I will go over 4 different redefinitions in roleplaying games:

• the evolution of roleplaying games in general
• the evolution of storytelling and how roleplaying games redefined this artwork
• my personal evolution in my perception of games
• my personal evolution in creating game mechanics

All of these different parts go into a similar direction and I enjoy the personal part in this journey a lot. I'm sure you area ll aware of the evolution of games, how mechanics shifted from technical to narrative, how the line between storyteller and audience started to blurt further and further, and how you yourself started playing differently.

My personal evolution is something that goes with quite some self reflection and realizations of how I design and who I design for. This has shifted over the years and I don't shy away from the mistakes I made and the burnouts they caused. But all of this has made me a better designer and I am grateful for it. I'm not saying you need to experience hardship to become a better artist, but I say I was able to learn from these burnout moments.

Anyway, I am excited to move forward as an artist and keep pushing my creative borders - and all thanks to you!