Thanks to Lance Weiler and the rest of the DIY Days crew for helping us run a “bite-sized” version of Reality Ends Here/SCA Reality at this year’s conference.

The game as we ran it was very lightweight. We kicked things off by announcing in the conference program that a secret experience was afoot. We then left little black cards bearing the game logo in various locations around the venue. Everyone who knew about the game — initially just me, my co-designer Simon Wiscombe, and a handful of others — wore small pins bearing the game logo. Gradually, attendees noticed the logos and asked us what was going on. Doing so earned them special packets of game cards — and pins of their own. During the rare intervals in what was an extremely busy and inspiring event, we spotted attendees experimenting with different card arrangements and brainstorming project ideas:

The winning entry from the experience will be used as a special challenge for players of the real game at USC. We will post their work as soon as it is available and share it on the #diydays hashtag.

Congratulations to the winners, and thanks to all those who played!