theACTAPART
indie analog games by tayler stokes
as well as thoughts and musings on play
In 2011 I founded Ready, Set, Game PDX, a recurring story gaming event in Portland, Oregon. It was wildly successful, and in 2012 the Play Out Loud organization was build around RSGpdx. In 2013 I registered Play Out Loud as a business so that we could put on our annual "cozy-con," Technicolor Dreams. Being chief organizer for Play Out Loud has been supremely rewarding, even if it is utterly exhausting at times.
I dawdled in indie game design for years before I really got into the indie story gaming scene, but it never really went anywhere. That is, until GameChef 2012, when I merged my early adulthood interest in the writings of Carlos Castaneda with a ton of new play experiences and wound up with the first draft of BRUJO. Since then I haven't really been able to stop.
It wasn't until the spring and summer of 2013 that I really discovered freeform games in the traditions of Nordic LARP and Jeepform. Looking back at works like BRUJO, which is bleed-heavy and empathy driven, it's pretty clear that I was unknowingly in pursuit of intense freeform experiences all along. To this day nothing gets me excited quite like freeform.
About
I am an orchestral tubist by training, and my experiences as a professional musician have had a considerable influence on my worldview. But that's not really me, anymore. I'm going back to school for something very distant from music in the near future.
I have also worked in domestic violence intervention, and as a result, I am an outspoken feminist and well tuned into abuse and poverty issues. These subjects resonate with me, and the sum of these experiences influence my perspective at least as much as my formal education.
What else? I can't seem to get over beer tourism, Pink Floyd, or my cat Harold.
You can get in contact with me at playoutloudpdx@gmail.com, or through any of the social media platforms below.