I've heard stories about relatives emigrating to the US as if it was some sort of promised land. I've watched American cartoons and dreamt of the toys shown in commercial breaks. The American Dream was soon to come.

30+ years later, Poland is America's little brother. I speak English at work and make products primarily for the American market. I'm logged into Facebook, Netflix and Steam: almost all the media I consume is produced in the States. US military bases defend Polish soil, and Polish politicians take turns sucking up to their American counterparts. Polish workers toil in Amazon fulfillment centers and supermarkets throw away thousands of tons of food each year; but poverty has not disappeared. Instead, the disparity between the rich and the poor has grown dramatically since my childhood. Half of all Poles have no savings or have a debt that exceeds their wealth. Over the years I've learned that the American Dream is exactly as it sounds: a dream, and nothing more.

In the last decade, some American authors were quite honest about the shortcomings of their country. I've seen dozens of movies, TV series and read dozens of books portraying disenfranchisement, poverty, crime, violence, substance abuse, pollution, exploitation, racism and rise of the alt-right in the United States, to name just a few pressing social issues America has yet to deal with. Works of art such as Nomadland (2017 book, 2020 movie) or Hillbilly Elegy (2016 book, 2020 movie) finally sparked an idea in my head: why can't I make a LARP about it?

I make video games for a living and I've noticed how it took decades for them to be considered a serious artistic medium by the mainstream. LARPs still await such recognition, despite the fact that many serious LARPs have already been produced. I decided that I want to help it happen and make a serious blockbuster LARP of my own. The participatory nature of LARPs make them even more suitable to convey a stirring message, as compared with other media.

Tackling difficult social issues in an American setting is a pretty obvious choice from the perspective of a Polish LARP enthusiast and designer. Thanks to Hollywood and the absolute dominance of American culture, the US is the default setting for many works of fiction. I've played many video games, tabletop RPGs and LARPs set in a fictionalized version of America: a sort of a fairytale neverland that everyone seems to be familiar with. It's telling that our team initially wanted to make a game similar to the hit series Stranger Things, before scrapping the concept and deciding to create a mature, slice-of-life work of art instead. The US also proved to be a comfortable setting to explore difficult topics for Polish participants. It's far-from-home (literally and figuratively) enough to provide an escapist experience, while at the same time they can confront real social issues present in everyday life. Would Polish players prefer to explore those social issues in a LARP set in contemporary, rural Poland? I honestly don't think so: it would be an experience both blandly mundane and cripplingly familiar.

The fact that ordinary Americans experience poverty just like Polish people do, isn't really a new concept for Polish participants - they are as accustomed to contemporary US culture as I am. Yet the contrast between the promise of the American Dream and everyday reality of American life makes the message of the LARP even more powerful. The United States is, after all, the sole superpower and self-proclaimed world leader. Pointing out its failures seems only fair, especially when our country, as a whole, is still both deeply fascinated by and dependent on the United States.

The article reflects the view of the entire team.