Join us at Convergence on July 2nd, 2026
The warm hum of a CRT monitor is drowned out by the scream of a dial-up modem. As Internet access becomes ubiquitous, people with obscure sexual interests are beginning to find one another in anonymous forums. A cursor floats over a hyperlink to looner-landing private forums 18+ only.
On one bulletin board service, a group of people connect over their common sexual interest in balloons. Who are the people behind the keyboard? What nascent community do they form, and how does it change when they meet in person for the first time?
What
POP! is a live-action game about online communities. Specifically, it’s about an online community of people who love and fetishize latex balloons.
Players will immerse into the warm, soothing atmosphere of a nostalgic Internet via private messenger, forum posts, and chat rooms. At the end of play, the characters will meet for for the first time at an in-person meet-up event, which might be a joyful revelation or an awkward trainwreck. While this game is about a very specific community, the themes of finding belonging are universal.
Players: 8 to 12 players
Duration: 3 hours
Designed by Alex Roberts
Organized by Jon Cole and Michelle Hofeldt
When
Thursday July 2nd
8:30 – 11:30pm
Where
POP! will take place at Hyatt Regency Minneapolis at 1300 Nicollet Mall
Minneapolis, MN 55403.
Tickets
Unlike most of our other events, this game is held inside of a ticketed fan convention. In order to play you must be attendee of Convergence, be 18+, and show up to the room the convention assigns the game to at run time.
Play Style
The majority of the larp is spent in a world of text based interaction, represented by large pieces of paper throughout the playspace. It has a retro ’net surfin’ feeling—players are formless, disembodied, but connected to other people in strange and exciting ways. Towards the end, characters will make contact in the real world at a meetup event, which might be stilted and awkward, or sweet and joyful.
If you’re able to bring your headphones, we’ll have a synthwave playlist that you can stream while participating in the forums.
Accessibility
Our play space is level and open with wide doors. Seating is available. We will not be using any spaces that are only accessible by stairs.
An important part of the game involves moving between large pieces of paper and writing on them for other players to read.
Content advisory
Characters may talk about sexual experiences and feelings, or flirt via instant messenger. No balloons will be present and none of the characters will have sex in game.
This event is a recreational live action role-playing game, intended to tell a compelling story for its participants. It is not a kink, fetish, or sex event, though people from those communities are very welcome to attend. This larp is intended to be a safe and non-judgmental space for balloon fetishists and non-fetishists alike. We do not tolerate any shaming of risk-aware consensual sexual practices.
Costumes
No costuming is required or expected.
Covid policy
Unlike our other events where we set our own covid policy, at Convergence masking is not required. The convention does provide free N95s as well as strongly recommending masking and vaccination, but you can realistically expect that most spaces at the convention will have maskless people, including this event.
Contact
Contact us with any questions or concerns!
Photo Credits
Photos by Christiaan Colen, Georgia Mashford, and sjjillan.