Since spinning up their FTL drives in 2019 the Helsinki, Finland larp Odysseus has become a legend in the live action role playing community. Over a hundred players supported by passionate volunteers embark on a multi-day mission on the ESS Odysseus, in an original story inspired by spacefaring Sci-Fi like Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek, and Stargate.
Before the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser launched, this was the experience in-the-know immersonauts were buzzing about, and the team behind the larp is looking to bring it back with an eye towards giving this labor of love a strong foundation so that even more adventurers can experience the story about “survival in the shadow of extinction.”
To that end they’ve put together an ambitious crowdfunding campaign via IndieGoGo, looking to raise €850,000, for a nine month run of Odysseus – First Light with ten runs in total starting in October of 2026 which would serve just over 1000 players. More importantly, the campaign would leave the team with a permanent home for the ESS Odysseus, with the ability to stage more instances of First Light, and get the team designing the next chapter: Way Home
The campaign, which offers €850 tickets to the experience, also has rewards for those who want to enhance their trip and those who just want to help a ragtag band of creators make something spectacular.
We checked in with Lead Producer and Narrative Designer Laura Kröger about the campaign which runs through April 16th, and which is almost a third of the way to its All-Or-Nothing goal.
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NO PROSCENIUM: Tell us a little bit about this Odysseus – First Light. What’s it about? What makes it immersive?
Laura Kröger: Odysseus - First Light is an epic scifi larp that takes 104 players to an incredible journey across the stars. Players step into the shoes of crew and passengers of a starship ESS Odysseus and over the course of 48 hours get to experience life inside a vast, fully interactive spaceship where every corridor, system, and detail is part of the story. When we say that it is a 360° spaceship experience we really mean it! Everything from the set pieces to lights to soundscape to interactive systems supports the illusion. When you initiate the jump from the bridge the entire ship responds.
Odysseus is a Finnish Style larp known for complex characters, intricate pre-written plots, and rich interpersonal drama that provide players with a strong narrative foundation.
Over six hundred players have already experienced this story. Odysseus has been run a total of six times in Helsinki, Finland in 2019 and 2024 by a fully volunteer organization. Now, we want to take the next step: to transform Odysseus into a permanent installation and open this epic space adventure to more players than ever before. If the crowdfunding succeeds we can bring humanity's last stand back to life and continue the journey of Odysseus beyond the first chapter.
NP: What is the inspiration for Odysseus in the first place?
LK: Odysseus was originally inspired by the early 2000 remake of Battlestar Galactica, more specifically episode 33. We wanted to create that sense of desperation and determination and what it would feel to be those characters making the decision that would determine the fate of humanity. While there are obvious references to Battlestar Galactica in Odysseus, we decided early on that we wanted to create a world and lore of our own. That gave us much more freedom to write not only the narrative of the larp but also the history of the world that slowly unfolds as the story progresses and intertwines with the decisions players are faced with during the larp.
NP: The First Light campaign is building off six successful runs of the Odysseus larp, what moved the team to start an ambitious campaign for a permanent installation?
LK: Odysseus is a massive project to run. In the past we did that with a crew of over 200 volunteers and the spaceship was built on an elementary school during a summer break. We built everything in 2,5 weeks, spent 3 weeks running the larp and then disassembled everything in just a few days. Thousands of hours of volunteer work, entire summer holidays spent to make this project come to life twice. For many of us it was the coolest thing we have ever had a privilege to be part of, but it was also beyond exhausting and after the second time it was clear that it wouldn’t be sustainable to keep doing it like that. The only way forward we could see was to make this a recurring event. To build a permanent space ship and make this a full-time job for the core crew and a part-time job for the run-time crew.
NP: Have you crowdfunded before? What are the stakes here for the project?
LK: This is the first time we are doing crowdfunding, and as far as we know it is also the first time that a larp project of this scale has attempted to move forward with crowdfunding. The stakes are high as it is pretty much now or never for us. It is not viable for us to keep doing this as volunteer work, so if we don’t reach our goal that is the end of Odysseus. We would love to keep telling this story, we truly believe it’s so amazing that everyone should experience it - a sentiment vast majority of our past players share with us. Our goal is to sell tickets in advance for 10 full runs, that would allow us to build a semi-permanent spaceship and time to expand on other immersive experiences as well as start writing the next chapter of the story of Odysseus and hopefully make it sustainable for us to keep running it beyond the first 10 runs.
NP: What do you think fans of immersive will find most interesting about Odysseus – First Light?
LK: “And what I found was not just a Larp. I got to experience a world, a story, a life in just two days. I felt like a main character in a sci-fi epic. It was hands down one of the most immersive and most remarkable experiences of my life.” … “Suffice to say Odysseus was unlike anything I’ve ever done. The level of immersion, the emotional depth of the experience. I cried, laughed, raged. I felt joy, relief, grief.” - Player from 2024 runs
Odysseus is far more than most immersive experiences. You step into a character on a living breathing spaceship and live two days in the middle of a desperate fight for survival. The larp runs for 48 hours without breaks and players work in shifts around the clock. The stakes keep rising and you truly feel like you are part of an epic scifi movie. It can get extremely intensive, and it is of course possible to step out and take breaks any time if you need them. We also have a full time player support crew on duty to help out whenever needed.
Unlike interactive theatre and other immersive experiences, where contact with performers is often restricted or forbidden, larp is a participatory form in which interaction and physical proximity with other players is expected. To ensure a safe experience for everyone, the game uses clear safety guidelines and mechanics, for example for modeling violent situations, which all players are required to follow.
NP: What are some of the perks on offer for backers?
LK: In addition to tickets we have a couple of digital items you can purchase to support us including 3D print files for miniature Odysseus and downloadable soundtrack with additional bonus track. A bit more exclusive rewards include Among the Stars - a private onboard photoshoot with professional photographer; Marked by Odysseus lets you take home a permanent memory with a small tattoo created by a professional artist from a curated selection of space themed designs; and Shipyard Access lets you follow the construction of the ship remotely through a live video session and an early virtual tour.
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