Roleplay

Roleplaying allows people to leave their lives behind and inhabit a new character and persona. These personas will be very different from the person in question with unique backgrounds, ideals and dreams. It has links to improvisational theatre, historical re-enactments and computer games. This means that it is popular with many people from many different disciplines and also means something different to different people.



One form of roleplay is in video games. Roleplaying is a specific genre of computer games known as RPGs (Role Playing Games) in which the player takes control of a character and their backstory. The way in which you play as the character will depend upon the type of character you are and this will in turn shape the game that you play, leading to different outcomes. There is more to it of course with various different forms of roleplaying games available from fantasy based ones to others based in science fiction. However, this does not change the fact that they are a highly popular form of entertainment.

However you view roleplaying, it is a popular activity and many who take part consider themselves to be ‘actors’. With its links to theatre this is an apt description and will make it a widely accepted form for years to come.