Rome Playing Games (RPG)

Rome Playing Games: Rome discovers live-action gaming

Rome Playing Games (RPG) is a debut festival that brings an event entirely dedicated to gaming as a cultural experience to Rome for the first time in 2026. The festival is held at the Ex Cartiera Latina, the historic paper mill that now serves as the headquarters of the Appian Way Regional Park, at Via Appia Antica 42, one of the most evocative locations in the city of Rome. The initiative is conceived and produced by Larp Studio with the support of the Lazio Region and the collaboration of the Appian Way Park.

A festival of LARP, role-playing, and performance

The heart of RPG is LARP (live-action role-playing), where participants embody a character and live out the story firsthand. Alongside this, the festival features tabletop role-playing games, contemporary board games, participatory theater, collective storytelling, and musical sessions. The goal is to demonstrate how gaming can become an artistic language capable of sparking reflection on gender identity, ethical choices, and historical memory.

Edu-larps and civic themes

Several appointments are edu-larps, immersive experiences with an educational focus. Via Quattro Fontane takes players back to occupied Rome in 1944, confronting them with the moral choices of the Nazi occupation and reflections on memory; Il processo reconstructs the trial of Herodes Atticus in 161 AD; Utopia imagines a community that, after a collapse, must rebuild society through cooperation, conflict, and responsibility. The program also includes theatrical performances such as Il comandante Yoyò and Enea, and the concert Note ribelli: Echo.

The game library and space for everyone

For three days, the Ex Cartiera Latina hosts a game library for open play, a space to explore the languages of role-playing and contemporary board games, open to the curious, families, and enthusiasts alike. Access to all activities is free with reservation, a choice that makes the festival a cultural opportunity open to the entire city and the Lazio region.

A debut on the Appian Way

For its first edition, Rome Playing Games chooses a unique setting: the greenery of the Appian Way Park and the reclaimed industrial architecture of the Cartiera Latina. The festival also includes a pre-event (the Paper Week) and a closing appointment at the end of May, extending the experience beyond the main weekend and inaugurating a new gaming and performance tradition in the Capital.