The Curse of Writing Autobiographical Games

This essay details the personal experiences of dealing with cancer diagnosis and the subsequent translation of those experiences to the larp game The Curse (2013). Larp is simply a medium for storytelling, and popular narratives about BRCA mutations have left a vital angle out–that watching multiple family members sicken and die of cancer, that this fear of cancer, has a powerful and understandable effect on the decision-making process of patients. The Curse also shows the considerable emotional cost of near-constant cancer screening.