Honey and Hot Wax

by Sharang Biswas (Editor), Lucian Kahn (Editor), Naomi Clark (Introduction)

Sex is…

…exploring your partner’s body like an adventurer in a surreal landscape

…experimenting at a BDSM party in search of your perfect kink match

…helping your lover reach new heights of pleasure…with your vampire bite

…a confusing yet exciting gossip topic for slumber parties

…masturbating with balloons and talking about it in a chat room

…not gay if it’s with your bro

…almost everything you do, if you’re hosting an alien symbiote

…difficult to describe using only a plate of sandwiches

Honey & Hot Wax is an anthology of games about sex by a diverse group of 10 designers, edited by Lucian Kahn and Sharang Biswas. From games that merely talk about sex, to larps that feature sex acts, these games will challenge how you think about roleplaying, sexuality, and human relationships. The anthology includes a foreword by game designer Naomi Clark of Consentacle and a chapter on safety and consent by Maury Brown.

138 pages, ebook

Published April 1, 2020

Reviews

[Cecilia Tan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fabulous collection of "let's pretend" games that groups of people can play, with sex as a theme. Some of the games involve genuine sex acts, while others involve symbolic contact (i.e. touching palms equals kissing, entwining fingers is french kissing with tongue, etc...) or wordplay (as in those where the characters talk without ever referring to sex directly, and always having to hint at it or use metaphors to communicate). The introduction by Naomi Clark is thought-provoking on its own, and the book includes one of the best introductions to the whole concept of active consent I've ever seen. It seems simple but it's such a powerful concept: that when we play a game (any game, baseball, Monopoly, etc) we consent with the other players to follow the rules, and when someone doesn't follow the rules it ruins the game for everyone. Now apply that concept to sex, and the ways that healthy consent sets rules, including what's out of bounds. When someone breaks consent, it ruins the sex for everyone. The scenarios for role playing are varied. Some are specifically playing with power exchange, as in a game where some characters are designated as dominants and some as submissives, while others are more fanciful, or even in a fantasy world. Whether you call them "parlor games" "parlor larps" "group games" or what, each of the games in the anthology is designed to be played in a single session (ranging from 2 to 5 hours). These writers and game designers are keenly aware they are distilling emotion into powerful packages. I can't wait until the pandemic ends so I can try some of these in real life, and I note some of them can be adapted to online play... hmm, I may need to buy copies for a few people in my life!