Extra Lives: The Interactive Video Game Concert

Extra Lives: The Interactive Video Game Concert makes its Edinburgh Festival Fringe debut this August at Gilded Balloon Patter House (Other Yin), bringing its most ambitious run yet: three rotating live-scored adventures where the audience becomes the main character. Billed as the world’s first live-scored audience RPG, Extra Lives blends live music, comedy, storytelling and retro video game visuals into an inclusive 70-minute choose-your-own-adventure story and concert. At key moments, audiences vote on what happens next, sending the show down different paths while a live band scores the story in real time with live renditions of classic video game music from the ‘80s through today. The result is part concert, part nostalgia, part comedy adventure, part communal game night. Audiences don’t just watch the hero’s journey; they control it… and might even save the day. For its Fringe debut Extra Lives will present three different adventures from 5–31 August. Opening weekend (and every Tuesday and Friday during Fringe) features Extra Lives’ Summer Vacation, thegroup’s most popular introductory story: a fast-moving adventure-comedy where a dream vacation goes wrong after the audience accidentally oversleeps. Mondays and Thursdays feature The Land of Eternal Spring, the sci-fi/fantasy tale that launched Extra Lives globally in 2022; audiences escape robot overlords and discover a world beyond their wildest dreams. Wednesdays and Saturdays feature a brand-new interactive adventure created especially for this year’s Fringe. Every Sunday is Story-Select Sunday, where the audience chooses which story to challenge that night. Each tale has more than 60 variations depending on the audience’s in-game choices, leading to unexpected story branches and even special endings. “Extra Lives isn’t really about the music, the lights or the visuals; it’s about the audience,” says creator and guitarist Michael Kohl. “Every crowd is different so no two Extra Lives shows are exactly alike. It’s even possible for the audience to lose and get a ‘Game Over’… but we try our best to steer them clear!” Since debuting to a sold-out Hollywood audience in 2022, Extra Lives has toured internationally across 15+ countries, with interactive adventures presented in five languages across North America, Europe, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. The company has appeared at Game Developers Conference, London MCM Comic Con, Nordic Game, Portland Retro Gaming Expo, Game On Expo, NZGDC, MAGWest, Los Angeles Comic Con and Nerd Nite events around the world. Audiences and presenters have described Extra Lives as “the definition of interactive experience,” “a one-of-a-kind performance,” and “an unparalleled and completely original spectacle.” The Drill Magazine’s Rick Bickerstaff called the live show “the stuff of legends,” while one audience member described it as “the ecstasy and joy of video games with a whole crowd of people who love them just as much as you do.” Designed for gamers and non-gamers alike, Extra Lives combines the nostalgia of classic console games with the immediacy of live performance. Every choice changes the story, and with dozens of possible variations across its adventures, no two audiences get exactly the same show. At its heart, Extra Lives is built around a simple promise: that every audience member, regardless of age, gender, cultural background or identity, gets to touch a positive piece of childhood.