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Alternate reality game

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An alternate reality game is a cross media game that deliberately blurs the line between the in-game and out-of-game experiences, often being used as a marketing tool for a product or service. While games may primarily be centered around online resources, often events that happen inside the game reality will "reach out" into the players' lives in order to bring them together. Elements of the plotline may be provided to the players in almost any form, some of those used have been:

  • e-mail
  • websites, both those obviously connected with the game and those innocent looking - often where the bulk of the game lies, these sites provide puzzles in many forms, e.g. cryptography
  • phone calls to a player's home, cell or work phone
  • land mail
  • newspaper articles or classifieds
  • chat/Instant messaging and so on - the games have been known to initiate conversation
  • IRC channels
  • real world artifacts related to the game in play
  • real world events utilizing actors who interact with the players who attend

These games always have a specific goal of not only involving the player with the story and/or fictional characters but of connecting them to each other. Many game puzzles can be solved only by the collective and collaborative efforts of multiple players.

Alternate reality games are usually earmarked by a large game-reality in the form of multiple websites, all of which take themselves as being totally real. In fact, sometimes it is difficult to tell if a website is fictional or not. These websites form the foundation of the game's universe, and are usually the primary storytelling vehicle, although the various media listed above will be used as well, creating a situation where the game's alternate reality and the real world collide.

Important to alternate reality games is the concept of "this is not a game." To be most effective, these games don't advertise themselves as such, and never really admit to being a game at all. The mystery of what's going on and who is behind it all is a major factor, as is the general thrill of discovery (one website leads to another, and another, etc.) for the players.

Admittedly, an alternate reality game is a difficult thing to define concisely. For further explanation:

History and examples of ARGs

|42 Entertainment]] previously founded leading RPG company FASA in 1980.

  • Other roots include reader-influenced online fiction sites. The first of these was the all-text QuantumLink Serial by Tracy Reed on AOL (then called Quantum Computer Services), which debuted in 1988, and was played out in online chat rooms, emails and traditional narrative. The series also went by the name The AppleLink Serial and The PC-Link Serial on those services before they were all unified under the AOL brand when Quantum changed its name. After each week's chapter was published, users wrote to author Reed suggesting how they could be part of the story. Each week Reed chose one to a handful of users on each of the three services and wrote them into the story, depicting how they interacted with the fictional characters. The project was personally greenlighted by AOL founder Steve Case and produced by Kathi McHugh. Later titles, the most famous of which was The Spot added photos and video to the stories, but typically featured less user interaction.
  • Wizards of the Coast developed some of the first ARGs (before the term was coined) to promote the collectable card game Netrunner in 1996. The first "Webrunner" game, Webrunner: The Hidden Agenda, cast players as futuristic hackers breaking into the Futokora Corporation's computers. The sequel Webrunner II: The Forbidden Code turned the tables, casting players as security agents defending against hackers. Wizards did several more such games in the late 1990s for its games BattleTech and Magic: The Gathering.
  • The first wildly successful ARG was a game developed to promote the movie A.I. by a small team at Microsoft. At its peak, this game was being played simultaneously by many thousands of users, and created something of a cultural phenomenon when it was released; it was referred to by its developers (and now by players, as well) as "The Beast", and is considered the granddaddy of the genre it created.
  • One of the earliest large-scale examples of this was the EA game known as Majestic. Though the game itself suffered commercial failure and had significant problems, it remains a useful initial case study for the genre. While development on Majestic began before "The Beast" was launched, Majestic was made available to the public at the tail end of this A.I.-related campaign. Change Agents Out of Control was an early ARG that actually grew from the demise of Majestic.
  • Lockjaw was a game written by former Cloudmakers and was one of the first successful independent ARGs.
  • In September 2002, ABC brought alternate reality gaming to the television screen with the show Push, Nevada. Produced by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, the show created a fictional city in Nevada, named Push. When advertising the show, they advertised the city instead, with billboards, news reports, company sponsors, and other realistic life-intruding forms. During each episode of the show, highly cryptic clues would be revealed on screen, while other hidden clues could be found on the city's website. Unfortunately, the show was cancelled mid-season, and all of the remaining clues were released to the public. Clever watchers eventually figured out that the show would still be paying out its $1 million prize during Monday Night Football. The last clue was revealed during halftime, prompting those fortunate enough to have solved the puzzle to call a telephone number. The first person to call received $1 million.
  • A more recent ARG (2004) is the I Love Bees (also known as Haunted Apiary) ARG, which was developed in relation to the Xbox game Halo 2 and set in the vast fictional universe that has grown around the Marathon-Halo franchise. This ARG departed from the traditional puzzle-led form to be more story-led. the Haunted Apiary is currently regarded to have been the most successful ARG to date, in terms of audience size and participation. Its authors, who also created The Beast, had in the interim founded an ARG design and development company, 42 Entertainment.
  • Likely in response to the Haunted Apiary, 2Advanced Studios developed another ARG, Channel 51, which was centered around a fictional company called Orbis Labs. This ARG was used as a promotional vehicle for Nintendo's GameCube game Metroid Prime 2: Echoes.
  • Metacortechs was a game related to The Matrix. At first glance, the website appeared to be a virtual reality company, but as players dug deeper, it got much more sinister.
  • Acheron - Could you decide? Players were led on a rough and tumble adventure to locate Jake, a graduate assistant at New River University. Along the way, they discover a story of intrigue, time travel, and betrayal that caught everyone by surprise.
  • October 2004, the ReGenesis Extended Reality game launched in tandem with the Canadian television series ReGenesis. Clues and stories from the series sent players online to stop a bioterrorist attack.
  • March 29, 2005, The Art of the Heist launched. Developed as a promotional ARG for Audi, The Art of the Heist took things to a new level with multiple realworld events/missions and extensive media placement.
  • April 2005, Perplex City began in earnest, after a years' worth of teaser/previews. Perplex City is currently still playing.
  • September 24, 2005, a poker-themed ARG called Last Call Poker launched. It is believed to be 42 Entertainment's first major ARG since I Love Bees, and features both online poker play and cemetery-based live poker tournaments across the country. It is currently playing.

Terminology

  • ARG - the abbreviation for "alternate reality game", coined by players of the Lockjaw game
  • ARGonaut - a term sometimes used by players of ARGs to refer to themselves
  • The Beast - the promotional game for the movie A.I.
  • Beasting - to play an ARG (deprecated)
  • Cloudmakers - the original group that took on The Beast. They are also credited with coining most of the terminology.
  • Curtain - the layers of plot, technology and social contract between the players and the PuppetMasters
  • Guide - a narrative of the experiences of gameplay, including the process of clue discovery and puzzle solving.
  • PuppetMasters - the usually secret group that controls an ARG (usually referred to as "PMs")
  • Rabbit hole - the initial page or clue that drives the player into the game.
  • Search Opera - A type of ARG that behaves more as a scavenger hunt, where players use search_engines to find clues and solve puzzles relevant to the ARG
  • Trail - a reference list of sites, clues and other items found during gameplay

Main resources

  • Alternate Reality Gaming Network - the hub of a network of sites dedicated to Alternate Reality Gaming. News, reviews, commentary and resources, plus an opt-in mailing list to be notified of new games as they are discovered.
  • unforums - the genre's largest message boards dedicated to ARGs (since September 2002). Parent site: unfiction.com.
  • cloudmakers.org - the group founded to play/solve the first Alternate Reality Game, "The Beast" (promotion for AI: Artificial Intelligence).
  • deaddrop.us - dedicated to alternate reality gaming with a heavy focus on PuppetMastering and behind the scenes content.
  • Immersion Unlimited - community of players who build and play games for their own enjoyment.

Other relevant sites

  • Avant Game - A compilation of articles about alternate reality and pervasive gaming, and project notes, from Jane McGonigal, ARG PH.D. and I Love Bees puppetmaster
  • Dave Szulborski - - homepage of Dave Szulborski, the creator of five ARGs and the author of This Is Not A Game: A Guide to Alternate Reality Gaming, a resource book about ARGs.
  • The Dionaea House - Horror Alternate Reality Game used to promote a movie screenplay.
  • Immersive Gaming - - home of This Is Not A Game: A Guide to Alternate Reality Gaming by Dave Szulborski, a book covering the Theory, History, and Making of an ARG.
  • Ong's Hat - TINAG credits the Ong's Hat story as possibly being the first ARG.
  • 4orty 2wo entertainment - the company responsible for The Beast and Haunted Apiary
  • Mr Gamer - Mr Gamer organises several ARGs each month
  • Sean Stewart - SciFi/Fantasy writer who was also the lead writer for The Beast and I Love Bees
  • Xenophile Media - Developers of the Regenesis Extended Reality Game (tied with the TV series ReGenesis)
  • Acheron Project Team - Many on this team have gone on to PM numerous other commercial and grassroots projects.
  • Mind Candy - The Team/Company behind Perplex City.
  • Shaun's Livejournal - A new alternate reality experience that appears to be in development.
  • Missing: Since January - A PC-based game that uses several websites as well as the player's email address to further the storyline.
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