2001 AI Movie poster What is an ARG An immersive storytelling experience Multimedia Blogs youtube forums phone calls text messages audio GPS IM gameswithingames puzzles discussions twitter ID: 458495
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Slide1
The Beast
2001, A.I. Movie poster:Slide2Slide3
What is an ARG?
An immersive storytelling experienceMultimedia:
Blogs, youtube, forums, phone calls, text messages, audio, GPS, IM, games-within-games, puzzles, discussions, twitter, facebook
, apps, collaboration,
meetups
, text, secret ops…
The
real world is the publishing medium
Collaborative
“No one knows everything, everyone knows something, all knowledge resides in humanity”
Pierre Levy,
Collective IntelligenceSlide4
Why this kind of game?
“All my game career I’ve been looking for ways to make game stories more immersive, and a key way to do this is to reduce the number or the height of the leaps of abstraction between the player and the story. By leaps of abstraction I mean “things you have to do different because it’s a game.” Using a controller is an abstractive leap, using button combos is another, and so on. Each leap makes the game less immersive and leaves potential players behind as a result.
So when I came to Alternate Reality Games in late 2004, it was like coming home. There’s no controller, no avatar, nothing between you and the game. So I just knew I had to start working in that area.”
-Ken
EklundSlide5
Example: I Love Bees
2004, promoted Halo 2Slide6
Example: The Dark Knight
2008, http://www.firstshowing.net/2009/02/26/viral-recap-the-dark-knights-why-so-serious-campaign/
Slide7
Vocabulary
“Rabbit Hole”: The method of an ARG’s launch
“Puppet Master” (PM): A person running an ARG“This is not a game”: Many ARGs don’t explicitly admit they are games.Slide8
Tiers of play
Source:
http://42entertainment.com/see.html
Slide9
Real-world crossoverSlide10
Anatomy of a puzzle
Mysterious audio file:Slide11
One spectrograph later…Slide12
Anatomy of a live eventSlide13Slide14Slide15
Synchronous vs. Asychronous
Players can come together
Players can collaborate apart
ORSlide16
‘Viral’ vs. ‘Experience’ vs. ‘Game’
Same tools used in all three
‘Viral’ is often a one-time event or production‘Experience’ is a trail of puzzles & interactions, linear, repeatable
‘Game’ is more collaborative, longer termSlide17
Why participate?
Swag!RecognitionImmersion
‘Wow’ factorInteresting storiesSlide18
CommunitySlide19
ARGfest
:
http://2011.argfestocon.com/Slide20
Serious Game: Year Zero
2007, Nine Inch Nails
Civil ResistanceSlide21
Serious Game: World Without Oil
2007, non-promotionalhttp://worldwithoutoil.org/
Asychronous, collaborative, explicitly educationalWorked on a limited budgetLesson plans:
http://worldwithoutoil.org/metateachers.htmSlide22
Serious game: Skeleton Chase
IU Bloomington, Fall 2008Structured around physical
fitnessSlide23
Serious Game: Ghosts of a Chance
Smithsonian, 2008
www.GhostsofaChance.com Final report:
http://ghostsofachance.com/GhostsofaChance_Report2.pdf
Slide24
Serious Game
:Should Brandon and Nicole get Engaged?
UNC, 2010moviestar2b.blogspot.com/
http://www.youtube.com
/user/
ShBANGE
More info:
http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1878335.1878376&coll=DL&dl=GUIDE&CFID=15009796&CFTOKEN=80479239
Slide25
Serious Game
:Urgent Evoke
Online, 2010
http://www.urgentevoke.com
Repeatable!
Story?Slide26
Experience
Vs.
StorySlide27
Tangential Learning
Expose a player to new ideas and potential for learning, without forcing it on them
(source: http://www.edge-online.com/blogs/the-power-tangential-learning ) ARGs can take it even further: learn new skills along the waySlide28
So you want to play an ARG…
Brief Experience:
www.Love-Resurrected.comCommunity:Unforums
:
http://forums.unfiction.com/forums/
www.ARGN.comSlide29
So you want to
make
an ARG...
Allow
far
more time than you think
Complete everything in advance
Target a core audience to start
Structure around the tiers of play
Story is key
Monitor your community of players