Comments on: A Game by any other Name…

By: Wortfeld » Operation: Sleeper Cell | Spielen und die Realität verändern.

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 12:46:04 +0000

[...] Cell ist ein Alternate Reality Game (ARG), auch wenn dieser Begriff inzwischen für ein großes Sammelsurium steht: Ein Spiel also, das nicht nur am Computer stattfindet, sondern auch in der Realität [...]

By: Michael Durwin

Michael Durwin — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 20:33:27 +0000

ARGs require a few things to fit the catagory:
A Mystery and Clues – it doesn’t need to be a whodunit, but it shouldn’t make everything about it obvious.

Suspension of Reality – any promotion that admits it’s a promotion, is not an ARG. Participants WANT to suspend reality and immerse themselves in an ARG. It should maintain that it is non-fiction throughout.

Puppet Master – a promotion or game that is simply posted with no guiding hand, is just a game or a promo. There needs to be someone “behind the curtain” dropping clues, guiding discussion, leading participants down a path. Even if the path is effected by users, the Puppet Master must make that decision.

User Interaction – users should be able to guess and hypothesize, exchange clues and links. This helps build the community which is what you want.

An ARG need not involve multiple mediums, but it helps create a more engaging interaction. It should be centered around an online experience if only to allow users to interact with each other.

By: GameCamp ‘08 « Just Another Meme Vector

GameCamp ‘08 « Just Another Meme Vector — Sun, 04 May 2008 22:57:38 +0000

[...] ARGs isn’t the established form of ARG as distributed entertainment experience. Heck, even the guys who make them are starting to think that there’s a lot more to ARGs than following the pattern laid down by [...]

By: Playtime » Blog Archive » Revue de web du 4 novembre

Playtime » Blog Archive » Revue de web du 4 novembre — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 11:41:14 +0000

[...] Définir les jeux de “réalité alternée” : quel point commun y a-t-il entre un remake de Pacman dans les rues de New York et une simulation de crise pétrolière, telle que World without oil ? L’auteur de la note cherche à trouver un dénominateur commun à ce genre, de plus en plus prisé, qu’est la réalité alternée. if (GetCookie(’wordpressuser’) == ‘playtime’) { document.write(’04 novembre 2007 Publié Revue de web | Modifier | Lien permanent ‘); } else { document.write(’04 novembre 2007 Publié Revue de web | Lien permanent ‘); } [...]

By: Margaret

Margaret — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 02:02:33 +0000

I can see what Andy’s saying but I think that what is required of players of ‘ARGs’ can’t simply be defined as intelligence. As Adrian says, the one unifying factor of these games is that designing them ‘requires an open, adventurous and imaginative mind’. I would say that not only do all ‘ARGs’ require an adventurous, imaginative approach from designers, but they also require creative, daring, out-of-the-box responses from their players. Both designers and players have to be willing to experiment with anything and everything, which is why ARGs can simultaneously make wide-use of everyday media and then expect people to chase helicopters, both things that you’d never see in a PC game! And the best bit is that because the game play is so unique and untested, players can end up confounding the designers with how they respond to certain tasks. It’s the people on both sides of the curtain making that extra effort which makes ARGs so special.

By: Kristen

Kristen — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 20:18:40 +0000

I think you’ve done a great job breaking this down.

Personally, although I understand the human need to want to classify something, I think it would be a shame to put parameters on the genre with a hard definition, since game experience for both the player and the creator can be so fluid. Part of the joy of ARGing is the feeling that the course of the story can change due to either player or creator.

Eventually, yes, sub-genres will crystallize and gain definition, but for now, I am glad to see ARGs going mainstream and being recognized as a new form of play. Okay, well, somewhat mainstream. More than they were in, as you say, 2001-2004. Meh, you know what I mean. I feel like NOW people understand just exactly what I did for 6 months in 2004!

By: Adam Crowe

Adam Crowe — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 17:07:43 +0000

Area/Code having been using the term “Big Games”. They have a Big Games manifesto here:
http://playareacode.com/manifesto.html

By: Adrian Hon

Adrian Hon — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 16:49:56 +0000

Andy: While that’s not a bad definition for some ARGs to aspire to, I think that there are still interesting things you can do that don’t require that sort of brainpower – at least, not at the start of the experience. In many ARGs you have a gradient of experience where you can participate to different degrees – at the high end, yes, you need to put a lot in and be smart, but at the low end I would hope that anyone could play and get something out of it.

Guy: Heh, yes. I’m sure there are better terms, but it’s going to be difficult for them to catch on at this lateish stage.

By: Guy P

Guy P — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 16:31:46 +0000

I always rather liked “avant-game” as a bucket term, although I can see why one might not want to use it in a commercial context :-)

By: Andy

Andy — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 16:03:02 +0000

I do think there’s another factor that links a lot of these are-they-aren’t-they ARGs – you need a brain to play them. In fact, often you need a brain to understand why you might even want to play them.

Part of that is obviously down to how puzzles and in-depth research have been integral to most ARGs to date. But it’s also down to the same sort of dilemma you’re talking about. Those of us who ‘get’ ARGs as a concept then find ourselves questioning the boundaries of the concept. But there’s plenty of people who don’t get that far – they can’t get their heads around the very idea.

So, if you’re looking for factors that link games which might or might not be ARGs (apart from whether they allow the player to dip into an *alternative* reality, as opposed to changing some of the rules of this one) then here’s one:

An ARG is a game that requires a greater-than-average intellectual and imaginative wattage from its players if they are to get from the experience as much as the creator hopes they will.

Which doesn’t bode well for the chances of them ever going mainstream…