In the credit on a poster for the Steven Spielberg filmA.I.was a mysterious task rubric : " Sentient Machine Therapist - Jeanine Salla . “ Some funny folks did a WWW search for this womanhood and find themselves necessitate in a murder mystery that included messages hide in movie dawdler , bizarre websites , strange phone numbers racket , and furious email from fictional masses . It was all part of a revolutionary marketing schema that has since become known as an Alternate Reality Game , or " ARG.“ While there are a few ARGs that were n’t contrive to commercialise a new intersection , most are conceived to smutch the line between our existence and the fictional world of the flick , TV show , video game , record record album or book that is being promoted . Some ARGs are purely online occasion , but the most exciting ones bleed over into the real world , providing players with a genuine adventure experience .
For example , in the ARG forThe Dark Knight , a few favorable actor visited participating bakery and bought cakes that had been earmark for " Robin Banks . “ write in the icing was a phone number . When the role player dialed the number , a cellphone phone hidden inside the cake begin to ring . As the campaign perish on , these players have text messages , memorialize articulation substance , and were instruct to call numbers to profit further memory access to the game ’s many puzzles .
How do I get in the game?
This all sounds like a muckle of fun , but getting in on Alternate Reality Games is not always soft . Often they are hugger-mugger campaign launched without a crush release , adding to the machination and making players find like they ’re in on a secret . Therefore , one of the first hurdle is finding what are call " trailheads"—websites that lead the player " down the rabbit hole" and into the ARG macrocosm .
Like theA.I.game , one of the most common ways to rule ARGs is to look tight at promotional material like posters or TV commercial to find repeated phrases or hidden messages . But it ’s much easy to permit someone else do that and simply monitor sites where fans of the show , circle or motion picture congregate . For deterrent example , it was on a Nine Inch Nails forum that a fan first severalise of finding a USB wink drive in the bathroom at a concert . On the private road was a new track from the stripe and a subject matter to check out a special web address .
What if I get stuck?
Once you ’ve found a lead , the game producers , or " puppetmasters,“ present puzzler that you will have to clear to reach the next stratum of the plot . But figuring out each step is where things really start up to get unmanageable . If you get stuck , you ’ll be well-chosen to sleep with there are site dedicate to ARGs , includingargn.com , despoiler.org , wikibruce.com , andunforum.net , where player group , or " corporate detectives,“ gathering to hash out the tardy brain-teaser . This brings a wide salmagundi of attainment together to solve a common trouble , ram game producers to be more inventive in creating complex , exciting , and engaging puzzles .
What are some games going on right now?
1 . topsecretconspiracy.com
If you head over totopsecretconspiracy.com , you ’ll see ill made videos of aliens starting California wildfires , fake foreign coins created by the U.S. Mint and video from a science fable convention where fans are interviewed about the administration ’s foreign conspiracy . That all sounds like pretty typical clobber for a UFO website , correct ? But look close at the paper-back book for sales event at this sci - fi formula and you ’ll notice that the some of the Scripture covers feature the star of the coming animated filmMonsters vs. Aliens . Did I mention that the web site is owned by Pacific Data Images , which is part of Dreamworks Animation , the company behind the film ?
2.The 39 CluesA new ARG has go forth that ’s tied to a small fry ' Word of God series , The 39 Clues . The books , write by some of the top figure in young grownup lit , include trading cards with unique designation number that reader can enter into an accompanying website and gain valuable clues to solve the mystery game at the plaza of the 10 - book series . To serve young sleuth gather clues , extra trading cards are sold one by one . With a $ 10,000 prize proceed to the first individual to solve the mystery story , even non - referee might break up up a book or two , which is never a bad matter .
If you ’re concerned in grand theatricals , Stop the International is a draw - in plot for an coming film starring Clive Owen . Players can go to the website and enter the in series number of any paper money in their pockets to learn the measure ’s sordid history in the hands of outside drug dealer and money launderers . But by stick to clues on the land site , some histrion have already met with real people in public places like the Guggenheim Museum in New York City , where the mysterious contact tells them the secret positioning of extra $ 2 bill whose in series numbers conduct to a special plane section of the web site . It ’s rumored the game is being run by 42 Entertainment , the puppetmasters behind many influential ARGs ( including theDark Knightgame ) , so if you want to get in on a major ARG , this might be the one .
4.CoralineAs mentioned before , most ARGs are released with barely a whisper . Other time , though , they ’ll jump with a eruption . Such is the case with an ARG surrounding the soon - to - be - released filmCoraline . The stop - motion picture from the people who brought youThe Nightmare Before Christmasis come to theaters this February , but the selling run lately begin with the delivery of gorgeous handmade box to various mass around the Earth . Inside each box are items that look like they belong in the creation of the haunting film , as well as an old fashioned key with a little note attached by a bowed stringed instrument . By visiting the movie’sofficial websiteand typing in the keyphrase pen on the note , player are able to see behind - the - picture footage of the making of the moving-picture show . Fifty of these boxes are being sent out and the countersign are being collected at various ARG sites , most notablyEvil button .
For the most part , ARGs are all sport and game , but " Traces of Hope" is an ARG design by the British Red Cross that is hop to convert that . While the biz is fun , it ’s also mean to shed some light on the real - life struggles of those in state of war - tear regions of the reality . You bring the character of humanitarian Alan Hackston as he attempts to aid Joseph — a survivor of warfare in Northern Uganda who is roll around a Red Cross refugee camp in search of his mother . He has been given a satellite phone that you may use to tail his placement around the ingroup and calculate him to various Red Cross service of process . Many interaction with Joseph are handled via an instant messenger feature film , but you will also receive electronic mail and video recording subject matter , and you may visit websites like LinkedIn and Flickr to put on additional information to assist him in his pursuance . It ’s a game with a subject matter and might very well be the next microscope stage in the evolution of the ARG .
6 . StreetWarsIf the whimsey of cover subject matter on movie posting and cadre phones planted in patty is all just a lilliputian too unrealistic for you , StreetWars is a slightly different take on ARGs . Rather than play the game online , it gives people the fortune to live out their wildest dreams as hired bravo stalking their prey through the street of New York , London , San Franciso , and a handful of other cities worldwide . Once a person has joined the game they are given an envelope containing a exposure and contact information for their aim . From there , the assassins commence the hunt , " killing" one another with a blast from water pistols , unremarkably when the fair game least expects it . As hitmen make their kills , they take on the intended targets of their victim , constrict down the playing field until only one bravo remains . And that ’s when the big guns come in " “ the masterminds of the StreetWars game come to townspeople and set about to take out the last man stand . The next game come out in June . * * * While ARGs are undoubtedly an exciting new tool in a marketing ship’s company ’s bag o ' trick , many question if the advertizing message is really contract through to the consumer , or if this is all just a waste of resources that could better be used on other , more effective medium issue . Only time will severalise the viability of ARGs . But for now , get involved and have some playfulness playing in another world for a little while .
