The Puzzler's Guide/Intro/Terminology

Terminology

ARG

An alternate reality game (ARG) is an interactive narrative that uses the real world as a platform, often involving multiple media and game elements, to tell a story that may be affected by participants' ideas or actions.

The form is typified by intense player involvement with a story that takes place in real-time and evolves according to participants' responses, and characters that are actively controlled by the game's designers, as opposed to being controlled by artificial intelligence as in a computer or console video game. Players interact directly with characters in the game, solve plot-based challenges and puzzles, and often work together with a community to analyze the story and coordinate real-life and online activities. ARGs generally use multiple media (such as telephones, email, and mail) but rely on the Internet as the central binding medium.

ARGs are growing in popularity, with new games appearing regularly and an increasing amount of experimentation with new models and sub-genres. They tend to be free to play, with costs absorbed either through supporting products (e.g. collectible puzzle cards fund Perplex City) or through promotional relationships with existing products (e.g. I love bees was a promotion for Halo 2, and Lost Experience promoted the television show LOST). However, pay-to-play models are not unheard of.

The Beast

The Beast was an alternate reality game (ARG) created by a team at Microsoft to promote the Steven Spielberg film A.I.: Artificial Intelligence. The Beast was the first mature ARG and is widely considered the progenitor of the genre.

Rabbit Hole

by Magesteff

Rabbit hole: the initial site,puzzle or contact that leads to the discovery of the rest of the story. Much like Alice following the White Rabbit to Wonderland.