An ARG, or alternate reality game, is a mystery-solving, plot-driven game that uses multimedia platforms as well as aspects of real life in order to solve the mystery and find clues. (Unfiction.com, "history") The most unique and important purpose of the alternate reality game is to blend reality and fiction to a certain point, so that it could pass as real, but players know it is fake yet still continue to play along with it so they can see the end game.
The most popular types of ARGs are typically used for advertising, but now there are ARGs simply for entertainment, some you might pay money to participate in or simply free ones open to anyone with an internet connection and interest.
Alternate reality games are made to be played with a number of players, the more the better, especially with a variety of different problem-solving skills that will be helpful along the way of the ARG (Unfiction.com, "history"). Since so many ARGs involve heavy and complex use of the internet and technology, skills pertaining to that are extremely valuable. Many people perceive ARGs to be a branch off of the activity of live-action roleplay, however, they do not involve any real roleplaying on the player’s part. The author or creator of the ARG may be playing roles so as to further the plot or make characters that the plot will be based around, but players are simply players trying to solve the mystery or come to the end game. Think of a high-tech murder mystery dinner, and that is, in essence, an alternate reality game.
The most popular types of ARGs are typically used for advertising, but now there are ARGs simply for entertainment, some you might pay money to participate in or simply free ones open to anyone with an internet connection and interest.
Alternate reality games are made to be played with a number of players, the more the better, especially with a variety of different problem-solving skills that will be helpful along the way of the ARG (Unfiction.com, "history"). Since so many ARGs involve heavy and complex use of the internet and technology, skills pertaining to that are extremely valuable. Many people perceive ARGs to be a branch off of the activity of live-action roleplay, however, they do not involve any real roleplaying on the player’s part. The author or creator of the ARG may be playing roles so as to further the plot or make characters that the plot will be based around, but players are simply players trying to solve the mystery or come to the end game. Think of a high-tech murder mystery dinner, and that is, in essence, an alternate reality game.
Types of ARGs and Well-Known ARGs
As previously mentioned, alternate reality games are more commonly used for marketing and/or advertisement. In fact, the very first alternate reality game was called “The Beast” and was made to advertise for the 2001 movie “A.I.” (Unfiction.com, "the beast"). It all began when people began to notice circled letters on on the backs of their A.I. movie posters, as well as the credit listed on the posters to the “Sentient Machine Therapist,” Jeanine Salla (Unfiction.com, "the beast"). It was such a complex ARG that it spanned over thirty different websites and was the first of it’s kind to capture the attention of a wide, mainstream media audience (Unfiction, "the beast"). This ARG has inspired a lot of the terminology used when playing/making an ARG, such as “beasting,” “trail,” “trout,” and etc (Unfiction, "glossary").
Pay-to-play ARG's are far less popular, but the entire premise behind what an ARG is helps you understand why. You can have just as good of an experience with all of the media and internet platforms of a well-done free ARG than a pay-to-play ARG that just has a more real-life aspects in it. However, there can be benefits in a pay-to-play. An example of a pay-to-play ARG that was actually quite a success and still left players plenty satisfied was the Ludium II, done by Studio Cypher (Senderhauf, "Ludium II Follow-up"). This was a pay-to-play ARG, but it wasn't expensive nor cliche. There was a $10 entrance fee, and the idea was that players were attending a conference that would create a set of rules that synthetic worlds (think World of Warcraft or League of Legends) would have to adhere to from thereon-out (Senderhauf, "Ludium II Follow-up"). It provoked a lot of thought and real consideration on the players' part in order to come up with these rules, which certainly made it an immersive real-life experience. The entrance fee itself would make a little bit of sense, because you do have to pay to attend certain conferences, and it probably in reality just went towards renting the venue itself. However, in all honesty the experience itself seems worth the cost of a movie ticket. Not only do you get that real-world interaction that not every ARG actually has, but you do get to collaborate extensively with other players in a setting where you're forced to think more on the spot than you would in say a forum or a chatroom.
The most recent alternate reality game that captivated a wide audience was probably the Sombra ARG done by the video game company Blizzard. This ARG was executed in order to reveal the newest character in their game Overwatch. The use of an ARG was especially effective in this context due to the fact the character Sombra is actually a Mexican hacker and the ARG was focused around her hacking into a the Overwatch website and servers (GameDetectives, "Sombra ARG"). Through this, she slowly reveals herself to the players, leaking photos of herself and giving a bit of insight to her powers and features in the game (GameDetectives, "Sombra ARG"). Because of the ARG, when Sombra was officially announced at BlizzCon (Blizzard’s annual convention), anyone who participated in the ARG or even simply kept track of it already knew a bit about the character (GameDetectives, "Sombra ARG"). However, this didn’t take away from the experience of having a new character shown to them, it actually enhanced the experience because they can have a sense of accomplishment at knowing about something before a lot of other people may have. I’d like to call it the “hipster effect.”
Pay-to-play ARG's are far less popular, but the entire premise behind what an ARG is helps you understand why. You can have just as good of an experience with all of the media and internet platforms of a well-done free ARG than a pay-to-play ARG that just has a more real-life aspects in it. However, there can be benefits in a pay-to-play. An example of a pay-to-play ARG that was actually quite a success and still left players plenty satisfied was the Ludium II, done by Studio Cypher (Senderhauf, "Ludium II Follow-up"). This was a pay-to-play ARG, but it wasn't expensive nor cliche. There was a $10 entrance fee, and the idea was that players were attending a conference that would create a set of rules that synthetic worlds (think World of Warcraft or League of Legends) would have to adhere to from thereon-out (Senderhauf, "Ludium II Follow-up"). It provoked a lot of thought and real consideration on the players' part in order to come up with these rules, which certainly made it an immersive real-life experience. The entrance fee itself would make a little bit of sense, because you do have to pay to attend certain conferences, and it probably in reality just went towards renting the venue itself. However, in all honesty the experience itself seems worth the cost of a movie ticket. Not only do you get that real-world interaction that not every ARG actually has, but you do get to collaborate extensively with other players in a setting where you're forced to think more on the spot than you would in say a forum or a chatroom.
The most recent alternate reality game that captivated a wide audience was probably the Sombra ARG done by the video game company Blizzard. This ARG was executed in order to reveal the newest character in their game Overwatch. The use of an ARG was especially effective in this context due to the fact the character Sombra is actually a Mexican hacker and the ARG was focused around her hacking into a the Overwatch website and servers (GameDetectives, "Sombra ARG"). Through this, she slowly reveals herself to the players, leaking photos of herself and giving a bit of insight to her powers and features in the game (GameDetectives, "Sombra ARG"). Because of the ARG, when Sombra was officially announced at BlizzCon (Blizzard’s annual convention), anyone who participated in the ARG or even simply kept track of it already knew a bit about the character (GameDetectives, "Sombra ARG"). However, this didn’t take away from the experience of having a new character shown to them, it actually enhanced the experience because they can have a sense of accomplishment at knowing about something before a lot of other people may have. I’d like to call it the “hipster effect.”
ARG Glossary
[Disclaimer: Terms have been taken directly from the Unfiction ARG Glossary. For a more complete list, please visit this webpage.]
AutoPlay [v] - When players rely on automated scripts that have been coded specifically to notify user when a page updates.
Beasting [v] - The act of participating in an alternate reality game.
Curtain [n] - The thin line that separates the puppetmaster, or the person who runs and creates the ARG, from those who play. Derived from the phrase "pay no attention to the man behind the curtain."
Guide [n] - A chronological walkthrough that narrates the discovery process of an ARG.
Lurker [a] - Someone who doesn't participate in an ARG at all but simply follows board discussion and games. Typically there are far more lurkers than real participants.
Meltdown [v] - When a game is canceled unexpectedly without reaching a real conclusion, which can leave players very upset.
Puppetmaster [n] - The individual who orchestrates the ARG.
Rabbit Hole [n] - The website, video, or clue that attracts players to an alternate reality game.
Red Herring [n] - A distraction that can lead players to stray down the wrong path from clues or the end game of the ARG.
Rubbernecker [a] - Someone may contribute to boards or parts of solving for clues but never interacts with in-game characters nor will register for in-game websites.
Shill [n] - A representative of the Puppetmaster(s) that tricks players into taking interest in a game.
Spec. [n] - Short for spectulation, used when offering up ideas as to how to further the plot of the game. Alternatively is the word spac, which is a spectulation that is extremely off-base.
Steganography [n] - The hiding a secret message or clue by concealing it within something else, so that it is even harder to detect. It is often used within aspects of a webpage and it's source code.
Trail [n] - An index of puzzles, clues, characters, and other information found throughout the course of an ARG. A sort of map that lays out what has/had been found, and how they got to that clue or plot point.
Trout - A polite term to say to someone that their work is appreciated and respected but the information that they have found has already been found. Ex. "Trout, but user X already discovered this last weekend!"
AutoPlay [v] - When players rely on automated scripts that have been coded specifically to notify user when a page updates.
Beasting [v] - The act of participating in an alternate reality game.
Curtain [n] - The thin line that separates the puppetmaster, or the person who runs and creates the ARG, from those who play. Derived from the phrase "pay no attention to the man behind the curtain."
Guide [n] - A chronological walkthrough that narrates the discovery process of an ARG.
Lurker [a] - Someone who doesn't participate in an ARG at all but simply follows board discussion and games. Typically there are far more lurkers than real participants.
Meltdown [v] - When a game is canceled unexpectedly without reaching a real conclusion, which can leave players very upset.
Puppetmaster [n] - The individual who orchestrates the ARG.
Rabbit Hole [n] - The website, video, or clue that attracts players to an alternate reality game.
Red Herring [n] - A distraction that can lead players to stray down the wrong path from clues or the end game of the ARG.
Rubbernecker [a] - Someone may contribute to boards or parts of solving for clues but never interacts with in-game characters nor will register for in-game websites.
Shill [n] - A representative of the Puppetmaster(s) that tricks players into taking interest in a game.
Spec. [n] - Short for spectulation, used when offering up ideas as to how to further the plot of the game. Alternatively is the word spac, which is a spectulation that is extremely off-base.
Steganography [n] - The hiding a secret message or clue by concealing it within something else, so that it is even harder to detect. It is often used within aspects of a webpage and it's source code.
Trail [n] - An index of puzzles, clues, characters, and other information found throughout the course of an ARG. A sort of map that lays out what has/had been found, and how they got to that clue or plot point.
Trout - A polite term to say to someone that their work is appreciated and respected but the information that they have found has already been found. Ex. "Trout, but user X already discovered this last weekend!"