In 1865, Lewis Carroll introduced the world to Alice and the wonderful anthropomorphic creatures of Wonderland. Alice fell down the rabbit-hole and entered a strange magical world.

Little did we know that the rabbit-hole goes both ways.

What if characters from your favorite books, films, and legends entered your world? I know quite a few women who’d love to meet Edward Cullen (from Twilight). Personally, I’d love to work with Indiana Jones on an archaeological dig.

In recent years, a new medium for telling stories is emerging. And you’re one of the characters.

Maybe you’re familiar with the concept of ARGs (Alternative Reality Gaming) from the 1997 film The Game. Michael Douglas portrays a wealthy and prickish businessman, whose brother (played by Sean Penn) introduces him to the adventure of a lifetime. (If you haven’t seen the movie, I highly recommend it) See movie trailer here.

But the film while very enjoyable, separates itself from this emerging genre by actually admitting that the protagonist is playing a game. The mantra “TINAG” or “This is Not a Game” echoes the sentiment of the works coming out of this medium. The idea behind the term can be easily understood by thinking if you were watching a movie, would you want the story to stop abruptly, and the actors portraying the characters start talking about themselves?

Once the story is set in motion, it should never stop until the telling is finished.

The same goes for playing these – “non-games”.  You become a part of an emerging story filled with actors, and other people like yourself who are “playing.”  The result is an elaborate collaborative real-time story.

Now the title of this post is fun AND PROFIT.  Where does the profit come in?

Over the last few years, massive collaborative efforts have gone into creating some of the most immersive and rewarding stories ever produced, in order to market a product.  Because big corporations with big bank accounts have been behind some of these ARGs, the stories have been able to utilize world-wide treasure hunts, professional actors and directors, web site designers, and of course, talented writers and artists.

An example of one these projects was “The Lost Ring”, funded by McDonald’s.

I won’t even attempt to summarize the awesome expanse of this project, but imagine strangers from all over the world coming together in order to save the earth.  This is the experience that Dr. Jane McGonigal‘s Lost Ring provided to players.  The prize?  To go to Beijing to see the 2008 Olympics.  Dr. McGonigal, has a PhD in performance studies from UC Berkeley, and has taken the genre to new heights.  While the games that she produces often involve puzzles found and solved through the web, more often than not she unleashes people from the shackles of their computers, and gets them to socialize and get out and get physical.  Her latest projects and research can be found at her web site avantgame.com

And her summary of the Lost Ring project can be found at, (where else?) The Lost Ring web site.

42 Entertainment, founded by Jordan Weisman, has produced other expansive and immersive games in order to market products.  Some of their projects include the ARG “I love Bees” in order to promote Microsoft’s game Halo 2, the ARG “Are you serious?” to promote the film “The Dark Knight”, and “Year Zero” to promote Trent Reznor (NIN)’s album “Year Zero.”

42 Entertainment was also responsible for marketing Microsoft’s Vista OS release, with the ARG “Vanishing Point”.  Just imagine you were vacationing in Las Vegas, and happened to be standing near the fountains outside the Bellagio, and saw this:

Well to be truthful, people were “told” when and where to be to witness this.  But this initial video introduced players from around the globe to compete for the “ultimate vista”, which turned out to be a ride into outer space.  The following is taken from 42 Entertainment’s web site:

The Vanishing Point was the first global puzzle game of its
kind ever created, coordinating spectacular live events
around the world with challenging online puzzles. Over a
million people were drawn to the website, and nearly
100,000 people registered and actively played.

Though these large campaigns have produced some incredible works, big money need not be involved in creating an ARG.  Remember the title of the post says FUN as well.  And there is an ever-growing fanbase for ARGs.  From this fanbase people have been collaborating on “grassroots” ARGs, just for the sake of telling a story, or to raise awareness about social and economic issues.

By playing a game, people become more immersed in the world created for the story.  Watching a film, reading a book, or even viewing live theater  can’t offer the same immersion a real-time game can produce.  Because of this phenomenon, people walk away from these games changed people.

I’ve been experiencing ARGs for about two years now.  And am curently taking a step behind the curtain.  I will be assisting in the writing of an ARG in order to promote an internet show, though Non-Disclosure Agrements preclude me from relaying any detail.

Not yet anyway.

If you’re curious about the genre as a whole, I recommend the site argn.com.

If you’re interested in the latest ARGs that can be experienced, sign up for a free account at the forums section of unfiction.com, and check out the News and Rumours forum.  There you will find the current and new ARGs that are looking for participants.

I also recommend Dave Szulborski’s book This is Not a Game. Dave discusses the philosophy behind ARGs, introduces the reader to past ARGs and explains their impact, and offers advice to those wanting to play or create ARGs.

In a few days, I’ll be leaving the suburbs of Chicago for Portland, Oregon to attend this year’s ARGfest, to meet and have fun with other ARG players and designers.  My goal is find some more projects to work on and people to assist, so I can learn the fundamentals in making ARG projects work well.

And then one day, hopefully, you’ll be participating in one of my own creations.

I highly recommend you try participating in one of these ARGs soon, just so you can experience a medium that’s soon to be the entertainment medium of the future.

Let’s see how deep the rabbit-hole goes…