It’s not every day that an ARG that starts off by IM’ing hkdl turns out to be one of the most talked about, but “Seen Steve” has turned out to be just such a game.
Seen Steve is a brilliant parody of the ARG world. So far it has encompassed Acheron, Art of the Heist, BLARGS, The Beast, Chasing the Wish, The Flaming Heart, gAIMs, Gypsysoft, I Love Bees, Lockjaw, Our Colony, Perplex City, RedKore, and Seen James – just to name a few. As a bonus, it also has ferrets and pixies which are near and dear in everyone’s heart (or at least they should be).
The game has been keeping a fast pace. In just four days, players at unFiction have discovered nine(!) different websites, several different emails, and have had IM conversations with two different characters. The plot seems to be that Sarah’s fake-boyfriend Steve has been sent into the future (where he now makes AIs) while her ex-boyfriend, Jake, has cursed her into going mad. Meanwhile, the vaguely threatening -The Hateful- (don’t ignore the peripheral hyphenation) has taken up position as the requisite evil overlord.
Like any good parody, brand new ARG players may not get all of the jokes, but players with a few games under their belt (or a few beers in them) should have a hysterical time walking down memory lane. So jump in while you can, because who knows how long it’ll be around to amuse us.
Trailhead
Discussion at Unfiction
Steve
Chat in #seensteve