Animism provided me with an introduction to the story that was slightly more grounded in the physical world through a package I received in the mail. After reading Tristan Balfour’s article on Dr. Declan Grey’s termination from Oxbridge University, I learned that Grey was dismissed for claiming to have “discovered proof of woodland creatures that were part animal, part human.” An image dated August 20th displays this hybrid monstrosity ripped straight from a Canadian First Nation legend. In the article, witnesses noted that Grey was forcibly removed from Gods’ Lake Falls, where he was conducting his research. Presumably, the authorities did a terrible job securing the chain of evidence, as I also received an evidence bag with three glyphs carved into wood (the flower-shaped glyph has a jagged “W” carved onto its back). These glyphs, along with others, are pictured carved into a tree in the final photograph. A business card provided Declan Grey’s contact information on one side, with a QR code on its reverse.

According to the game’s developers, Animism pairs modern urban fantasy with traditional First Nations mythology, telling the story of what happens when powerful forces are unleashed on the area surrounding Gods’ Lake. The story will be told through live events, mobile technology, the Internet, and traditional broadcast media by a team of both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal writers. Matt Toner, President of Zeros 2 Heroes Media, explains that “[t]here is a wealth of untold stories and undiscovered characters with themes that are still relevant today . . . [w]e’re just updating the settings to something more contemporary and understandable for modern audiences.”

Still confused? Fear not, as Zeros 2 Heroes created a “how to” section on TheGodsLake.com with directions on how to play the game, along with a page describing what to expect from alternate reality games. And with weekly recaps of the story, it’s never too late to join in the action.

Discussion on TheGodsLake.com forums
Discussion on the Unfiction forums
Zeros 2 Heroes Press Release on Animism: The Gods’ Lake

The hunt for a serial killer is nothing new in the world of alternate reality games. However when this experience is backed by a major broadcasting company, it invariably spills out of the computer screen and into the real world. The culprit in this case is the Showtime television series Dexter. The show follows the life of Dexter Morgan, a forensic expert working for Miami PD who is a serial killer himself. In past years, Showtime has led into the new season of Dexter by setting up a Dexter-themed newsstand parodying popular magazines, releasing a personalized faux-news report letting viewers give friends the “Dexter treatment”, turning thirteen fountains across the country red with fake blood (with Philadelphia’s Love Park Fountain pictured above), and airing an animated web series providing a look at some of Dexter’s first kills. This year, an alternate reality game will welcome in the new season of Dexter, which returns September 25th.

As we previously reported at ARGNet, a Dexter-themed SCVNGR mission at Comic-Con led players to a grisly kill room. The players of this experience joined the hunt through their contact, Dee Pratt, a former FBI agent. Her website, SerialHuntress.com, is the first introduction to the now infamous serial killer known as the ‘Infinity Killer.’ Pratt’s interest in the case borders on obsession but that also translates to frequent updates via her YouTube account, SerialHuntress. In a true stroke of genius, she determined that harnessing collective intelligence would be the most effective way of tracking the killer down, and started her venture Justice By All, which also serves as the in-game forum area.

The technologies used for this game range from Facebook and Twitter to international phones that sometimes reveal vital information (but only if you are nice) and require cooperation of the player base to reach certain conclusions by the timelines imposed. The game’s developers have maintained a steady pace that allows everyone to be fully immersed in a cat-and-mouse thrill ride. All in-game characters have responded promptly to player requests, even the character that was supposedly in China, which helps maintain both interest and interaction.

In the latest twist of the plot, players are slowly being placed in an instrumental role in terms of the occurrence of each murder. There are currently four victims: Santos Jimenez (an already paranoid drug dealer from Miami), Joe Wellmont (a retired Colonel from Illinois), Matthiew Clarke (a con-man that was “murdered” during Comic-Con), and Judge Sarah Zeizel (a woman whose husband was briefly a suspect). The game pulls no punches when it comes to the display of evidence pictures, audio and video files, and other material in regards to the killer: for instance, one of the game’s puzzles required identifying a code carved out into the victim’s flesh with a series of cuts. Thus, the experience is geared towards mature audiences and those that are not bothered by liberal doses of fake blood. A safe assumption is that his victims share more commonalities than the initial obvious of losing their lives by the hands of a psychopath yet that connection to this date remains unclear. Based on the dossier the Infinity Killer’s first known victim dates back to 2008, so the most recent murders are nothing new for our resident serial killer.

The Infinity Killer has interacted with the players in a message or chat format sent from his various online appearances but has also allowed everyone insight into his psyche via several videos of his therapy sessions at SleepSuperbly.com under the name F8, where his motivations can perhaps be explored. In his latest exploit, The Infinity Killer has managed to alter the latest video posted by Pratt, demonstrating that he is not only methodical but also very technologically savvy. But this game includes much more than simple internet surfing: the latest clue was in the form of a jacket belonging to the killer that was left at Bodies . . . The Exhibition, in New York. Inside the jacket’s pockets, among other items, was a thumb drive containing further clues.

While it is still early to know if the gameplay will eventually force people to pick sides, the evidence suggests that the serial killer’s motives are not quite black or white. Thus, as in life, the characters’ motivations still lie hidden in the gray area. And that’s where this bloody adventure continues to thrive.

Past coverage of the Dexter ARG at ARGNet
Discussion at the Unfiction forums
Summary of events at angelnorelation.com

Newcomers should find the interview a particularly useful introduction to playing alternate reality games because it features an in-depth look at how to join the ARG-playing community and also a systematic discussion of the slang we tend to take for granted.  Old-timers might appreciate the laughs, especially as Michael gives his personal take on some of the best and the worst of the genre and as the Digital Cowboys try to wrestle with some of the crazy things ARG players and creators do . . . for fun.

An homage to the 1993 blockbuster hit, Jurassic Park, Burns and Filipek’s film involves a group of urban hipsters who, while trying to find the ultimate loft party, find that their Brooklyn neighborhood has been overtaken by dinosaurs. Players will follow the hipsters’ adventures through videos, blogs, social media and on their smart phones as they explore Williamsburg. According to one of the producers, Caitlin Burns, “Those not in Brooklyn will have opportunities to participate, though most of the gaming will be located in businesses and GPS locations in Williamsburg. There will be content that can only be unlocked online through games, contests that will be open to all comers, and of course, we’ve been posting, updating and tweeting things that relate to dinosaurs, hipsters and other related topics.”

So why Bill Murray? He has become somewhat of a legend akin to Bigfoot or Nessie in the Brooklyn neighborhood. According to urban legend, Murray shows up unannounced at loft parties and bars or walks up to strangers in public, saying, “No one will ever believe you,” and then slips away into the night, often leaving spectators in shock. Burns says, “Bill Murray is like an enigma wrapped in a riddle, wrapped in unflinchingly hilarious comedy… He seems like a person who enjoys fun, has strong opinions about things and might do something like this just because he dug it. Also, he’s utterly brilliant, even the strange groups that boycott him as the antichrist agree that he’s one of the funniest people alive.”

Murray apparently isn’t an easy man to find. As he explained himself in a recent GQ interview, if someone wants to pitch an idea to him, they have to call his 1-800 number and leave a message. He’ll respond if he’s interested. Finding this number, though, isn’t easy. Burns and Filipek have set up their own hotline, “The Murrayphone”, at (646) 423-0290, and posted flyers all over Williamsburg to lure him out of hiding.

So what happens if they can’t find Murray? Burns says they have a backup plan, “but it’s a definitely a last resort. Bill Murray being in Jurassic Park Slope is a quest of heroic proportions, like seeing a Unicorn, or finding the Fountain of Youth, and we have set ourselves on that path. But we would be remiss to everyone who is taking part in this journey if we didn’t have a fallback plan. [We have a] wonderful, legendary, alluring secret that is almost as awesome as getting Bill Murray would be… almost.”

Read more about Jurassic Park Slope at http://www.jurassicparkslope.com

Read more about the search for Bill Murray at billmurraypleasebeinourmovie.blogspot.com

Image courtesy of EA Games

In 2008, Maxis released the video game Spore for the PC and Mac, describing the game as giving players “their own personal universe in a box.” Since then, Electronic Arts and Maxis have taken the franchise to the Nintendo DS, Wii, mobile phone, and Facebook. Coming in February 2011, Maxis is taking the tools they developed for the Spore franchise in another direction by moving into the action-RPG space with the release of Darkspore. Perhaps because of this shift in focus, Maxis is introducing their new game’s universe through an alternate reality game playing out at HelpEDNA.com.

Despite the name of the alternate reality game’s website, Help EDNA does not center around collecting merit badges for assisting an old lady across the street. Rather, it refers to Exponential DNA, a substance used by a race of creatures known as the Crogenitors to create a galactic scourge, the Darkspore. The alternate reality game centers around Earth’s first contact with aliens who are presumably seeking help against the Darkspore. So far, all communication has been mediated through a text-based interface administered by an artificial intelligence at the Help EDNA website. Reminiscent of old text-based adventures, players must guess at commands based on information contained on the frequently changing website.

Keeping with the spirit of first contact, the puzzles so far have relied heavily on scientific constants to convey information. For instance, players were presented with a substitution cipher indicating the time and location for Maxis’ Comic-Con panel: to crack the cipher, they needed to recognize that “s f m a tt tf ta ti sf si ft fa qt qf qa mf mi nt na at af ai zf zi ia tut” represents the sequence of the first twenty-six prime numbers. Another puzzle hinged on identifying the chemical compositions of adenine, cytosine, guanine, and thymine, the bases of DNA. Players also needed to recognize that a series of coordinates represented past solar flares. The most daunting puzzle to date centered on analyzing a string of over 12,000 digits of pi for missing digits to reveal a message that implies these puzzles have been a test of our intelligence.

Having solved these preliminary puzzles, players may now ask the artificial intelligence behind the Help EDNA website questions. In order to pose a query, players must register for the page by typing “LOGIN” at the command prompt, and then type “NEW” to create an account. Once logged in, typing “QUERY” opens a prompt to ask the artificial intelligence questions. The Help EDNA website periodically updates with answers to these questions, accessible through the “RESPONSE” prompt. Players have also discovered that inputing a number of commands into the text interface triggers seemingly random images.

So far, the Help EDNA alternate reality game has only revealed tantalizing clues hinting at the upcoming video game’s plot. However, with the game’s release months away, Help EDNA appears to be gearing up for a well-planned, extended experience. The admittedly challenging puzzles have arisen organically from the plot, requiring only a minimal suspension of disbelief, and the alternate reality game’s credit page indicates that Maxis is taking a direct hand in the game’s creation. Now that an in-game channel for communication has opened up, this might just be the best time to join in the fun.

Click Here for the discussion of Help EDNA at Unfiction
Click Here for the discussion of Help EDNA at the EA Games forums
Click Here for the (French) discussion of Help EDNA at the SporeMania forums

SCVNGR tasks might be a riddle, a dare, a question, or more, and they are customized precisely for the location. For example, I checked in to my nearby police precinct (No, I was not in handcuffs), and, in addition to the usual “Say something here” functionality common to the other geo-location smartphone games, SCVNGR offered me a few tasks related to law enforcement. It asked me what my favorite constitutional amendment was (Duh, the Fifth!), and in “The Swords & Scales” challenge I was asked to pose as Lady Justice and upload the picture. (Hm, yes well, the zip ties were a problem.)

Originally SCVNGR focused on larger institutions, launching with games created by the US Army and Princeton University. Now, a year after launching, SCVNGR boasts an impressive partner list of over 600 institutions, including universities, museums, and retail stores. SCVNGR is not just a forward-facing game, it is also a development platform, allowing institutions to purchase a number of challenges to customize and then providing them with a web-based application to create challenges. This means that third-party adventure creators and team-building event consultants, like Scaventures, can also tie themselves into the incredibly accessible platform.

Here is a sampling of recent SCVNGR events:

• Help Vince: a game for the New England Patriots where players complete SCVNGR challenges in the Boston area to unlock a riddle and help Vince Wilfork recover his stolen Super Bowl ring.
• Dexter Game On at Comic-Con: Completing Dexter-themed challenges, recorded as “kills,” players could cash points in for Dexter swag.
• The goSmithsonian Trek: Played out in July, participants visited nine Smithsonian museums and competed for an Apple iPad.
• Inception: A series of challenges for the film involved unique tasks at the tallest buildings in the 100 largest cities in the United States and at movie theaters.

These are just a few of the time-sensitive SCVNGR-based campaigns that have played in the last month. In addition, there are the pervasive, always available challenges, like those in my city, with challenges created by major municipal tourist organizations and that ubiquitous Philadelphia institution, Wawa. SCVNGR has also added a rewards program for retail locations. Doing a challenge at a Journeys shoe store, for example, a player can rack up points and then cash them in for discounts.

SCVNGR is available for the iPhone and the Android, but for now, only US locations are available. There are two Twitter streams for the latest news: @SCVNGR_Events for events, and @SCVNGR for general game information.

Click here to read about SCVNGR at the New York Times.
Click here to read about SCVNGR at TechCrunch.
Click here to read about SCVNGR at VentureBeat.
Click here to read about SCVNGR at GigaOM.

Each custom USB drive contains the five songs in The Earthly Frames, Volume 1, as well as samples (loop AIF files and RX2s) free to use in your own music. In addition, each drive contains a unique “fragment” file, which could range from images to PowerPoint Presentations to text files and more. Together, the files form some kind of chaotic uber-narrative, bringing together real and unreal elements of the somewhat autobiographical, certainly mysterious story of the origin of The Earthly Frames. Participants are encouraged to share the fragment files at a forum at Perhaps Transparent Records. There are already a few fragments posted for viewing and use.

There are only 50 USB drives available, and ARGNet was lucky enough to get one of them (Number 25). Our fragment file was this letter from “YOM” (Your Only Mother?) to her son, Gabe. The letter describes a fleeting and perhaps long-neglected memory, and the misplaced photograph that may have captured it. Did the photograph ever exist? We don’t know, and we can’t tell what is real and what is ephemeral. Memory can be such a fickle thing. We’re pointed to a painting, Manet’s “Le Dejeuner sur l’Herbe”, and more questions. Why is she naked? Why don’t they notice? Did I notice? I’m reminded of a visit to the Musee d’Orsay where the painting resides, the bittersweet taste of the coffee I had that overcast afternoon….

Wait, am I unwittingly being pulled into an almost-true fiction that nobody controls?

I hope so.

Because each fragment file is unique, the project is a fascinating exercise in interpretation, perspective, and creation. According to Walsh, “[o]wners of the device are the sole owner of the fragment file. I destroy the work as I go. So it’s up to them what to do with it. In other words—if they wish to post it on their facebook or blog—that’s fine or if they wish to bury it in the backyard fine too. Both scenarios have been accounted for narratively speaking.”

“The notion of ‘owning music’ is obviously conceptually and thematically at play with both the device and the story,” comments Walsh. In this day of contested notions of ownership and digital distribution, three kinds of licences are at play with Walsh’s release. As explained in an accompanying text file, The Earthly Frames tracks are held under an Attribution, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives license, the audio samples for remixing fall under an Attribution-Share Alike license, and the fragments are sole ownership, so participants can do whatever they like, giving them free rein to be a part of a larger narrative process.

But, “[w]hat becomes of it? Lost forever? Collector fodder? I have no idea,” says Walsh.

The USB drives are available for purchase directly through Perhaps Transparent Records, and some will be given out at live shows. Check out The Earthly Frames’ single “Pike” for a taste of Walsh’s haunting musical style.

Image from the Rocket Poppeteer twitter account

Details about the project code-named Super 8, a new film by J.J. Abrams and Steven Spielberg, are still ensconced in mystery. And while the movie’s viral campaign offers scintillating tastes of what the film may eventually offer, putting those pieces together is a daunting task, made even more difficult thanks to recent updates. What do vintage Rocket Poppeteers brand popsicles have to do with an antiquated PDP-11 simulator, and how does a collector of rare and unique fish figure into things? While this article will have few answers to these seemingly outrageous questions, it will provide some context for this alternate reality game as it circuitously provides a preview of things to come in the upcoming film.

Last May when ARGNet first covered the Super 8 alternate reality game, players were waiting patiently for a PDP-11 simulator designed by “D. Morris” at the Scariest Thing I Ever Saw website to finish downloading a file. Once the file transfer completed, players could print out two newspaper clippings bearing an advertisement for Rocket Poppeteers brand popsicles, along with some oddly placed redactions. Lining up the two articles and cutting out the redactions reveals a message that Super8News interprets as “No certainty if alive, [it/they] may be after us, we go underground.” Both Rocket Poppeteers spokesman “Coop” Cooper and PDP-11 programmer “D. Morris” have been linked to Dan Morris and Gordon Cooper, real people who play prominent roles in alien conspiracy theories.

The Rocket Poppeteers advertisement served as more than the vehicle for an ominous message. Some players attempted to become a Rocket Poppeteer by mailing the newspaper clipping in to the listed address, and subsequently received a letter welcoming them into the Rocket Poppeteers Astronaut Program. At Comic-Con, the Rocket Poppeteer twitter account reported locations where conference attendees could visit an ice cream truck for popsicles and t-shirts from friendly ice cream men (and women) decked out in old-fashioned apparel. The Rocket Poppeteers website has opened up for online registration, so it’s not too late to get in on the popsicle-related fun, however it relates to the upcoming Super 8 film.

Concurrently, another photograph hidden within the interface at the Scariest Thing I Ever Saw website led to a series of Craigslist posts made by rare fish enthusiast Josh Minker as he attempted to dispose of his deceased mother Evelyn Minker’s effects. Minker’s comedically named website Hook Line and Minker is dedicated to his passion for rare fish and his obsession with obtaining a Coelacanth of his own. Minker posed a question on Above Top Secret asking how to verify old footage of a conspiratorial nature.  Later, a photograph from the Scariest Thing I Ever Saw interface revealed a correspondence between Minker and an unidentified individual that seems to indicate Minker was the recipient of the Super 8 trailer footage that launched the alternate reality game in the first place.

So how does any of this fit together? As with many of Abrams’ previous viral experiences, while playing the Super 8 alternate reality game it’s often just as hard to find the puzzles hidden in plain sight as it is to solve them. And while solving puzzles reveals tantalizing hints of things to come, the true meaning is often left to the imagination. This is in line with Abrams’ love for the mysterious, encapsulated in his “Mystery Box” talk at TED in 2007.

Still intrigued? Then strap on your speculation hat, come up with a creative astronaut name, and head on over to Rocket Poppeteers to sign up as an official Rocket Poppeteers Astronaut. And while you’re at it, keep a keen lookout on your streets, as the Rocket Poppeteer twitter account claims recruitment will be moving to your town soon.

Click Here for the Super 8 discussion at the Unfiction forums
Click Here for the Super 8 wiki at Wikibruce.com
Click Here for Super 8 News’ dedicated coverage of the latest in Super 8 news, rumor, and speculation
Click Here for MovieViral.com’s Super 8 resource page

Flash forward again to 2010, where the Flynn Lives alternate reality game ramped up through the release of online mini-games leading to live drops, movie screenings, digital badges, and real-life TRON artifacts. Meanwhile, buzz for the movie increased as Comic-Con approached and TRON banners and signs appeared around San Diego. The news media started referring to Comic-Con as ComiTRON, which generated even more excitement and anticipation from the ARG community following the Flynn Lives campaign as they started to wonder: would Flynn’s Arcade return?

About three weeks before Comic-Con, players started receiving post cards from the Flynn Lives organization with pictures of Encom games made during Kevin Flynn’s tenure as Encom CEO, and a mysterious black bar. Players quickly noticed that a series of black dots appeared on the black bar when it was exposed to a black light. Six different cards were mailed, and when the dots were overlaid, the words “ENCOMGAMESDOTJP” appeared, leading to a Japanese Encom game site. The site revealed a new game, Circuit Cycles, a lightcycle puzzle game where players had to move 2-5 lightcycles through the grid, connecting similar-colored dots while neither blocking other cycles from connecting their dots or walling them in. As players completed levels, they were awarded digital badges. Once they completed all 32 levels, they were awarded a final digital badge and soon afterwards received a full set of the game postcards.

Players soon discovered the final Circuit Cycles digital badge contained a series of flashing dots that spelled out “SLASHIDENTITYRAID”, leading to a new page on the main Flynn Lives site: a countdown set to expire on Thursday July 22rd at 11:30AM: the date and time of the Comic-Con TRON panel, and Encom’s 38th anniversary.

As the Comic-Con panel started in Hall H in San Diego on the 22nd, the Identity Raid counter expired to reveal a combination lock puzzle. As Comic-Con attendees watched the new 3D TRON: Legacy trailer, players solved a puzzle to unlock a special clip from the movie, which was also shown to the panel attendees.

Players had also been following the OperationTron twitter account, and shortly after the TRON panel ended, a set of instructions were sent: locations pairs were to be tweeted, and players were to proceed to the first location and take a photograph of themselves with the TRON artifact found there. They were then instructed to proceed to the second location given, and the first 32 players who arrived with their picture with the artifact and a valid ID were given access to an exclusive event – a special 10PM opening night event at Flynn’s Arcade. In addition to receiving two wristbands to the event, players received a small identity disk containing a USB flash drive with a copy of the new trailer unlocked and shown in the panel earlier. Throughout the day, a total of seven location pairs were given leading to approximately 450 invitations for that night’s special event.

At 10PM, the doors to Flynn’s Arcade opened, and as the lucky wristband recipients entered, we were presented with a coin purse containing seven Flynn’s Arcade tokens, one for each of the Kevin Flynn-designed Encom games displayed on the postcards received earlier. Inside, everything looked pretty much the same as it did at the Arcade’s premiere last year except the machines were all covered with plastic sheets, just as they were in the TRON: Legacy trailer released at the panel that morning. Suddenly, the lights on the machines and neon signs started to flicker on and off, and at the back of the room the House of Tron light flashed on. As before, the wall behind the Tron game swung open to reveal a chamber behind it. Entering the chamber and turning a corner, another sight out of the trailer appeared, with Kevin Flynn’s workstation on the left, and the digitizer on the right. At the far end of the room, an eerie blue glow emanated along with the faint sound of techno music. Following the light and sound, the end of the hallway opened into a futuristic club filled with LED screens and techno music: the End Of Line Club.

At the door we were greeted by white-clad “programs” offering metal bottles of Coke Zero, while scattered around the room were other “programs”, adding to the ambiance. A DJ spun tunes in front of a giant screen which was in constant motion. People lounged on couches, or perused the many TRON movie artifacts and tie-in products around the room. But there were a smaller group of people who knew there was more to this room than the amazing sound and light show being presented. Our first clue were the coasters being handed out with the Coke Zero – pentagon shaped with an arrow-like cutout in the middle, and odd lines on the edges – three on one side, and three more on the other. In various places around the room were similar shaped placards with a matching arrow design in the center. It was quickly discovered the lines on the edges of the coasters matched up to similar lines on the placards. When the arrow design was matched up with the arrow cutout on the coaster, it revealed six codes which, when relayed to the waiting players online, unlocked additional game content and earned players another digital badge. A separate code on the wristbands awarded yet another digital badge.

While players were dashing around the room deciphering the codes and relaying information to the online players, the room suddenly went dark, the music stopped. The screen behind the DJ started to display a selection of scenes from the movie, including a new scene with Sam after his entrance into the world of the Programs, where he meets his father’s program, Clu. This repeated every twenty minutes or so, and was just as exciting to watch the fifth time as it was the first.

All too soon, it was time to leave. On our way out, we were given an exclusive hand-numbered poster from the End Of Line Club, dated 07-22-10. Looking back at Flynn’s Arcade and the End of Line Club was tinged with a bit of sadness knowing this is probably the last time the Arcade would be reborn, but also left us flush with the feeling of accomplishment for completing another successful Flynn Lives mission.

While the Flynn’s Arcade chapter of the game was a huge undertaking, there is still four months to the opening of the movie and it’s highly unlikely the good folks at 42 Entertainment are through with us yet.

Click Here to sign up and play at FlynnLives.com
Click Here for the Flynn Lives discussion at Unfiction
Click Here for the Flynn Lives wiki at Wikibruce.com

This past May, Tim Kring launched Conspiracy for Good, and as the summer comes to a close, the events of the past few months are coming to a head for one final event this weekend in London. If you can make it to Bloomsbury Square Gardens in London on August 7, register to play now, and this article should get you up to speed with what you need to know to join in the adventure.

Conspiracy for Good can best be described as an amalgamation of an alternate reality game, a street theater show, and a social movement. Players have been charged with the task of bringing down Blackwell Briggs, an evil global security firm with a penchant for kidnapping and skullduggery. Players willing to risk attracting Blackwell Briggs’ ire joined up with the Conspiracy for Good, an organization of socially-minded individuals committed to opposing the company’s excess.

Using a series of free mobile games available at Nokia’s Ovi Store, players were given the opportunity to hack into the Babbage 1.6.1 website to extract valuable pieces of intelligence, break into the Blackwell Briggs servers, and hack a series of CCTV cameras across London to help smuggle Nadirah, a key Conspiracy for Good member seeking to build a library for children in Zambia, into the city. The final mobile game lead to the next stage of Conspiracy for Good: a series of four live “Actions” occuring weekly in London. Participants at each Action are provided with a Nokia phone with pre-installed software to help complete the task.

For the first Action, players helped smuggle Nadirah into London before dropping her off at the Conspiracy for Good safehouse.  At the safe house,  Blackwell Briggs security interrupted the players’ initiation into the Conspiracy for Good, forcing them to distract the opposing forces while Nadirah fled.

For the second Action, players hunted down the location for Conspiracy for Good’s new headquarters while avoiding Blackwell Briggs employees. On their way, they encountered an opera singer and a crowd of Bollywood dancers. When players finally located Conspiracy for Good headquarters, they received a message from Spades, an inscrutable individual watching them from afar. Players were encouraged to donate a toy to Kidsco, an organization that holds a Christmas Day celebration for vulnerable London children.

For the third Action, players spent the afternoon canvasing London for Doctors of the World before heading over to headquarters, where Blackwell Briggs CEO Ian Briggs offered to ransom Conspiracy for Good spokeswoman Ann Marie Calhoun for incriminating documents during a Skype chat. Players scrambled to gather the documents needed to successfully complete the hand-off.

August 7th will be the fourth and final Action for Conspiracy for Good, and is referred to as the “Belly of the Beast.” According to the event page, participants will be crashing the annual Blackwell Briggs Recruitment Expo, attempting to win the evil corporation’s trust. Participants are encouraged to bring a book to support READ International.

Conspiracy for Good has provided unparalleled opportunities for players to engage the narrative through both online and in-person interactions, particularly through the past month’s live events in London.  Expanding Universe’s Yomi Ayeni described his experience as a participant of the first Action as something that “wrapped fiction around fact, turned adventure into purpose, and gave me a new quest.” Commenting on the same Action, Pervasive Games’ Jaakko Stenros noted that the live event appealed to a broad audience, as “[s]ome of the participants just want to do the trasure [sic.] trail and don’t really care about interacting with the ractors (i.e. interactive actors), whereas others love to play with the characters they have seen online and try to trick the security guards and so on.”  If the video summaries are any indication, these Actions are some of the most complex events staged for an alternate reality game to date.

Can’t make the live event but still want to help? Read a book at We Give Books to help Conspiracy for Good reach its goal of 10,000 books donated to a library in Chataika, a Zambian village, or head over to ConspiracyforGood.com to join the fun.

Click Here to register for this weekend’s final Conspiracy for Good event
Click Here for Steve Peters’ interview with Tim Kring about Conspiracy for Good on the ARGNetcast
Click Here for the Conspiracy for Good video recaps
Click Here for the Conspiracy for Good wiki at Wikibruce
Click Here to join the discussion at the Unfiction forums