Perplex City Video Competition Heats Up

Players of Perplex City have been hard at work this month on submissions for a video contest, and recently, submissions have made their way onto YouTube, a popular online video streaming service. As we told you earlier this month, the video contest is part of a campaign to promote the city which is central to the ongoing alternate reality game, entering its fourteenth month of continuous game play. While ARGN is definitely not in the business of film criticism, I personally viewed all 35 that were up for viewing and found a few that were funny, some that were extremely well-made, and one or two entries that were rather…. interesting. Here are my (completely unofficial) must-see picks:

• Private Eye – The ARGN Editor’s Pick, if only for the included line “If she knew, she wasn’t telling me. She wasn’t telling anyone anymore.” Love it.
• Hitchhikers Guide to Perplex City – A close second place. Very good use of GUI.
• The Quest for The Cube mini-series – parts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. Proof positive that good things come in multiple episodes, and our third place pick, cumulatively. The ball in part four made me chuckle incessantly, but the freeze frame in part 5 did me in for good.

The rest of the best:

• Great Perplexations…The Moovie – High in quality, but the cow at the end threw me off. Wicked concept.
• It’s Time For – The catchy lyrics of this original song forced the Whip Smart Ice theme music out of my head. Thank goodness.
• Perplex City, Meet South Park – Stupidly brilliant, complete with beat down of Mind Candy Design‘s Adrian Hon (who we wholly respect and would never wish to see harmed).
• A Short Film About Perplex City – While it promotes the game, rather than the city, still a nice piece of work.
• Difficulty Lethal – Lengthy (and, thusly, out of the running) but a catchy soundtrack and a thoughtful journey. Highly entertaining.

The video that ends up with the most ‘views’ after a 2 week period (which ends on Thursday, June 8) will be declared the winner, and the video creator(s) will earn themselves a complete archive of every Perplex City puzzle card from the Wave 3 print run. Sounds like a well-deserved reward for a very fun competition!