Hojotoho! And other Wagnerian exclamations! Odina Nova, which gave participants a chance to ride shotgun with the Valkyries, metaphorically speaking, by combining codes, videos, blogs and other standard ARG media with a fresh take on Norse mythology, drifted off into silence last October and was presumed to have fallen prey to the high grassroots ARG mortality rate. An out-of-game Unforums message from the PM promised that it had not imploded, but was being put on hold due to unforeseen real-life circumstances.
It appears that the game will indeed resume this spring (an in-game reference suggests the restart date will be March 21 — an auspicious date which traditionally marks both the vernal equinox and the first day of the astrological year).
The game’s narrative claims that there are nine parallel worlds in which alternate versions of ourselves exist, and travel between them is possible. They appear to correspond with the Norse cosmology in which nine worlds hang upon Yggdrasil, the world tree. A character named Hermod is continuing the work of his father, whose own mentor had traveled to an alternate world called Vanaheim, which he learned had been a place of peace and beauty until otherworldly forces allied with a warrior named Woden drove it into chaos. Certain incidents in human history, the players have speculated, may have been caused by the intersection of alternate worlds with our own.
Odina Nova generated plenty of interest and speculation at Unfiction and Immersion Unlimited before its hiatus, so whether you’re one of the people that played it when it was running, or someone who is looking for an ARG to get involved in, check it out on March 21st.
escape rooms
simulacra
field studies institute
infinite rabbit holes
generation loss
postcurious