Must Love . . . The Latest from Awkward Hug

Fictional funny-guy Timothy Scribbles is full of amazing inventions, and you can check them out at his blog, Super Great Ideas. Timothy Scribbles used his first Super Great Ideas post in almost a year to announce his new blog, Must Love Socks. A lot of people (and apparently robots) around the world wear socks, so his most recent idea is bound to take off.

Opening soon, Must Love Socks is the latest project from independent transmedia production company Awkward Hug, the Brooklyn-based duo that created last year’s critically acclaimed ARG hit, Must Love Robots. Despite the title, Must Love Socks isn’t strictly a sequel to the highly successful Must Love Robots. According to Awkward Hug founder Jim Babb, “While the narrative isn’t a continuation of the narrative from MLR, we are using things we learned from MLR and expanding into new territory.”

The story in Must Love Robots followed the comedic, romantic travails of 011iver as he looked for love, “helped” along by his well-meaning human friend, Tim. 011iver is quite the catch and even has his own line of t-shirts. A high point in Must Love Robots was the speed dating event at ARGFest 2009 in Portland, Oregon, which also featured the official “Must Love ARGFest” t-shirt designed by gamer Rowan, who also had a special date with 011iver in New York City. Babb was vague when asked about possible tie-ins with ARGFest 2010 this July in Atlanta, Georgia: “You never know what is going to happen at ARGfest, there might even be some awesome games of ‘Overit.'”

So what can players expect in the upcoming Must Love Socks? According to Babb, Must Love Socks “involves so much transmedia, that it has the potential to surpass transmedia and become ‘transtransmedia’ or just ‘media.’ I don’t want to blow anybody’s mind, but it will sort of be the iPad of ARGs.”

Must Love Socks opens very soon, and players can sign up at the Must Love Socks website and follow along at the Unfiction forums. Follow Tim and 011iver on Twitter for the latest developments.

EDITOR’S NOTE 06/23/2010: Jim Babb has subsequently set up a Kickstarter page to raise funds for the Socks, Inc. alternate reality game with the goal of raising $6,000 by Friday, August 6th. The page includes a video that explains further details about the project.