Tag: cube found

Perplex City: How the Cube Was Found

February 18, 2007 / Andy Darley

Editor’s note: This article is reprinted with permission from the Unfiction forums (1, 2, 3, 4 and 5) and from Andy’s own website. Thanks to Andy for allowing us to reprint this fantastic story, in his own words. The photo for this article can be found on Andy’s Flick stream.

I’d like to say the reason I found the Cube was because I solved all the meta puzzles, cracked the number strings, and have all the answers. Alas, no. None of us did. As far as I’m aware, the reason all of us who were involved in the endgame found ourselves in Rockingham Forest is because cjr22 and Chippy nailed the amorphous blobs as being the Jurassic strata, which led by a series of inevitable steps to the Jurassic Way and the red kite centre on Forestry Commission land at Fineshade Wood.

There were more elegant ways of getting there that didn’t involve the Library of Babel, according to Kurt later, but we were at lunch when he told me and six people were talking at once (including Violet, loudly) so the details haven’t stuck. But I’ll do my best to talk about what we missed later. (TIAG – I mean, of course, the writers who scripted kurtnviolet.)

I’ve been thinking about why it was me that found the Cube and not one of the teams that came so close, and I’ve come up with a combination of four reasons. One is obviously luck: it didn’t take luck to find it, but it took luck not to be beaten to it and luck not to be chased away by the Forestry Commission, other players or inquisitive children. Two more reasons are archaeological training and some literal mindedness, of which more later. The fourth reason is lifestyle: I am self employed and am currently working Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. I could afford both the time and the petrol to visit the woods from London on both Thursday and Friday, when others were stuck behind desks, or scraping together the money for a weekend visit with friends.

ARG Netcast, Episode 12

February 13, 2007 / Jonathan Waite

Episode 12 of the ARG Netcast series is supersized! Why, you might ask? The answer lies within the netcast itself, with three monster discussions on ginormous topics that found their way into this week’s agenda. So, if you don’t want to hear about how the Receda Cube was found in Perplex City, or how the Deus City creative team has responded to one of their players, or about the true meaning of This Is Not A Game, then stay away! However, for those interested, listen in as the panel consisting of Jackie Kerr, Jessica Price Brooke Thompson, Sean C. Stacey and Jonathan Waite and first-time panelist Nicko Demeter discuss these topics, and more. Note: we’re having substantial problems with audio lately, so we’re sorry for the quality of this netcast, which is not the best. Subscribe to the ARG Netcast feed through FeedBurner or via iTunes.

Game News

Oh joyous day, the Receda Cube has been found! Of course, we talk about the center of attention in the Perplex City game, which officially ended (Season One, anyway) with the discovery of the Cube by Andy Darley, an admired and loved Unfiction forums member (Rand0m). Darley writes about his adventure here, and here. Also, here and here. Finally, here is the end of his tale. He’s a great storyteller. Aside from Darley’s discovery, we dish on how clues might have been given to one particular group and not the overall player base, and wonder why Violet was Combed Thunderclap, and how she knew about quirkyacuity.com months in advance of the site being registered.
Deus City has responded to a player who offered suggestions, help and bug reports by asking her to leave the game, citing Terms of Service violations. We’ve got the details! We also discuss how players might become confused by the gameplay, given that two of the characters in the game are real people.

Perplex City Cube Found by Rand0m Player!

February 8, 2007 / Michelle Senderhauf

Three years after the Receda Cube’s disappearance, Perplexians can breathe a sigh of relief — the Cube is finally on its way back to Perplex City. Earlier today, Andy Darley (aka Rand0m of the Unfiction forums) visited the Mind Candy office in London to exchange the Cube for his $200,000 reward.

Darley, an amateur archaeologist, found the Cube buried in Wakerley Great Wood, a historic ancient woodland 110 miles north of London. He spent three days digging trenches in the woods before he spotted the Cube in wet clay. Darley could hardly believe that he beat over 50,000 other people to the prize.

In a press release, Darley was quoted as saying, “Of all the 50,000 players, from all these different countries, I never thought for a moment I would be the person to find the Cube. I was playing for the puzzles, and the stories, but it was only a few days ago that I thought I was in with a chance. As I pulled the Cube from the sticky, wet clay, and even after I’d found it, as I was waiting to return the Cube, all I could think about is how bizarre the whole thing really was.â€

The game’s in-game newspaper, the Perplex City Sentinel, reports that Perplexian celebrations are in high gear in honor of Darley and his fellow puzzle-solving Earthlings. There are also Earthly celebrations in store for people who can make it down to London on Saturday, February 24th, with a time and location yet to be announced.

Hopefully, more details will be released soon as to the exact location of the Cube and exactly how Darley waded through the myriad of puzzles and clues to find it. With Perplex City’s second season starting in a few weeks, news of the discovery will likely inspire new and returning players to hop on board. One can only hope there won’t be another cube to dig up! Also, we have requested an interview with Darley, so that we can focus more on his experiences as a whole after bringing finality to Season One of the Perplex City game.

Congratulations from all of us here at ARGNet, Andy, on finding one of the most sought-after prizes in alternate reality gaming history, and congratulations to all of the players for their tireless efforts and dedication to the game as it wound its way through the fabric of the past three years.