Tag: puzzle trail

KFC Launches Special Blend of 11 Secret Codes and Puzzles

July 22, 2025 / Michael Andersen

KFC’s newest commercial, starring a secret QR code puzzle on celebrity chef Matty Matheson’s arm

Colonel Harlan Sanders was obsessed with fried chicken, even before he convinced a cafe owner to sell fried chicken with his special blend of 11 herbs and spices. Enough so, that KFC’s newest commercial is a 75 second homage to the obsession that gave birth to the Kentucky Fried Chicken brand.

With this focus on obsession front and center, it’s no wonder the commercial snuck a QR code on Matty Matheson’s tattoed arm, kicking off a deviously challenging series of 11 secret codes and puzzles to celebrate the herbs and spices that built an empire. The first person to solve each of the puzzles? They’re rewarded with 11 months of free KFC for their efforts.

The “(one of the) first to solve” message presented to prospective winners

KFC gets extremely creative with their advertising. Celebrity casting for commercials is fairly standard for major brands, but starting in 2015 KFC went out of its way to surprise fans by cycling through a full roster of celebrity Colonel impersonators. Darrell Hammond was the first to take over the finger-lickin’ mantle, but was quickly supplemented by everyone from beloved comedians like Norm MacDonald and Jason Alexander to more surprising picks like Reba McEntire and RoboCop. But it’s the company’s stunt marketing that truly shines: it’s been almost a decade since the release of the free romance novella Tender Wings of Desire to celebrate Mother’s Day, but I still keep a copy on my Kindle. The company doubled down on their thirst trap branding by releasing a free dating sim that’s still available on Steam.

The commonality between Tender Wings of Desire and I Love You Colonel Sanders! A Finger Lickin’ Good Dating Sim? They’re highly enjoyable experiences that recognize what makes the source materials work so well, and pay homage to it. And I am happy to announce that KFC’s puzzle hunt for the overly obsessive continues that tradition with a series of challenging yet creative puzzles. So, we’re going to do this article a little different. If you’d like to give the puzzles a try yourself, go to The11Secrets.com, and see what you can uncover. Keep on reading to be spoiled on a selection of those 11 puzzles and to learn why I’m so effusive in praise for them.

Again: what follows will be absolutely riddled with spoilers.

Puzzles for the Apocalypse

October 24, 2009 / Michelle Senderhauf

kinginyellow A little birdie recently pointed me in the direction of a puzzle trail called Third Realm. The site has a labyrinth of puzzles and an apocalyptic countdown ending on November 2nd. TheÂ players’ goalÂ is to free the Yellow King with the help of a self-proclaimed “Prophet in the Wild” through his twitter account, thirdrealm. The Prophet has been dropping cryptic clues, and there is a possible London deaddrop thatÂ has yet to be investigated.

If you’re in the mood to flex your puzzle solving muscles before the November 2nd apocalypse, head on overÂ to the unfiction thread here.

ACME Puzzle Trail Offers Hints at Future Project

February 11, 2008 / Michael Andersen

Aporia Cross-Media Entertainment is busily plugging away on their upcoming alternate reality game, the Aporia Agathon Project. That doesn’t stop the team from engaging in the occasional side project, however.

On today’s show at lagtv.com, the fine folks at ACME are launching an XBox-themed puzzle trail with a twist. In addition to a prize from lagtv for one lucky player, the puzzle trail will introduce a character or two from the Aporia Agathon Project, and provide a few hints of what’s to come in the game. LagTV offers live, interactive video gaming news, focusing on the X-Box console.

The ACME blog claims some of the puzzles will be “a tribute to another xbox related ARG”, so fans of the short-lived Our Colony campaign may be in for a treat. Although I guess it’s possible they’re referring to that other XBox-related ARG.

ARG: Daemon Works

December 2, 2004 / Steve Peters

Daemon Works, which bills itself as a new Alternate Reality Game, has been gaining momentum since its launch on October 31st. While it may or may not be your typical ARG, it does seem to be living up to its claim of being a “website puzzle intended to be solved collaboratively.”

As far as we can tell, there is a compelling series of challenges being revealed, along with a plot involving a missing girl named Jill and the town of Idunn, CT. Hmmm, Idunn and its links to the quest for immortality (sounds….familiar, somehow). Overall, the player seems to be being led through a series of puzzles by a mysterious figure, reminiscent of the game Missing. Who is behind all this? What happened to Jill? Stop by the forums below and help solve the mystery!

Discussion on Unfiction

2nd Anniversary Puzzle Trail Completed

June 21, 2004 / Steve Peters

After three days of intense puzzle solving, a select few intrepid ARG’ers completed the 10 puzzles that comprised ARGN’s 2nd Anniversary Puzzle Trail. Dozens of players speculated, researched and contributed solutions to the puzzle series that culminated with tribute puzzles to Chasing the Wish, The Beast, Lockjaw, and finally Push, NV.

Puzzles were contributed by former puppetmasters, who were coaxed out of retirement to resurrect some old favorites. Special thanks go out to Scott Rossi (Plexata), Bill Shaw (Acheron), Jonathan Waite (JMX), Dave Szulborski (Chasing the Wish), Dan Carver (The Beast) and Derek Jensen (Lockjaw) for providing quality, fun, and sometimes nostalgic challenges.

To show our appreciation, we’re awarding prizes to the first players to have completed the trail, which required emailing a specific address here at ARGN. In order, the first three to cross the finish line:

1st Place – Omnie
2nd Place – JustinCase
3rd Place – Danman_d

Omnie will receive her choice of any item at the ARGN store, plus a $20 Amazon.com gift certificate, while JustinCase and Danman_d will each receive an ultra-cool ARGN sticker to adorn their favorite CPU. Congratulations go out to everyone who played. Maybe we should make this an annual event. Let us know your thoughts at [email protected].

Finally, for those of you who were following along, the trail consisted of 10 puzzles:

Puzzle 1 (The Beast)
Puzzle 2 (Lockjaw)
Puzzle 3 (Plexata)
Puzzle 4 (Metacortechs)
Puzzle 5 (Metacortechs) [user: malvolio / pass: innerdolphin]
Puzzle 6 (Acheron)
Puzzle 7 (JMX)
Puzzle 8 (Chasing the Wish)
Puzzle 9 (The Beast)
Puzzle 10 (Lockjaw)

All the spec and solves can be found in this Unfiction thread. Great job, everyone!

ARGN Marks 2nd Anniversary

June 12, 2004 / Steve Peters

kloo This month marks the Alternate Reality Gaming Network’s Second Anniversary!

It’s amazing to think it‘s been two years, already. What began as a single message board has become a network of multiple sites dedicated to the promotion and growth of Alternate Reality Gaming as a genre. This last year has seen successful ARGs come to completion, two ARG-Fest-O-Cons in Las Vegas and Orlando, and solid growth of the community. Thanks go out to ARG Planet, Cloudmakers, DeadDrop, Martha’s Boarding House, MetaUrchins, Unfiction, Varin and Jamesi for helping to build the biggest and best community of ARG afficianados around!

Now, it wouldn’t be an anniversary without some sort of celebration now, would it? So, we here at ARGN have been working on a little way to say thanks for all of your great support, and hopefully give you a little fun in the process. The result is a little walk down memory lane, if you will. We wanted to give those of you who’ve been around a while a little a bit of nostalgia, and those who are new to all this a little taste of what you may have missed. Consider it an homage trail.

Plus, there’s a little bonus: SWAG!! The first one to reach the end of our little trip down memory lane will receive their choice of any item available at the ARGN CafePress Store, along with a $20 Amazon.com gift certificate. Two runners-up will receive a spiffy ARGN Sticker (I know, try to contain yourselves).

“So, how do I get started,” you ask? Well now, that’s a really good question. 😉

[Edit: Discussion, hints and spoilers can be found in this discussion thread over at Unfiction.]