List of alternate reality games

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

An alternate reality game (ARG) is an interactive narrative that uses the real world as a platform, often involving multiple media and game elements, to tell a story that may be affected by participants' ideas or actions.

Name Year Developer Story summary Gameplay summary Scale Link
Ong's Hat 1999 Independent Legend Tripping, on-line experience. Puzzle solving by online communities. Very influential.[1] http://josephmatheny.net
The Beast 2001 Microsoft Murder mystery set in the future featuring human like robots. Puzzle solving by online communities. Rewards in the form of new websites and videos. Very influential. http://www.cloudmakers.org/
I Love Bees 2004 42 Entertainment An AI from the Halo 2 universe is stranded in our world and needs help. Puzzle solving by online communities. Information released by phone calls to public telephones. Rewards in the form of new websites and videos. 600,000+ players.[2] http://www.ilovebees.com/
Last Call Poker 2005 42 Entertainment A cursed gun, passed down through generations, threatens the granddaughter of its last owner. Puzzle solving by online communities. Real world missions in cemeteries. Online poker with dead characters. Rewards in the form of new stories and videos. Over 500,000 active participants. http://www.lastcallpoker.com/
The Lost Ring 2008 AKQA 6 olympians from another world came to help us save this one. Puzzle solving by online communities. Real world missions. A new Olympic sport "The Lost Sport" was introduced. 3.000.000 players from over 150 countries. http://www.thelostring.com/
CommanderVideo 2008 Puzzle solving, currently, done by online communities. Email correspondence, Twitter, and various Internet interactions are the areas of play. New; Ten recruits are the major players thus far. http://commandervideo.com/
Year Zero 2007 42 Entertainment Set in a dystopian future where the government surveys everyone. Players solve puzzles, listen to recordings, and watch movie clips, to gain more info and find sites.
Xi 2009 The world's first console and virtual world-based ARG created by nDreams. It was set in secret areas in the world of PlayStation Home where users helped to find Jess and the meaning of Xi. Users solved puzzles, watched video clips, and did objectives in and out of Home to gain more information to help find Jess and the meaning of Xi. Users searched in Home as well as in the real world depending on the puzzle or objective. Over 5 million visits http://blog.us.playstation.com/2009/03/23/xi-has-begun/
Gbanga Famiglia 2010 Explore real-world locations to take-over your city and become the Supreme Mafioso. Join or start your own Mafia Famiglia and take-over virtual establishments you discover whilst walking around the city. Establishments are linked to real-world establishments, so players must physically move between locations. A successful take-over depends on the Famiglia's power, determined by the number of Famiglia members and the cash total for special items collected. Worldwide http://gbanga.com
Lewis Hamilton: Secret Life 2010 Centered around Lewis Hamilton, a secret agent in the game, showcasing a new Reebok technology such as RunTone or ZigTech. Players worked together to solve puzzles and complete tests online, on mobiles and in the real world. 637,000 players from over 154 countries http://www.ndreams.co.uk/secretlewis
Conspiracy For Good 2010 The Company P Tim Kring's narrative focused on charity and against the fictional corporation Blackwell Briggs exploiting Africa Players cooperated online, on mobiles and in the real world. Four big events took place in London during summer 2010. Gamers on Unfiction, on the game web and in the streets of London during the summer events http://www.conspiracyforgood.com
A Map of the Floating City 2011 Thomas Dolby Set in a dystopian dieselpunk past, a global cataclysm has left the world's inhabitants suffering from amnesia and struggling to move north to the "Floating City" to escape the rising temperatures. Players worked cooperatively and competitively as tribes to collect items, make inventions, solve a mystery, and move north. The game was unique in that the inventory was all based on lyrics from Dolby's back-catalog and (at the time) upcoming album of the same name. The winning coalition of tribes received a private concert as a prize. Worldwide http://www.floatingcity.com/
Potato Fool's Day 2011 Valve GLaDOS of Portal is attempting to reboot herself. By playing a selection of 13 independent games, you can assist her. Solving puzzles using clues found in aforementioned games Anyone who purchased the Potato Sack on Steam http://valvearg.com
The War Update 2012 Valve Due to in-universe manipulation by TF Industries, the Soldier now has a fierce hatred for and rivalry with the Demoman. Players of one class were challenged to kill as many of the other in four days as possible. If one side won, an item given to that class would receive an upgrade in the next update. Players of the Demoman class worked together to kill players of the Soldier class, and vice versa. Anyone who had Team Fortress 2 for the duration of the ARG.
Oxenfree 2016 Night School Studio Based on the game, the Oxenfree ARG delves into the true ending of the game and the secrets that the teenage characters face. The community of the game work together to translate Morse Code, keep up with Twitter feeds, travel to locations, and call phone numbers to solve the mystery. ~900 members of the subreddit though no community headcount has been taken. Oxenfree Subreddit

Night School Studio Official Site

Ingress 2012 Niantic It has been discovered that the Earth has been seeded with "Exotic Matter," or XM, a substance that has been associated with the Shapers, a mysterious phenomenon or alien race. Within the game, players fall into two opposing factions: the Enlightened faction believes their actions will bring about the next chapter in human evolution, whereas the Resistance believes that it is protecting humanity's freedom from Shaper ingression. The gameplay primarily takes place on the mobile app and involves capturing "portals" at places of cultural significance and linking them to create virtual "control fields" over geographical areas. Additionally, the ongoing story unfolds across the internet and during regular live events. Worldwide https://www.ingress.com/
Frog Fractions 2[3] 2014 Twinbeard A sequel to the Flash game Frog Fractions was successfully funded through Kickstarter, but the catch was: it would not be named Frog Fractions 2 or likely resemble Frog Fractions, it will not be credited to Twinbeard Studios as the creators and its release date would not be revealed. The launch of the ARG began with clues within the pitch video itself, as it was quickly interrupted by a message from the year 2023 that warned the viewer "It's too late for our timeline, but it may not be for yours." Since then, there have been clues everywhere from podcasts by the developers, to an Obama Shaving Simulator, to real life events such as Indiecade and ARG-specific events around Berkley and LA.[4] Puzzle solving by online communities. Small portion of the gaming community http://twinbeard.com/frog-fractions/

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/475057068/frog-fractions-2

Eye Sigil[3] 2014 Unknown In many indie video games and video game related media, ranging from Crypt of the Necrodancer, to QWOP, to even a book, a strange sigil, dubbed the "Eye Sigil", has been found. Everything that contains a sigil will also contain a way to find a piece to a map. However, nobody knows who is getting these developers (and author) to implement it, and nobody knows what it is for, either.[5] Puzzle solving by online communities. Large portion of the gaming community
The Black Watchmen 2015 Alice & Smith In the first ever Permanent Alternate Reality Game, you join the ranks of The Black Watchmen, a paramilitary group dedicated to protecting the public from dangerous phenomena beyond human understanding: ritualistic murder, occult secret societies, and the paranormal, to name but a few. Puzzle solving mainly by individuals, but acts in a similar fashion to community puzzle solving ARGs. Small portion of the gaming community http://www.blackwatchmen.com/
Crows Crows Crows ARG[3] 2015 Crows Crows Crows A short ARG that ensued prior to the release of Dr. Langeskov, The Tiger, and The Terribly Cursed Emerald. Involved a series of robberies.[6] Puzzle solving by online communities. Small portion of the gaming community https://crowscrowscrows.com/
Afterbirth[3] 2015 Edmund McMillen An ARG that began with the release of the Afterbirth DLC for The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth. Upon conclusion, a new playable character called "The Keeper" was implemented.[7] Puzzle solving by online communities. Small portion of the gaming community http://bindingofisaac.com/
Steam Winter Sale[3] 2015 Valve An ARG that went alongside a noir-style mystery comic following a gingerbread man detective that was displayed during the 2015 Steam Winter Sale. Strangely, nothing significant ever came out of it- the only reward was an exclusive badge, aptly named "Red Herring".[8] Puzzle solving by online communities. Large portion of the gaming community http://store.steampowered.com/
Human Souls[3] 2016 Unknown Human Souls (or Signal and Noise) is a long-running ARG that began with an advert reading "help me" and continued with a story about two human minds (E and Lottie) preserved in technology, and the organisation attempting to achieve this.[9] Puzzle solving by online communities. Small portion of the gaming community
Kill Your Internet[3] 2016 Camouflaj Kill Your Internet was an ARG created by Camouflaj, connected to their game République. It was focused around a retro Bulletin Board System and its administrator, KatherineTheGreat.[10] Puzzle solving by online communities. Small portion of the gaming community http://killyourinternet.com/

https://camouflaj.com/

Pokémon Go 2016 Niantic Pokémon, set in the real world. Does not have a story. Similar to Ingress, except portals are replaced with "Pokéstops" to collect items at, and "Gyms" to battle other players' Pokémon at. Pokémon can be found randomly in the overworld. Worldwide phenomenon http://pokemongo.com/
Sombra[3] 2016 Blizzard The Sombra ARG is an ARG involving Overwatch, a game made by Blizzard. Sombra is the name of an unreleased Overwatch hero that has been hinted at by Blizzard as being an upcoming playable character. Clues and ciphers referencing Sombra were found in various developer updates and short animations released by Blizzard, and this ARG consists of those clues.[11] Puzzle solving by online communities. Large portion of the gaming community https://playoverwatch.com/

http://amomentincrime.com/

https://lumerico.mx/

Media with ARG themes

Films

Books

Music

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

References

  1. ↑ McMahon, Chris (May 2013) "The Rise Of The ARG: games™ investigates alternate reality games and what the future has in store for the curious experiment."
  2. ↑ McGonigal, J. (2008) "Why I Love Bees: A Case Study in Collective Intelligence Gaming."
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "List of Investigations - Game Detectives Wiki". wiki.gamedetectives.net. Retrieved 2016-10-25.
  4. ↑ "Frog Fractions 2 - Game Detectives Wiki". wiki.gamedetectives.net. Retrieved 2016-10-25.
  5. ↑ "Eye Sigil ARG - Game Detectives Wiki". wiki.gamedetectives.net. Retrieved 2016-10-25.
  6. ↑ "Crows Crows Crows ARG - Game Detectives Wiki". wiki.gamedetectives.net. Retrieved 2016-10-25.
  7. ↑ "Afterbirth ARG - Game Detectives Wiki". wiki.gamedetectives.net. Retrieved 2016-10-25.
  8. ↑ "Steam Winter 2015 - Game Detectives Wiki". wiki.gamedetectives.net. Retrieved 2016-10-25.
  9. ↑ "Human Souls - Game Detectives Wiki". wiki.gamedetectives.net. Retrieved 2016-10-25.
  10. ↑ "Kill Your Internet - Game Detectives Wiki". wiki.gamedetectives.net. Retrieved 2016-10-25.
  11. ↑ "Sombra ARG - Game Detectives Wiki". wiki.gamedetectives.net. Retrieved 2016-10-25.
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