> ARG Design Links
DOCUMENTATION & BUDGETING
ARGs are fairly unconventional because they usually employ a vast array of media channels and points of entry for players. There isn’t much information in the public domain about how current developers approach documentation and budgets, but here are two web pages that may help:
- ‘ARG Design Charts‘: samples of charts used to document the design of ARGs
- ‘Books, Bangs, Bucks & Budgets: Brian Clark’s post about the budget for Eldritch Errors
WEB DESIGN & SECURITY
ARGs have a design ideal which in most cases is an attempt to make the websites as indistinguishable from real life websites as possible. So, to design an ARG webpage is to design a normal webpage. But that notion is a helpful design guide, but also doesn’t give the whole truth. Websites for ARGs are different, because (among other things) the source code is often a hiding place for clues, and the websites have to be designed to withstand really clever hacking attempts.
- ‘Alternate Reality Web Design‘: Ian Pottmeyer’s article about ARG web design and minigames
- ‘Beyond Reality: A Guide to Alternate Reality Gaming‘: John W. Gosney’s book has two chapter dedicated to ‘Web Design for Puppetmasters’, though it should be noted the sections mainly cover general web design with some commentary on ARG-specific considersations
- ARG Security Wiki: Brian Enigma’s forthcoming online component to his article on computer security and ARGs
- ‘Brain Clouds‘: Darklight Interactive’s custom-designed blogging software for ARGs [not released yet]
UNFICTION DISCUSSIONS & RESOURCES
Many ARG designers are active at UnFiction (ARG playing community), working with the players (in many cases are players themselves) to assist newcomer ARG designers (puppet-masters or PMs).
- Puppet Master Help @ Unfiction Unforums
- ‘Why a Curtain? : general discussion about the pros & cons of keeping the PMs anonymous & not contactable @ Unfiction Unforums
- ‘Rules for PMs‘: rules for procedure on how PMs can use Unfiction Unforums
- ‘Secrets of the PMs‘: Chat log of a Q&A with the PMs from Metacortechs
BOOKS
- This Is Not A Game: A Guide to Alternate Reality Gaming: Dave Szulborski’s excellent introduction to ARGs, with ARG creation resources and case studies.
CASE STUDIES
- ‘Why I Love Bees: A Case Study in Collective Intelligence Gaming‘: Jane McGonigal outlines the three stages of collective intelligence gameplay in I Love Bees & three aspects of the game design that facilitated it.
- ‘Alternate Reality Gaming': Jeffrey Y. Kim, Jonathan P. Allen & Elan Lee’s article about designing I Love Bees, Communications of the ACM, Vol 51, Issue 2, Feb 2008. [subscription needed]
- ‘Secret Websites, Coded Messages‘: Frank Rose’s comprehensive article on Year Zero
- ‘Year Zero‘: video describing the project
- ‘Audi: Art of the Heist‘: video describing the project’s timeline and impact
- ‘The White Island‘: case-study of the branded entertainment ARG by BlackSwanArts for Pioneer Pro DJ
- ‘Exocog: A case study of a new genre in storytelling‘: Jim Miller’s case study of the first ARG he created.
- ‘Head Trauma‘: Lance Weiler’s case study of his first cinema ARG
- ‘Through the Looking Glass: The Story Behind The Looking Glass Laboratories’ Alternate Reality Game‘: case study of the design decisions and lessons learnt
- ‘Suit Keen Renovator: Alternate Reality Design‘: Jane Turner (truna) and Ann Morrison’s discussion about the creation of an ARG by students for teaching
ARTICLES
- ‘Alternate Reality Games‘: Sean Stewart’s article on what ARGs are and their key design traits
- ‘The A.I. Web Game‘: Sean Stewart’s article on the design brief and implementation of The Beast
- ‘Basic Design Principles of ARGs‘: wikipedia entry
- ‘Tales from the Digital Frontier‘: Carolyn Handler Miller’s article explaining how storytelling has changed with interactivity and in ARGs
- ‘Writing Alternate Reality Games': David Varela’s article about writing for Perplex City, ScriptWriter Magazine, Issue 36, Sept 2007. [subscription needed]
- ‘Understanding Your Audience‘: Brooke Thompson’s description of the different types of players in ARGs you need to design for
- ‘Methods and Mechanics‘: Andrea Phillips’s article on the mechanics of ARGs from the 2006 IGDA ARG SIG Whitepaper
- ‘Collaboration Superpowers‘: Jane McGonigal’s quick presentation about the ten skills and abilities game players are developing
- ‘The Puppetmaster-Player Communication Dynamic in Alternate Reality Gaming and Chaotic Fiction‘: Sean Stacey’s article about the potentials & pitfalls of communication between players and designers during gameplay
- ‘‘Player-Created Tiers in Alternate Reality Games‘: Christy Dena’s info on PM- and player-created resources and their design implications
- ‘Social Interaction Patterns in ARGs‘: Christy Dena’s (just beginning) project that charts how ARG designers facilitate social interaction between players in ARGs, contributions and changes can be made in the wiki version created by John Evans
- ‘Anti-Hoaxing Strategies and the TINAG Fallacy‘: Christy Dena’s post on how ARG designers put in cues to alert players that the ARG is fictional
- ‘Make an Alternate Reality Game‘: Jane McGonigal’s presentation to assist people in inventing an ARG
TEXT-BASED INTERVIEWS WITH ARG DEVELOPERS
- ‘Q&A with Alternate Reality Games Director Elan Lee‘: Elan Lee shares some of his design approaches in this Wired interview
- ‘Q&A with Alternate Reality Game Designer Designer Jane McGonigal‘: Jane McGonigal shares some of her design approaches in this Wired interview
- ‘Let’s Be Serious: Non-Casual Investigations into Alternate Reality Gaming': Mark Heggen’s collection of interviews with Brian Clark, Dan Hon, Sean Stewart, Sebastian Mary Harrington, Jim Wolff, Christy Dena and Jane McGonigal [blog version] [PDF]
AUDIO INTERVIEWS WITH ARG DEVELOPERS
- The Samaritans: podcast interview with Jan Libby @ ARGNetcast
- Tales from the Clark: podcast interview with Brian Clark @ ARGNetcast
- The Szulborski Show: podcast interview with Dave Szulborski @ ARGNetcast
- Elanopalooza: podcast interview with Elan Lee @ ARGNetcast part one, part two
- Evan Jones Interview: podcast interview with Evan Jones @ UC101
VIDEO PANELS WITH ARG DEVELOPERS
- ‘Developing ARGs Part 1‘: Panel at the 2007 ARGFest-o-Con
- ‘Developing ARGs Part 2‘: Panel at the 2007 ARGFest-o-Con
- ‘Running an ARG‘: Panel at the 2007 ARGFest-o-Con
- ‘How to Make an Alternate Reality Game’: Adrian Hon’s presentation at Google Tech Talks, March 2007
- ‘ARGFest 2005 DVD‘: The PMs of Perplex City, The Art of the Heist and Metacortechs shared design issues at the 2005 ARGFest, which is available to download through Greylodge
ARG DEVELOPER BLOGS
You can always stalk/lurk on the blogs of ARG designers to see if they spill some golden design info.
Individual’s Blogs
- Naomi Alderman
- Christy Dena
- Adrian Hon
- Dan Hon
- Jane McGonigal
- Steve Peters
- Andrea Phillips
- Brooke Thompson
- Tony Walsh
ARG Company Blogs
- Aporia Cross-Media Entertainment
- Campfire
- Darklight Interactive
- GMD Studios
- Phantom Compass
- Six to Start
- Stitch Media
[Lots more coming! Suggest one too!]
This resource created and developed by Christy Dena, who you can contact through this email address if you have any corrections or additions.