This is a re-version of a talk I (Dan Hon) gave at the Let’s Change the Game conference held on Friday 5 December 2008. It was a very casual, irreverent talk, but one that I hoped would bring some light relief to the day as well as (possibly in a rather confrontational manner) highlight some of the current problems - as I perceive them - with this whole “alternate reality game” business.

1. EVERYTHING YOU
KNOW ABOUT ARGS
IS WRONG*
* THE HAPPY HOLIDAYS EPISODE
DAN HON, SIX TO START, DAN@SIXTOSTART.COM
Friday, 3 July 2009

2. The taboos of alternate reality games - the number of
people playing, the types of people playing and the degree
of immersion and ask: where did it all go wrong? (and,
hopefully, have some pointers as to how to put the world
to rights).
Friday, 3 July 2009

3. SOME CAVEATS
Friday, 3 July 2009

4. SOME CAVEATS
• HIGHLY RESEARCHED
• TOTALLY OBJECTIVE
• COMPLETELY INOFFENSIVE
Friday, 3 July 2009

5. Friday, 3 July 2009

6. WE SUCK
DON’T HAVE ENOUGH PLAYERS
THE PEOPLE WHO PLAY ARE WEIRD
THE PEOPLE WHO PLAY HAVE NO MONEY
THE PEOPLE WHO PLAY AREN’T MAINSTREAM
WE MAKE GAMES FOR THE HARDCORE
WE’RE TOO EXPENSIVE
WE DON’T SCALE
WE LIE
Friday, 3 July 2009

7. AN APOLOGY
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8. DEFINITIONS
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9. ALTERNATE REALITY
DDD
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10. DDD
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11. DDD
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12. GAME
DDD
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13. DDD
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14. DDD
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15. DDD
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16. ALTERNATE REALITY GAME
DDD
Friday, 3 July 2009

17. ARG AS A LABEL
DDD
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18. (A STORY GAME)
DDD
Friday, 3 July 2009

19. 3 PRINCIPLES OF
DDD
GOOD STORYTELLING
Friday, 3 July 2009

20. CLUE #1
DDD
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21. CLUE #1
DDD
TELL A GOOD STORY,
IN THE CONTEXT OF
ALL STORYTELLING.
Friday, 3 July 2009

22. CLUE #2
DDD
LESS IS MORE.
Friday, 3 July 2009

23. CLUE #3
DDD
THE INTERNET IS
NOT VIDEO.
Friday, 3 July 2009

24. (A STORY GAME)
DDD
Friday, 3 July 2009

25. GAMES ARE SUPPOSED
DDD
TO BE FUN
Friday, 3 July 2009

26. A SUGGESTION
DDD
Friday, 3 July 2009

27. NO MORE OF THIS SHIT DDD
VIEWING SOURCE CODE
“DE-STEGGING”
WAITING
CODEBREAKING
MORE CODEBREAKING
ESOTERIC KNOWLEDGE
VIEWING MORE SOURCE CODE
SOLVING STUPID PUZZLES
BUYING STOCK IN UV TORCH COMPANIES
STILL WAITING
NOT TELLING ME WHAT TO DO
Friday, 3 July 2009

28. MORE OF THIS PLEASE
DDD
SHORT, SNAPPY AND FUN
LAST CALL POKER
THE LOST SPORT
PLAYTESTING
PLAYFUL DESIGN
PROPER GAME DESIGN
REPEATABLE
SOCIAL
Friday, 3 July 2009

29. WE MAKE GAMES AND
DDD
TELL STORIES
Friday, 3 July 2009

30. THE SCIENCE BIT
DDD
Friday, 3 July 2009

31. SOME CHARTS
DDD
Friday, 3 July 2009

32. PERCENTAGE OF PIE CHART RESEMBLING PAC MAN
PERCENTAGE OF PIE CHART NOT RESEMBLING PAC MAN
Friday, 3 July 2009

33. NO, REALLY
DDD
Friday, 3 July 2009

34. EVERYBODY
GAME STORY
NOBODY
Friday, 3 July 2009

35. EVERYBODY
WE TELL STORIES
YOUNG BOND
GAME STORY
PERPLEX CITY
NOBODY
Friday, 3 July 2009

36. EVERYBODY
MAGICAL PONY
UNICORN LAND
WE TELL STORIES
YOUNG BOND
GAME STORY
PERPLEX CITY
NOBODY
Friday, 3 July 2009

37. LAST SUGGESTION
DDD
Friday, 3 July 2009

38. NO MORE OF THIS SHITDDD
THIS IS NOT A SODDING GAME
LAZY CALLS TO ACTION
HELPING A TEENAGE GIRL
HELPING AN ATTRACTIVE TEENAGE GIRL
HELPING AN ATTRACTIVE AMNESIAC TEENAGE GIRL
HELPING ATTRACTIVE AMNESIAC TEENAGE GIRLS
“THE FUCKING ORDER”
MORE FUCKING COUNTDOWNS
TREASURE HUNTS
MILLIONS OF BLOG ENTRIES
JUMPING THROUGH FUCKING HOOPS
MASTURBATORY PLATFORM EXCITEMENT
Friday, 3 July 2009

39. NO MORE OF THIS SHIT DDD
OOH, A MOVIE CREDIT
OOH, A WEBSITE
OOH, AN EMAIL ADDRESS
OOH, AN AUTORESPONDER
OOH, A PHONE NUMBER
OOH, A VOICEMAIL
OOH, A PHYSICAL ADDRESS
OOH, A SECRET NOTE
OOH, A WEBSITE
OOH, A SECRET CODE
Friday, 3 July 2009

40. NO
DDD
Friday, 3 July 2009

41. PLEASE STOP
DDD
Friday, 3 July 2009

42. LAST, LAST SUGGESTION
DDD
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43. TIME TO DECIDE
DDD
OPTIMISE FOR VIEWERS OR PLAYERS (OR BOTH?)
MARKETING CAMPAIGN (PR) OR GAME
DO YOU REALLY NEED A STORY?
Friday, 3 July 2009

44. THE END
DDD
Friday, 3 July 2009