Why ARGs?
(Don’t wanna read all this? Find the word quickly to proceed)
I wanted to make this presentation somewhat of an ARG, but due to it being a class presentation, I settled for something more similar to a point and click game. So, to proceed to the next section, find a word that describes togetherness and warmth.
ARGs stand for “alternate reality games”, and the idea is to have a game in a reality that mimics ours in some aspects but is not quite there, and the reason I chose it for this theme is because no matter what the plot of the ARG is, the reality differs from our own; even if it is in slightest ways.
Despite this, the viewer is supposed to approach it as an actual, existing universe. What makes an ARG is interactivity – it should depend on player/viewer input to further the plot, and the plot should address that the viewer has solved or contributed to a part of it.
Often, but not always, ARGs are a subgenre of horror and mystery, as those are genres that are very experimental and allow for a lot of playing around.
It is a topic that’s near and dear to my heart, and there really is a ton of them out there. I love the interactivity aspect, solving puzzles and the community aspect – a lot of times people band together to decode puzzles together, solving bits and pieces and piecing them together as a community.
Another reason why I chose the topic is because ARGs take an immense amount of effort, and it’d be a shame to only have a dedicated bunch of people interested in them – even if you’re not too interested in solving mysteries, there are a bunch of videos covering the ARGs I talked about and many more.
There truly is something for everybody, and all one needs to do is search. A YouTube channel specializing specifically in horror, and that has covered many of the ARGs I mentioned here is NightMind, so if any of these pique your interest be sure to check him out.