#arg design

Fabrication Lab for ARG Puzzle Creation

The QUT School of Design has a very special place for the making of physical artefacts for Interaction Designers.

Today our 2016 Masters cohort got to visit the J Block Fabrication Lab... and now they can expand their imagination when designing objects for their ARG projects.

Mockup of fake website for corrupted AI. 

3 Things an ARG Should Do.

Be Narrative Driven The most important element of an ARG is it's plot/storyline. This needs to be engaging, and go beyond the actions/events that the ARG Involves. 

Involve Player's Problem Solving Skills  An ARG needs to involve puzzles/clues/documents that either need to be solved or put together to move the storyline forward. They should also, where possible, allow the storyline to be altered by the player's actions in solving these puzzles to increase the sense of interactivity and 'realism' in the ARG.

Engage Player's Across Multiple Mediums  To further the sense of realism and to blur the lines between reality and fiction, a success ARG needs to use multiple mediums in its delivery of content to it's players. Some examples of possible mediums are:  

- Websites - Blogs/Twitter feeds/Online News Stories  - Viral Videos - Phone Conversations - Billboards/Posters - Real Life Interactions with Actors 

3 Things an ARG Should Avoid

Linear Plot or Lack of Interactivity As ARGs happen in the real world as well as virtual worlds, the players should have a deciding factor in how the story pans out. An ARG should be dynamic. 

No Sense of Urgency There needs to be a sense of urgency to spur the players on through the ARG, or else the ARG will feel sluggish, and quickly the player will lose interest.