In 11/12 November and 2/3 December 2006 I participated in the ‘Cross Media & Alternate Reality Gaming Workshop’ part of the CARGO WORKSHOPS 2006 in Oostende, Belgium.
The results of the workshops will be presented at CARGO MEDIA SPACE on February the 4th 2007. http://www.cargoweb.org/
The workshop was initiated and coached by Jensen Dehaes (Wisper vzw). Participants of the workshop were Jo Cleykens, Jiri Heitlager, Walter Langelaar, Bruno De Bondt, Jeroen Neus, Edwin Uytenbroek and me.
During the workshop we discussed the topic Alternated Reality Games (ARGs) and the concept Wep2.0. Based on these topics we developed our own project ‘Chuba… ?’.
An ARG is a cross media game that deliberately blurs the line between the in-game and out-of-game experiences. ARGs are typified by involving the players with the story and its characters, by encouraging them to explore the story, solve plot based challenges, and interact with game characters. ARGs can be delivered via websites, email, telephones, or any other means of communication, which is available to the players.
More information about ARGs can be found at:
Wikipedia – ARG
Alternate Reality Gaming Network
Jane McGonigal – writings
‘LonelyGirl15 – Is She or Isn’t She?’ by Dee Cook
‘How I was played by Online Caroline’ by Jill Walker
‘Chasing Bees, Without the Hive Mind’ by Henry Jenkins
ARG: The GO Game
ARG: The Beast by 42entertainment
ARG: I love bees
Our own game concept CHUBA is a bit different from typical ARGs. It is actually a Hide-and-seek game with a real puppet (that I sew myself !!). One player has to hide Chuba (the puppet) and give hints about its whereabouts on the game’s website (http://chuba.org). When another player finds Chuba, it is his turn to hide it again. During the open day of CARGO on February the 4th children will get the opportunity to play it.
