A few ARG thoughts

I think Calvinball would be some good inspiration for an ARG. It wouldn't work if it was really that chaotic, but a game that changes with its players as they want it to would be interesting on a large scale. All we would really need is some parameters, like a universe of sorts, and the rest would all be instant communication between players. Also, it would be difficult to manage when people desire conflicting rules, but time limits on rules or certain kinds of changes would take care of that.

I think it'd be fun if it was fairly physical. Someone could text everyone or post to a blog and announce that they'll be playing tag or something. I feel like it could be comprised of lots of mini-games.

Alternately, it'd be fun to have someone play a character that's a new person in the community. Smaller communities would work better for this, I suppose. The whole game could revolve around trying to unravel this person's past or something (which would be pre-written fiction, of course) while interacting with them as though they were a real person. This would require an actor who doesn't mind being creepily stalked or followed, but I like the idea of introducing a real person as the element of mystery.

©The ideas and objects presented in this blog are copyright Marcela Poffald 2008.