3 ARG samples

Grouped under the ARG, Alternate Reality Gaming, label for lack of a better term. I think all 3 exemplify something new, unsettling, and fascinating that I don’t yet have a word for.

1. Little Brother ^ELZR, now available as atoms and bits, has a glorious climax of hundreds of vampires invading San Francisco’s civic center, messing with general paranoia.

   > RULES FOR VAMPMOB

   > You are part of a clan of daylight vampires. You’ve discovered the secret of surviving the terrible light of the sun. The secret was cannibalism: the blood of another vampire can give you the strength to walk among the living.

   > You need to bite as many other vampires as you can in order to stay in the game. If one minute goes by without a bite, you’re out. Once you’re out, turn your shirt around backwards and go referee — watch two or three vamps to see if they’re getting their bites in.

   > To bite another vamp, you have to say “Bite!” five times before they do. So you run up to a vamp, make eye-contact, and shout “bite bite bite bite bite!” and if you get it out before she does, you live and she crumbles to dust.

   > You and the other vamps you meet at your rendezvous are a team. They are your clan. You derive no nourishment from their blood.

   > You can “go invisible” by standing still and folding your arms over your chest. You can’t bite invisible vamps, and they can’t bite you.

   > This game is played on the honor system. The point is to have fun and get your vamp on, not to win.

   > There is an end-game that will be passed by word of mouth as winners begin to emerge. The game-masters will start a whisper campaign among the players when the time comes. Spread the whisper as quickly as you can and watch for the sign.

   > M1k3y

   > bite bite bite bite bite!

2. Freezing Grand Central, a most elegant improv piece (via Alan).

3. That great Free Hugs campaign a while ago:

4. Got more samples along these lines? I wanted to quote something from SFZero but I’m still too new to it…