Rising Wisely

Urban Gaming and Alternate Reality Games (ARG) as serious game platforms came up in a few conversations in the last few weeks. (I prefer the term Mixed Reality Gaming but that does not seem to have caught on to the same extent as ARG).

Urgent Evoke is one interesting model of mixed-reality gaming that is about problem solving or at least exploring problem spaces in a place based manner.

Their ABOUT page states “The goal of the social network game is to help empower young people all over the world, and especially young people in Africa, to come up with creative solutions to our most urgent social problems.”

In the last few years I have read three interesting novels about Alternate Reality Games.

“Halting State” by Charles Stross

“Daemon” & “Freedom tm” by Daniel Suarez

I highly recommend them as probes into what the possibilities of mixed reality gaming could be like when it leaves the screen. All are a bit cyberpunk / dystopic, but there are a lot of interesting interaction design elements to draw on.

ARGs seem to be a particularly rich spaces for future investigations into simulating possible policy options and outcomes, because they happen in haptic space, and allow interactivity and risk taking of gaming, while also making material changes to the world of atoms not just bits. (I spend too much time sitting in front of my screen / book as it is.

Two other relevant novels about virtual reality and mixed reality scenarios that may be of interest include:

Snow Crash – Neal Stephenson

Spook Country – William Gibson

Any other good novels or ARGs anyone can recommend?