The document describes the design of an alternate reality game called the Arcane Gallery of Gadgetry. It discusses alternate reality games and how they tell interactive stories using real-world environments. It also explores how ARGs can promote new literacies as players gather and evaluate information to solve puzzles. The document then outlines various design issues for ARGs and presents the Arcane Gallery of Gadgetry as a design case study. Initial results from the first season showed players enjoyed how real it felt and the teamwork needed to solve the mystery. The document concludes with implications for embedding story content and technology.

1. The Design of an Alternate Reality Game: The Arcane Gallery of Gadgetry Elizabeth Bonsignore1 Derek Hansen1 Kari Kraus1,2 Amanda Visconti2 Allison Druin1 1 Maryland’s iSchool2Department of English, UMD

3. Justnoevil.org

8. The Junto Oath some of your 57 classmates

9. Junto Lives

12. ORDERs, MISSIONS, Badges

13. April g.

15. Alternate reality game (ARG) Arcane GallerY of GAdgetry

17. I love Bees

18. The Lost Experience

19. Metacortechs

20. Cathy’s Book

21. Personal Effects: Dark Arts

22. 39 Clues

24. Evoke

25. Pheon

27. “This is Not a Game” (TINAG)

28. Content embedded in multiple media types and tools

29. Malleable

30. Collaboration Required to Uncover the Story1 Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternate_reality_game

32. Gather, evaluate information

33. Think creatively, critically, “counter-factually”

34. Embedded in Authentic Environments

35. Everyday communications tools are the controls (wikis, blogs, cell phones, email, print…)

36. Potential for Transferability

41. How real it felt

42. The fact that I was saving history

43. That I actually got into it and had fun

44. The teamwork that was needed to solve it

45. How serious everyone took the process

46. It keeps you thinking

47. How intricate it was

49. Design Sessions with Kidsteam

51. AGOG “Season 1” (middle schoolers)

52. AGOG undergraduate version

53. Run Red’s Road (developed by teens and librarians for Carroll County Public libraries)

55. Take advantage of gaps in historical record to traverse from “fact” to “fiction” –