Alternate Reality Games (ARGs) are computer- and Internet-based "games" (sometimes they're not games at all in a traditional competitive sense) that create virtual environments and self-contained, fully elaborated worlds. The games usually feature an interactive, real-time narrative that involves multiple participants directly with characters, and the action unfolds as a result of participants' responses to challenges and puzzles. Participants often form a community of sorts to play the game, coming to strategic decisions and coordinating their responses and actions in the virtual world through media of the actual world, such as telephone, email, snail mail, and the Internet. This book introduces readers to the dazzlingly elaborate, intricate, and wildly imaginative world of ARGs and shows how a career can be forged out of a form of "play" that is both serious and entertaining, ingenious and imaginative, fun and profitable.
