The Project was an experimental alternate reality game (ARG) combining transmedia storytelling, improvisation guerrilla theater-style performances, set pieces and art installations, and live improvisational gameplay and narrative. It was the culmination of a year-long collaboration between Patrick Jagoda the University of Chicago, Sha Xin Wei, director of the Topological Media Lab at Concordia University, and a number of game designers.

I served on the project as one of the lead writers of the narrative, and as a script writer for videos that were part of the transmedia narrative. I designed live-action, narrative games as well as became a participant of impromptu games that unfolded as players tested the boundaries of the game. Additionally, I designed and created some of the set pieces and costumes, and portrayed one of the characters, a living marionette.

The Project featured an intricate narrative full of strange characters, factions, and spaces. Three conspiracies, Ilinx, Sonos, and Ortgeist, each with different philosophies, vie for access and control over The Sandbox, a pocket universe with seemingly infinite power that faction deals with in different ways. Ilinx's belief in the interplay between light and movement had players interact with performances that utilized body movements. Sonos' obsession with sound had players interact with mysterious transmissions and songs. Ortgeist, a faction that believes that inanimate objects not only have souls but are capable of speech, had players interact in tactile and personal ways with everyday objects and toys. The Project featured a responsive narrative design, with actions that players took featuring strongly in the constantly unfolding story. Actors were required a great deal of improvisational freedom, and games were designed and redesigned to explore the actions taken by players.

Each of the three conspiracies offered players themed challenges. Players who participated in these challenges became initiated into that particular conspiracy, and allowed access to the knowledge and protection of that particular faction. Ortgeist offered object-oriented challenges, such as using everyday objects to interact with strange-robot-like marionettes (played by actors). Ilinx's army had players learn poi and use laser pointers and glow sticks to perform reconnaissance missions at night. Sonos, a cult based around sound, had players manipulate audio files and move about sonorous spaces in search of key tunes. More general games were designed that connected the three factions, such as cryptographic puzzles and digital file manipulation that revealed the backstory of the three groups and the reason for their split.

More info on The Project can be found at Hyperrhiz and Grey City magazine.