NPO Alternate Reality Game - Planning
- Sara Francis
- Jan 30, 2018
- 3 min read
For the final two assignments of Week 4 of GTS, I was to find a non profit organization to plan an alternate reality game (ARG) for. I chose the Saint Therese Classical Academy as my NPO. This ARG is meant to promote this organization and to share their message through an interactive, engaging ARG. To complete the assignment I planned out the ARG and made an infographic that would be pitched to the Headmistress of the academy. (The ARG will be continued in a course later in my MCBS program)
Assignment 1: Competency
For my NPO, I chose the Saint Therese Classical Academy (STCA), the first classical school in Hudson Valley, New York. Their main mission is to teach children how to think, not what to think, which will be the building blocks of the ARG. It is meant to promote awareness of this academy and classical education as well as evoke the curiosity and problem solving skills of students in all grades.
The storyline of the STCA ARG is that a college professor is constantly getting philosophical questions from his students. He gives them his own personal opinions, but never actually tells them the true answers…because he does not know. His distress and confusion led him to create a blog where he researches and discusses the writings of the classical philosophers: Aristotle, Plato, Socrates, etc. Throughout his blog, he shows he has a little satisfaction, but not enough. The story continues when the ARG players jump in and follow his findings, hoping that they and he can find some sort of answer to the question “What is truth?”
The STCA ARG story begins with a Latin phrase at the bottom of one of their advertisements that does not normally identify the school: quidestveritas.com. If someone types that into a search engine by itself, nothing would happen. They must translate that Latin first to reach the true site, whatistruth.com, which takes them to the professor’s blog. From there, the game continues. Clues will be left within the blog, taking the players to other social media sites and articles. However, the clues don’t stop there. They would be hidden within the text and writings of the classical philosophers and the books the children read at the academy, obscure Latin sayings, recorded notes from the professor, and emails sent from his students. In the end of the search, players will be led to a scholarly yet fun event sponsored by the Saint Therese Classical Academy, where an image and a letter from the professor can be found stating that he finally found truth after so many years and can now rest easy knowing he won’t be lying to his students anymore.
In the end, this ARG is meant to reach the hearts of the curious. The STCA wants the curious minds to be able to grow and develop into what they were created to be and to seek the truth in their everyday lives.
Assignment 2: Component
For this ARG promoting the Saint Therese Classical Academy, there are steps that need to be completed beforehand. First, the three characters’ social media accounts and blog must created and overflowing with content to seem real. Then, a reading list of the classical books the students read will be needed. Also, phone calls and emails from the professor have to be made. Once those are ready, then the STCA will have the “quidestveritas.com” on their advertisements. Players will try to enter the site but it needs to be translated first into “whatistruth.com” and then the games begin. One clue will lead to another across various media platforms until they eventually find a date, address, and time to the final event, where they will find the letter from Professor Babel. (Full plan on infographic.)
Comments