Alternative Reality Game

In 2021, I created an Alternative Reality Game [ARG] for the Society of Antiquaries of London as part of my Major Project. ARGs are online scavenger hunts that allow players to uncover mysteries and collect clues to complete the story. In this project I was exploring their potential in museums as cost effective and engaging content to the digital museum goer.

The Story:

The main narrative is that the Charles Marsh Portrait [a painting from the Society's collection] has been reported stolen, the famous Barberini Vase is no longer depicted. Lillian Aims, our main character, is a reporter who was tasked with writing an article on the theft and the forgery however, after her article is pulled Lillian investigates by herself and uncovers more mysteries at the Society.

The game begins with the teaser video, stealth launched on to social medias. In this video players are given the premise of the story and a hidden code, that gives them access to the main game site:

https://lillianaims95.wixsite.com/whohascharlie

[Code: 313810]

Discovering the Society of Antiquaries

The main aim of this endeavour, in terms of the Society, was to increase public awareness of them as many have never heard of them despite their long history. This is mainly due to the fact, that they were previously a private institution that only accepted member that were invited in; not becoming a public facing museum until 2014. The ARG acts as a medium to shows the once secretive Society and its collections, as such there are many Easter Eggs of the Society as well as some more obtuse ones. The following videos were created under the guise of research done by the Report character:

Video illustrating the long history and founding of the Society of Antiquaries of London.

Video discovering the collections at the Society of Antiquaries of London.

PUZZLES

There are various puzzle hidden throughout the ARG including the following Cypher, that is discovered in an abandoned office. Using the pieces to recreate the image of Kelmscott Manor [the sister site to the Society], and then assigning letters to the pieces, the cypher can be decoded. Leaving the Riddle :

LIVE FINALE

Walkthrough

You can watch the full game play in this video:

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