ARGfest 2009 Panel discussion Games by the People, for the People – The creative minds behind games such as Eldritch Errors, Maddison Atkins, and Must Love Robots will share their experiences as independent content creators and talk about the challenges facing the independent community as ARGs become more mainstream and are increasingly dominated by marketing and promotional efforts.

Robot Speed Dating from the ARG Must Love Robots

In 2008, a group of media artists in San Francisco began work on an “immersive media narrative” encouraging urban exploration and an engagement with public space. Approaching the project from outside of the established alternate reality game community, they created The Jejune Institute, a tangible/offline experience-based adventure featuring permanent real-world installations and environments with a keen focus on total immersion, verisimilitude, and replay-ability. They will share their unique discoveries and tribulations arising from producing physical multimedia experiences that participants can return to month after month.

Want to be a pirate? Want to play the main role in a business thriller? The players of ARGs need not only be compelled to participate in the story, but must also gain abilities and social skills to reach the goal. Pirates need the same qualities that set apart Roland Berger consultants: courage and a willingness to take risks in exploring new paths, and of course, team spirit.

What doth the future hold for ARGs? Incorporating ideas from some of the most explosive minds in gaming, this panel will stretch the boundaries of ARGspace and inspire you to let your imagination run wild. Replay-able, location-specific, secret-messaging toaster ovens that quack like ducks in morse code? You betcha. And they’re quacking “AWESOME!” Presented by Campfire.