The primary focus of this test was to begin incorporating “in-game” games into the narrative. There were two of these games that were tested. The first was a dirty, but functional prototype that was a cipher to decode secret postings on the blog of TheyKnowWeKnow.

The second was a paper prototype that simulated a situation where the player is asked to match up pieces of a chemical diagram that represents a dangerous drug.

Prototyping the Chemical Game

The second play-test was more formalized. This prototype was a more developed version of the previous test. Player feedback that from the first test was incorporated. More content was created game assets were more developed and realistic.

Early prototype of my Thesis project 4th Wall. Eric Chung speaks to recent alumni, Joe Moriello and gets feedback about narrative and basic game mechanic. At Parsons.

The players reacted similarly to the first round of play-testers. They understood the story and what they were supposed to do. They all reacted well to the narrative and were able to click their way through the story.

The main feedback that came back was the same as the previous play-test. Players again wanted more content.

The initial play-test conducted was an informal one. A linkable PDF file was created. This file contained the rough elements of the first several game assets the players would interact with.

These included: an introductory email from a non-player character. This lead to the first iteration of the Tyger Pharmaceutical homepage. Which, in turn linked to the ad for Pantazon on Youtube. This ad is disrupted by a man that instructs the players to go to TheyKnowWeKnow.wordpress.com to find out “the truth”.

Conway Lao - play testing at Parsons

Players were told the general nature of the project before hand—that it was an ARG that played out over several different virtual mediums and sought to create a high level of player engagement.
The players interacted with the PDF and real URL’s, clicking their way through the narrative. They all seemed to understand the mechanic of clicking around different locations. Results were positive and some very helpful feedback was given. The biggest feedback that I received was encouraging—that players were engaged in the story and they wanted more content.

The game was originally designed to play on mobile devices -specifically the iPhone. Location would become crucial to the game mechanic. This Iteration was focused on testing the soundness of the iPhone’s GPS and “Get Location” functionality.

Get Location Falure in Union Square

Unfortunately, the accuracy of the technology was not reliable enough in New York City. Prototyping location awareness functionality proved to not be effective. Later testing with users proved that very few users would be willing to travel for the game. This aspect was tabled.

The narrative has evolved as the project developed. Basic premise has remained however. Originally the plot centered solely on the conflict between Tyger Pharmaceuticals and They Know We Know.

Tyger Pharmaceuticals is on the verge of developing a drug called Pantazon (PZ-12). The drug is reputed to cure anxiety. It is scheduled to be approved by the FDA in one week from the beginning of the game. There are rumors that the CEO has bypassed usual FDA procedures due to an arrangement with a powerful senator.

They Know We Know has launched a guerilla campaign against TygerPharma and is fighting to expose the dangerous side effects of Pantazon (such as: Severe Brain Damage). Unfortunately their tactics are severe and sometimes violent. They are also holding hostage the TygerPharma scientist who headed the Pantazon research team.

Originally, the player would be given only small pieces of information about both organizations. Both organizations would appear as ethically challenging.

As players progressed through the game they would be given more and be forced to make a decision as to which organization to help.

Daniel Kramer Prototyping the Narrative

This narrative was proposed to potential players and to people deemed narrative experts. The general feedback was very strong. People understood and responded well to the story and the ethical choice it presented players with.

Here is a video of some early feedback.

Thesis – Narrative Prototyping from Simeon Poulin on Vimeo.

Early prototype of my Thesis project 4th Wall. Eric Chung speaks to recent alumni, Joe Moriello and gets feedback about narrative and basic game mechanic. At Parsons.

The project distinguishes itself from other ARG’s primarily by seeking to expand the audience of the genre to players who do not have the interest to devote large amounts of time and energy normally needed to play an ARG.  4th Wall also is important in the sense that it is a self-contained experience. There is no need for a human “Puppet Master” to intervene and communicate directly with the players. The game system is the Puppet Master. As players interact with it, it responds.

The responses from the game system are an important differentiation from ARG conventions. Most ARG’s provide very little in the way of instruction sets or feedback.PLayers are given the initial clue, or “Rabbit Hole” into the game and are forced to fend for themselves.

4th Wall provides emergent instructions as well as ongoing feedback to players as they continue to interact with the game system. This feedback and instruction loop is integral to the inclusion of casual players.

Another innovation of 4th Wall is the ability to save a player’s progress in the game so they can leave the game at any time come back at their leisure. This feature is also designed to appeal to players who do not wish to make the time commitment that a traditional ARG requires.

Both of these are designed specifically to lower the barrier to entry for a casual ARG players and to expand the audience who has grown to love this still evolving genre.

4th wall is an Alternate Reality Game (ARG) that presents the player with a mystery that they must solve.

The narrative of the game centers around reporter named Paige Stein who works for an online news agency called the Daily Informant. Paige has stumbled onto a huge and potentially dangerous story. The night before she was to report her findings to her editor, Sam King, she disappears without a trace and her apartment is burned to the ground.

The only clue that could lead to her whereabouts is a letter to Sam outlining the story she was about to submit. The letter details evidence linking a large pharmaceutical company (Tyger Pharmaceuticals) to an end-of-days cult (the Metatonic Society). Unfortunately, the letter has been damaged in the fire and is missing six key words.

Sam King is now calling on the Daily Informant’s readers to become “Citizen Journalists” and help him discover the six missing words in order to stop Tyger Pharmaceuticals and find Paige.

This is a map of all the assets and a player's path through them