Letter from Paige

This creates a “Mad Libs” style mechanic where players must explore the world of the game and solve various puzzles to discover what the missing words are.  As the players fill in correct words, they will be contacted by Non-Player Characters (NPC’s) who will provide clues about the next missing word to be found. These communications will also fill in the narrative of the game more completely.

4th Wall, like all ARG’s, is intentionally designed to blur the lines between reality and fiction. The alternate reality of the game is created by real media for fictional entities. This media is designed to appear as authentic as possible. Examples include: web sites, videos, audio messages, phone calls, voice messages, and physical artifacts.

The event was sponsored by Tyger Pharmaceuticals and representatives were there giving out informational fliers and free samples of Pantazon.

Eric Chung with Tyger Pharmaceutical's Display

Free Samples

Dr. Charles and Rudy Shepherd working the crowd

Dr. Charles answers questions about Pantazon

Unfortunately, protesters from TheyKnowWeKnow also found about about the event…

Mike Protesting

Outside Protest

An aggressive protester

To lead people to the game, a number of physical assets were produced that acted as marketing material to promote playing the game and leading people to the Symposium.

This flier was widely distributed for one monthe before the event in the area surrounding Parsons.

This is a flyer asking for help in finding the missing reporter, Paige Stein. There is a tear-away at the bottom that leads players to thedailyinformant.com where they can begin the game.

Tyger Pharmaceuticals promoted their presence at the Symposium with Health Fair flyers that were posted 1 week in advance of the event.

Janina King-Poulin – My lovely and amazing Fiancee. Also the face of Paige Stein and the voice of Tyger Pharmaceuticals. I could not have done it without her.

Matt Cuttler – AKA Dr. Charles

Peter Mazur – AKA Peter Lawson

Michael Davis – AKA Protester Number 1.

Rudy Shepherd – AKA Tyger Pharmaceuticals Sales Representative.

Margaret Moser – AKA Tyger Pharmaceuticals Sales Representative.

Kalila King – Alpha play-tester extraordinaire!

David Carroll – Thesis Studio Instructor (1st Semester)

Chris Prentice – Thesis Writing Instructor (1st Semester)

Katherine Morawaki – Thesis Studio Instructor (2nd Semester)

Louisa Campbell – Thesis Writing Instructor (2nd Semester)

Colleen Macklin – Faculty at Parsons – great feedback for the duration of the project.

Nick Fortugno – Game Design Consultant

Eric Zimmerman – Game Design Consultant

Josh DeBonis – Game Design Consultant

Ted Byfield – Parsons Faculty/Conspiracy Expert

John Benton – Interactive Designer and Entrepreneur. His insight and moral support was invaluable.

Richard Schatzberger – BBH Labs, NY. Early insight into interactive gaming and ARG design.

Dan Provost – Parsons Alumni provided valuable insight into designing a game as a Thesis project.

The first video the players will see provides the second clue of the game. It is an ad for Tyger Pharmaceutical’s newest drug, Pantazon. It is password protected on Vimeo and players will need the password from TheyKnowWeKnow to view it.

New Tyger Pharma Ad from Linda West on Vimeo.

The second video is a chat between Paige Stein and Sam King. This video leads the player to investigate the site “theyknowweknow.com”. This was recorded the day before Paige disappears.

Thesis – Video Chat from Simeon Poulin on Vimeo.

This video was part of my Thesis project at Parsons, titled 4th Wall. The project is an ARG in which players are looking for a missing reporter named Paige Stein.

This is a video chat recorded the day before she disappears.

The second video the players will view is a surveillance video that is sent by Sam King. This video depicts Tyger Pharmaceuticals CEO Linda West’s personal Assistant, Peter Lawson sneaking into Paige’s apartment the night she disappears.

Thesis – Video Surveillance from Simeon Poulin on Vimeo.

This video was part of my Thesis project at Parsons, titled 4th Wall. The project is an ARG in which players are looking for a missing reporter named Paige Stein.

This is a surveillance video recorded in the missing reporter’s hallway the night that she disappears. It shows the kidnapper sneaking into reporter’s apartment.

The second

The primary mechanic of the game is the letter that Paige has written to Sam that contains the outline of the geame. Players must fill in the missing words that were damaged when her apartment was burned down.

Letter from Paige

As the players fill in the missing words, editorial comments from Sam will appear to let them know they have entered the correct word. They will also receive an email clue sent to the email address the entered at the beginning of the game. The game will also save players’ answers as they progress. Every time they log-in, previous correct answers will auto populate.

The first puzzle mechanic players will encounter is the logo of the Metatonic Society.

The symbols on the sides are a code that can be deciphered using a tool found on theyknowweknow.com

The symbols spell out the word “Revelation”. This is a clue the players will need for Paige’s letter to Sam.

The second game mechanic the players will discover is found on the Metatonic Society’s site.

The 19-year Metonic lunar cycle is the key to the Society’s beliefs. Within the cycle, there are a number of “Embolismal” years that contain a 13th month.Players must click on the years containing a 13th month within the cycle. If the player clicks on a wrong year, the game will lock them out.

If the term “embolismal years” is Googled, the players will find this site.

This site was not built as part of the game, but was the inspiration for the Metatonic Society. The key to this game is found here.

At a certain point, the player will receive an email from Sam King that instructs them to call Tyger Pharmaceuticals phone number and enter a number found on a video asset.

The player will hear this audio.

The final in-game that was created is centered around discovering the chemical formula of the drug that will trigger a chemical reaction that will set off Tyger Pharmaceuticals and the Metatonic Society’s diabolical plan. This is the last missing clue from Paige’s letter.

Players must get the 4 parts of the chemical diagram in the correct order. The observant player will recognize this diagram from Tyger Pharmaceutical’s website.

If the player Google’s the chemical formula, the result they will get is “Ibuprofen”.