Alternate Reality Games (ARGs) are magical playgrounds of puzzles, storytelling, and immersive experiences where reality is optional, and chaos is guaranteed. If you’re thinking about making one, let me save you a few sleepless nights and existential crises with these hard-learned lessons.
The Importance of a Central Narrative Spine (Or: Why Your ARG Is Just Fanfiction Without It)
Although I had participated in several ARGs prior, I truly thought the creation process was simply planting cryptic puzzles and watching players lose their minds. Turns out, without a story to tie everything together, you’re just sending people on a scavenger hunt for no reason. Players need to feel like every puzzle is a piece of a larger mystery, not just your excuse to throw in that cipher you learned last week.
Lesson Learned: Write a story first, then sprinkle in puzzles. If the story can’t hold up on its own, neither will your ARG. Players can sense a plot hole faster than they can solve your encoded shopping list.
Balancing Difficulty is Harder Than Your Puzzles
Here’s a fun fact: players will either solve your puzzle in two minutes or spend two weeks lost in a Discord server or two. There is no middle ground.
You’ll design something you think is fiendishly clever, and someone will brute-force it at 3 a.m.
Meanwhile, that “easy” puzzle you made? Yeah, that’s the one that breaks them. (See The Moth Cipher, this took less than an hour to create but left many stumped for days).
Lesson Learned: Test everything on humans. Real humans. Your puzzles need to feel challenging, not like a test of their will to live. And remember, it’s okay to let them win sometimes—just don’t make it too easy, or they’ll turn on you for underestimating their genius.
Players Will Outthink You (And That’s Terrifying)
Players are chaotic gremlins fueled by caffeine and conspiracy theories (As a player myself, I can personally attest to this). We will overanalyze every typo, pixel, and vague hint you didn’t mean to include. We’ll invent solutions more creative than your entire game and demand answers to questions you didn’t even ask.
Lesson Learned: Accept your fate. You can’t outthink them, so don’t try.
Instead, act like every wild theory was part of your master plan.
Players love feeling like they’re smarter than you—it’s half the fun!
It’s a Marathon, Not a Sprint (And You’re Running Uphill)
I went into it thinking I’d whip up an ARG in a couple of months. Spoiler: I was wrong. ARGs are long, grueling projects that consume your free time, social life, and possibly your sanity. The players don’t stop just because you’re tired—they expect new content and answers.
Lesson Learned: Plan ahead and set boundaries. Take breaks, because burnout is real, and your players will notice when you’re phoning it in. Remember, you’re not building a sprint—you’re creating a never-ending soap opera for like-minded nerds.
Final Thoughts
Creating an ARG is like summoning a demon: it’s thrilling, terrifying, and once it’s loose, you can’t control it. But despite the chaos, it’s one of the most rewarding creative experiences you’ll ever have. Watching players dive into your world, solve your puzzles, and create their own stories is pure magic.
Join the creators-hub channel on dōmy to get those creative juices flowing for your next project!
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