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Perplex City: Receda Cube unearthed, Season 2 planned
Amateur archaeologist Andy Darley has discovered the Receda Cube, ending the first season of alternate reality game Perplex City and earning a hefty $200,000 reward (before taxes). Darley was joined by more than 50,000 other registered players, spread throughout 92 countries, on the two-year hunt. The cube was unearthed in Wakerley Great Wood, England, about 110 miles north of London.Perplex City's first season was "played" using a deck of cards (collectible in packs) that featured various types of puzzles, from simple trivia to optical illusions; to an answer masked with heat-sensitive ink. Solutions often pointed players to further clues posted on websites, written in books, recorded in voicemails, and held by real-world individuals. Creator Mind Candy has confirmed that plans for a second season are underway.
Gamers, flash mobs, and London -- the Perplex City Academy Games
Gamers in London enjoying an afternoon at the Trocadero may have seen a strange sight yesterday: every fifteen minutes, groups of people wearing stickers were escorted by wardens in matching t-shirts towards a DDR, Daytona or Guitar Freaks machine. While some members of the stickered teams competed at these games, others huddled around maps mumbling about Trafalgar Square or the National Gallery, pulling out beeping phones every few minutes and hurriedly composing messages.This wasn't some strange terrorist activity--instead, it was the live counterpart to a long-running alternate reality game, a day of challenges which saw over two hundred people navigating around London armed with little more than a question sheet and a mobile phone. Alternate reality gaming exists in the overlap between video games, traditional puzzles and live-action roleplay; it reached the attention of gamers in 2004 with the I Love Bees promotional ARG for Halo 2, followed by another for GUN, Last Call Poker.
Perplex City gets live and interactive
ARGs overlap with the real world in many ways, not restricting themselves to a website or two to engage players totally. We've seen an increase in live-action ARG events recently, with Last Call Poker featuring regular Tombstone Hold'em sessions. Perplex City also entered the fray with a live event last year, but has been fairly quiet since then.Fortunately for those who missed it, there are two more Perplex City live events coming up in February, in both London and New York. The London event is billed as the "largest, smartest and most sophisticated live action urban game", and sounds like something not to be missed. We've taken part in similar live-action puzzle events before, and they are exhilarating, exhausting and brain-twisting--a cross between The Crystal Maze, Stanford's The Game, LARP and scavenger hunts, puzzle solving under pressure is worth a try if you're new to the idea.[via Wonderland]
