April 11th, 2012 | By Chris Priestman
Tagged in: alternate reality game | conspiracy hunt | PC Game | smokescreen events
If you’re in the mood for a slightly different gaming experience, then Smokescreen Events may just have the very thing you’re looking for in their elaborate alternate reality game (ARG) called Conspiracy Hunt.
If you’ve never participated in an ARG before then Conspiracy Hunt will be a lot more exciting for you, if you have then you may consider jumping in on this one for what seems to be a pretty interesting ride. As you might guess from the name, Conspiracy Hunt‘s narrative is based around positioning you as a spy within its fiction. To crack the conspiracy at hand you’ll have to use your findings to crach password protected email accounts, hidden online storage accounts, wire tap audio recordings, simulated company share certificates and bank statements and simulated company websites and hidden online forums. Sounds pretty exciting!
The story accompanying your trek starts as such: an accountant working at a large UK corporation has been working on the books and has found some discrepancies within the accounts. Fearing that something untoward has been happening she contacts NIS UK (a fictitious government intelligence agency, the ‘National Intelligence Service UK’) and informs them of her suspicions.
Deciding to check it out, NIS UK send an undercover operative into the corporation to pose as a new employee and gain access to the company records in order to establish what’s actually going on and whether any foul play is at work. Making progress, the asset sends back situation reports to his handler once a week until, a few weeks into the operation, he misses two scheduled reports before finally sending one, last, communication simply reading ‘compromised’.
At this point NIS UK know that something is definitely wrong but they don’t know what, so despite their asset disappearing, they need to find out what is happening.
This is the point at which you, the player, come in. Recruited by NIS UK to take the place of the missing asset you are tasked with picking up on his trail, following through his investigation and attempting to crack the conspiracy that is ultimately behind his disappearance, the dodgy accounts and everything else that has been happening.
If you want to participate in Conspiracy Hunt then you should head on over to the sign up page with £5 and fill out the form to secure a place when the game is launched on June 1st 2012. If you manage to follow the game correctly and solve the many tasks that will be set before you then you should receive a prize at the end of it for all your effort. A mystery prize will also be handed out to one participant a few months after the game has launched.
We’re told that the game is designed to last no longer than a few days, so it needn’t take a chunk out of your life, plus you get to live out that childhood fantasy as a spy if only for a short while.
More information on Conspiracy Hunt can be found over on the official website.
Chris Priestman (1508 posts)
Valuing gameplay and innovation over everything, Chris has a keen eye for the most obscure titles unknown to man and gets a buzz from finding fantastic games that are not getting enough love. Chris Priestman, Editor-in-Chief of IGM Email: chrispriestman@indiegamemag.com Twitter: @CPriestman