A Campus-Based Alternate Reality Game (Pilot Program/Emerging Technology)

Alternate reality games merge the real world with the online world and game characters with game players. In spring 2010, UNC–Chapel Hill conducted its first ARG, designed to help undergraduates understand issues involved in managing relationships. The game was co-sponsored by 10 campus organizations as an innovative investigation into nondidactic learning outside the classroom. Although the game did not enjoy the hoped-for viral spread on campus, the project team and co-sponsors learned much about approaches to planning similar games in the future. This presentation will use UNC's experience to help others learn how to design and run educational ARGs.