CACHE QUEST by Natalie Roberts

A few years ago, I happened upon a brief documentary about ARG’s, or otherwise known as alternate reality games.

Wikipedia defines an ARG as an interactive networked narrative that uses the real world as a platform and uses transmedia storytelling to deliver a story that may be altered by players’ ideas or actions.

I was so intrigued by the way each of the ARG’s impacted the players/ participants by use of narrative and strategy, lending to a suspension of truth & reality, itself.

More recently, I got into Geocaching, which is aptly self-described as the “world’s largest treasure hunt”. This quickly became one of my favorite passtimes as it allowed for a similar kind of reality-suspension while affording me the opportunity to be imaginative & adventurous. More than that however, I believe Geocaching has become so successful because it gives people a reason to play outside.

When my VA class was given guidelines to create our own Sensitive Intervention project, I quickly began brainstorming about how I could develop my own fusion between these two forms of pseudo reality games.

Sensitive Intervention-the project investigates the opportunities that already exist in public discourse as a method to communicate a new idea or to change all together the method of communicating itself.

The project evolved into an ARG that I have coined as Cache Quest. “The main goal for CQ is to create an outlet for community and adventure in a niche genre many enjoy. We hope to provide the stage for people to have fun with their family and friends, their imaginations, and visit neat places around the city at the same time.” It’s basically a treasure hunt for caches (artifacts) that are both artistic and relevant to the narrative we developed, involving spontaneous lore derived from historical contexts. Participants register as a character and locate the caches using the tools provided on the site.

See below:

Registration leads the participants to their new home page, beginning with the forum where they can engage in social networking with other participants.

They have a “Profile” page which tracks their progress. They can customize their character avatar as well. The “Tavern” tab opens up clickable links so participants can delve into the character lore within the quest. The “Embark” tab is the tool participants use to enter access codes for coordinates, clues, and other information my team decided to reveal when developing the narrative/ game play.

This is the flyer which will be distributed throughout Colorado Springs to attract participants to the Cache Quest site.

Here are images of some of the Cache Quest artifacts, hand crafted from both man made and natural textiles. Much of it was composed from upcycled materials I found around the house:

F.A.Q.

+Before I sign up, does Cache Quest cost anything to participate?

Nope. CQ is meant as a free social adventure platform for anyone looking to try something different and active.

+What does the sign up process look like?

It’s very quick, enter some basic info, pick a class, and embark on your journey.

+What will my information be used for?

Your information will be secured by active encrypting when necessary. In addition Cache Quest will not use any information, including photographs or video without permission. Permission may be requested for documentation purposes since the project stems from a college course.

+How much of a time commitment is this going to be?

Quest destinations were decided with consideration for ease of access, view, and overall experience. You can spend as much or as little time at a quest location as you’d like. Have a picnic or a time trial! If you’re the type that just can’t put the controller down, all quests could easily be done in a few hours.

+Why can’t I see all the quest descriptions when I click on ‘Embark’ on the homepage?

Only the first quest will be available initially, the others will be unlocked sequentially while completing the quest line.

+I’ve registered, what now?

We recommend checking out everything the site has to offer before setting off. If you’d like to get a move on, just check out the guidelines real quick and then click the link ‘Embark’ to see where your quest will take you. This will also be where future sequential quests will be located.

+Is Cache Quest family/kid friendly?

Absolutely, a youngster might need a little help along the way but that interaction can be a great thing.

+I’m not really into common fantasy genres, when creating a custom class/genre do I need to stick to similar themes?

Feel free to be as creative as you want, your only bounds are in regard to appropriateness. Please, no lewd or obscene content. Have fun in other ways! Secret club name you had as kid? Awesome. Fancy yourselves as The Three Amigos? Tasteful. Ninja Turtles perhaps? Respect.