Live, or Memorex?

I am finding myself increasingly interested in alternate reality games ( ARGs ). This is a game that uses the real world as the gameboard, with clues and actions being all present in real time, in real life. You might have to go to a certain website or a certain address and do something, talk to someone, or whatever. I played a kind of lame-but-still-interesting version of this kind of game at GenCon last year... and now I'm interested in making one go.

It would bring into one tight little package several areas of interest I have: viral flow of information across social networks, game design, and writing in particular.

I have an idea for a sort of starter-game. We'll see what I can come up with.

There are companies that do this, for money. This job has officially made it onto my Dream Jobs List.

; )

Here's a story from Wired that discusses one such ARG.