Immerse yourself in a “real life” Lovecraftian experience: “The Black Watchmen”

“It feels like a dark episode of The X-Files every time you go on a mission…” – James Recommends

My guest on today’s show is Andrea Doyon, one of the creators of The Black Watchmen alternate reality game! Season 2 started a couple of days ago, and dedicated a full set of missions to a Lovecraftian creature, who, in the mission, has escaped out into the real world, requiring that the players intervene.

In other words, in this alternate reality game, you have the opportunity to immerse yourself into a Lovecraftian experience! (Purchase the game on Steam here.)

What’s an alternate reality game? It’s an “interactive narrative that uses the real world as a platform and uses transmedia storytelling to deliver a story that may be altered by the players’ ideas or actions.”

In other words, play in the real world. Watch this video for more information on ARGs:

The Black Watchmen calls itself the “first ever Permanent Alternate Reality Game”:

The Black Watchmen is unlike any other game on Steam. You will have the opportunity to complete tasks unique to PARGs. You must be prepared: There is no virtual world, and you have no in-game avatar. You have an agent name, your wits, and the support of the community, that is all. The game exists in the real world, and many times during missions you will be interacting with real world entities (players, businesses, organizations, etc.). The Black Watchmen is not static; it is progressive, with a constant rollout of new content, created based on the actions of the community. Your choices as a player matter. You decide the story. You will not be able to complete this game alone. Only with the help of the community will you be able to rise through the ranks, and become a veteran agent of The Black Watchmen.

The Black Watchmen trailer:

I’ve been fascinated with alternate reality games for a long time, so I’m excited to talk with Andrea Doyon today. I hope you’ll watch and/or listen to the show! Andrea has agreed to give away free Black Watchmen Steam keys to FOUR random listeners and viewers of today’s show!

For your chance to win, simply watch the show today at 6:00pm Eastern time (5pm Central, 3pm Pacific), at this link (or watch today’s show at the top of this page).

If you can’t watch live, you can always watch the recording later, or listen to the audio edition.

There are three ways to watch or listen to the show: