The original intent of my Digital Media MA project was to create an escape game box that utilized physical computing components to create puzzles requiring participants to manipulate lights and assemble connections to solve the mysteries within. One overarching objective was to encourage STEAM concepts of scientific inquiry and engineering design. Due to the dramatic change in the semester and lack of availability to the tools and materials needed to create the box, I pivoted instead to a website that functions as both a space to document my prior work on the project, and embody some of the core aspects of the game. 

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This website serves as a sort of "prequel" to the narrative of the escape game box, the beginnings of an alternate reality game (ARG) about beings who can travel between dimensions, called "drifters". The fictional author of this site, current identity unknown, is investigating clues about these beings and artifacts (like the box) they leave behind. The intent is to infuse the site with the beginnings of this narrative, and embed puzzles in the site itself that users can solve to facilitate engagement in the transmedia storyworld.

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The following is a walk-through of the key components of the site. There are puzzles, so for ease of navigation I have provided the solutions below.

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• The first site you encounter is a landing page about creating an escape game box to teach STEM concepts. The copy here is pulled from a proposal Matthew Mosher, Peter Smith, and I developed to apply for funding for the project. However, there are some misspellings and stray letters, a sign that something is off. A hyperlink message at the top reads "Are you down to join this cause, from the beginning to the end of the line?"

• By studying the text and using these cues, you will notice the first letter and last letter of every line spells, from the top down, "The password is 'wearenotalone'". This puzzle is designed for desktop browsers.

• Clicking on the linked message at the top will lead you to the homepage of this main site, ArtiFACT, but you must first enter the newly discovered password to gain access.

• On the home page, there is a short welcome message, a link to the main blog post, subsequent posts, and a gallery of images.

  • The main post details the work I had done earlier in the semester, but frames it in the context of the fictional narrative - the author describes how they are recreating an artifact they've come across multiple times, but due to it's transient nature they have not been able to have it for long. They are recreating it to better understand its contents.

  • Subsequent posts include a range of content. Currently, they feature posts on code I had been developing, design files intended to print with the laser cutter, and a series about "drifter sightings" (ultimately a puzzle)

  • The gallery is a collection of the images on the site, to get a better overall view of the contents

• There are also some words that have been replaced by strange symbols on the home page. It is possible to decrypt these, either by traditional decrypting methods of deduction and guessing the original words, or (currently) copy/pasting the text into a word processor. Either way, the user will need to use what they learn to decode a message on the image of the home page to go to a secret site. This code is the language of the drifters, and will be used continually as the narrative progresses.

  • In decoding the language, users can click on the message and enter the password "connection" - this will take them to a hidden site created by the drifters, which will eventually contain puzzles and more information on the drifters they want to keep a secret from the author of the site