Tim Sullivan plotted out an elaborate alternate reality birthday game for his girlfriend using Backpack. He writes, "I don't think we'd have been able to even conceive of organizing this without Backpack. It's keeping us completely organized and allowing us to pull off what could be the greatest birthday scavenger hunt of all time!" Full details below, courtesy of Tim.
For my girlfriend Linda's 29th birthday, I've decided to upgrade her tired old frankenstein'd computer from 2002 to a powerhouse Alienware gaming rig. Additionally, I've set up an "alien conspiracy" theme for the entire birthday. In order to set the mood properly, I've enlisted a few friends and we've designed and are in the process of playing out an alternate reality game with her as the unwitting investigator. The whole thing ends with her old computer being abducted and replaced with the new Alienware machine.
There are a lot of moving parts to an alternate reality game, including some detailed scripts for the plot, a variety of props for everything from letters sent by email to pieces of the puzzle, phone messages that happen on specific days and people who need to be at certain places at certain times. We'd started by sending a few emails around, but it quickly became way too complex for that. So we set up an account on Backpack to help us keep everything in check.
Assembling the script on a single page using dividers to organize each stage helped a huge amount, especially during brainstorming sessions where several of us were on the phone talking and writing new notes.
The calendar helped us keep the dates things needed to be prepared by (coded in red), as well as the date of the actual launch of the event (coded in green).
Messages allowed us to note conflicts, scheduling problems (like being away for Thanksgiving here in Canada!) and ensure the people we were using for voicemails and in-person meetings were up to speed on any last-minute changes and general progress.
Here's the general storyline: Linda receives a letter in the mail, typed on an antique typewriter, addressed to her directly with only a phone number as the contents. When she calls the number, she gets the voicemail for the W.M. Roswell and Associates law firm, specializing in freedom of information requests and anti-trust law. It directs her to a website. The website contains information about recent cases, as well as information about W.M. and his associates. Several days later, she receives a note included with the bill for dinner, directing her to a meeting that is "key to her safety." A map is provided for where she needs to be and when. She waits there, and one of the associates from the law firm goes up to her, hands her a package, then runs off, looking suspicious. Inside the package are several diary pages making reference to a "device" that's been stolen, a newspaper clipping about the recent unusual death of one of the partners at W.M. Roswell, and several redacted government documents making references to the same device. Additionally, there is an object that is required to solve a puzzle encoded in the diary.
The code provides a password that will allow her to login to the "client only" area of the W.M. Roswell website, providing the "alien reveal" -- that the object in question is of alien origin, and it's been stolen, but one of the associates has a lead on it. This should happen about a week before her birthday proper. Four days after she figures out the puzzle (or the day before her birthday, whichever comes first), an email will be sent to her from W.M. himself saying that the device has been located, and an email will be sent before 9am within the next several days, providing her with information regarding the delivery of the device. The night before her birthday, we'll be taking her out for drinks with friends, to ensure she sleeps soundly. On her birthday, October 25th, while she sleeps, I'll have swapped out her current computer for the new Alienware, and when she goes to check her email in the morning, there it will be, with a happy birthday email in her inbox.
Should be a blast if we manage to pull it off, and don't scare her too much to follow the clues. :-)
Seriously, though: I don't think we'd have been able to even conceive of organizing this without Backpack. It's keeping us completely organized and allowing us to pull off what could be the greatest birthday scavenger hunt of all time!
Do you use a 37signals product in an interesting or noteworthy way? Let us know.
