Meigeist
Created by Hazel Grian and Jonathan Williams. 2007.
Meigeist is an Alternate Reality Game which ran from January to March 2007. The game had 30,000 participants world-wide and was an incredible success with both the players and the critics. It involves 10 bespoke websites, 40 puzzles, hundreds of emails, letters and phone calls, all with a very high level of personal interaction between the players and the story characters. There was also a live event at which the players were taken on secret mission by the characters and saw a key part of the drama happen before their eyes. The game was 6 months in development, ran for 8 weeks and was worth every minute. A list of all the game’s links is available below. Here are just some of the highlights:
Eva McGill’s video blog: Eva is a 20 year old student living in Bristol and Meigeist’s main character. Through her we discover the rest of the story: how did she get her psychic powers and who is following her?
http://www.evamcgill.co.uk/blog/
Address
The Mind Map : this site has many layers and represents Eva’s mind on-line. It is fed by a chip secretly planted in Eva’s brain. The players uploaded their own photos and video to parts of it.
www.subject180287.net/Interface/
KenKon Group : the shady conglomerate who have put Eva under surveillance. Another site with many secret layers.
http://www.kenkon.net/
Alpha Block Floor 2 :
This map shows part of KenKon’s security system where Eva is being held captive.
http://kenkon.net/KNet/ALPHABlockF2.html -- un = Sheen : pw= God
Escape from Kenkon final CCTV footage:
The players help Eva and her friend Keir escape from KenKon.
http://kenkon.net/Override/ -- un = sysadminAB : pw = 0112358
Timehole : Pat and Dave are two comedy conspiracy theorists from Somerset with their own website and forum. Check out their videos! Pat and Dave are a popular part of the Meigeist story, helping Eva and meeting up with the players in person.
http://www.timehole.co.uk/
Apocalypse Cow : Pat and Dave make their own spoof game within the game.
her part of Pat and Dave’s spoof game.
http://www.welovebeef.co.uk/ApocalypseCow/
Keir Jones: Keir becomes Eva’s friend. He receives a threatening puzzle.
http://www.keirjones.co.uk/
Other Links:
Meigeist Search : Many of the game’s key links have been compiled by a player named Sylvia and are available here:
http://forums.unfiction.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=17980
Quick overview of the game: The players put together this comprehensive wiki site which explains all:
www.meigeist.com
