Presented at LILAC 2009

1. Help Viola: using an ARG for student
induction
Rosie Jones
Bob Glass
Emily Shields
Manchester Metropolitan University

2. Session overview
Introduction
 The ARGOSI project
 What are ARGs?
ViolaQuest narrative
Activity: ViolaQuest
The potential of ARGs for learning
Questions

3. The ARGOSI project
ARG to support student induction – one year JISC
funded project
 Integrated gaming environment
 Meet InfoSkills learning outcomes
 Create social networks
 Improve student orientation confidence
 Engage in, and enjoy induction
Induction
 Lack of context
 Information overload
 ‘Pub’ focussed
 Little orientation to the city

4. What are ARGs?
Emerging game form - 2001
Viral marketing tool
Real world and online - variety of media
Narrative unfolds over time
Built by the players - user-created artifacts
Collaborative challenges
‘This is not a game’
Typically niche but with high engagement

5. Viola Quest

6. Viola and Percy

7. A secret society

8. The Challenges
Challenge 1 : A strange letter
Challenge 2 : Who am I?
Challenge 3 : A history mystery
Challenge 4 : X marks the spot
Challenge 5 : Percy’s A-Z
Challenge 6 : Finding the flaxobulator

9. Narrative structure
Overarching storyline
 Regular plot points when challenges released
Customisable sub-plots
 Related to learning outcome sets

10. Exploring challenges
Go to www.violaquest.org
Log in: Username :
Password :
In your teams, you have 25 minutes to
complete as many of the 16 lower
challenge grid squares as possible (you
will not be able to do no.6)

11. Challenges
Linked to learning goals
Online and offline
Individual and group
Increasing levels of difficulty
Range of ways to provide evidence

12. Getting the right mix for learning
Completing Competition
Storyline Puzzle-solving
Community Creativity

13. The ARGOSI framework
Software
 The ARG engine
Set of reusable ARG components
 Narrative
 Graphics
 Challenges
Guidelines for use

14. The ARG engine
Free open-source software
 Developed in Ruby on Rails (need to have some
expertise in Ruby, MySQL)
 Can be deployed to any compatible server
 Can be freely modified and customised
Delivers ARG elements
 Challenge management
 User management and leader board
 Discussion forums and messaging
User and admin functionality

15. ViolaQuest
 www.violaquest.org

16. Customisable narrative
Overarching storyline
 Change characters, location, plot
 Keep structure
Sub-plots
 Entirely customisable
 Players will make the links with the main plot

17. Graphical elements
Customisable elements
 Letter
 Typewritten instructions
 Diary pages
 Newspaper articles
 Map
 Blueprints

18. Good practice guide
Ongoing as we learn more
Handbook for implementation
 Using the ARGOSI framework
 Marketing guidance
 Guidance on use of external sites
Research findings from ARGOSI

19. Some things we’ve learned from ARGOSI
Timing is important
Don’t expect autonomy for all
 Many students need an external motivation
Difficult to make learning outcomes fun
Getting the challenges right is hard
 Easier is more accessible
 Students not keen to work offline
Underestimated time taken to support

20. Any questions?