ARGs, or Alternate Reality Games, are quickly becoming a viable genre of entertainment, not to mention a quickly booming marketing platform. So what are ARGs, and why should you care?

To answer that second question, here's just one figure: Coordinated with the release of Halo 2 in 2004, the ARG "I Love Bees" was a critical success, as described in the book "This is Not a Game".

During the course of the game, thousands and thousands of people participated both online and in real life, with an estimated one million people in total having been exposed to the project in one way or another.

Alternate Reality Game, Immersive Fiction, Viral Marketing, the concept has many names. But the fact is that it is just starting to pick up speed and gain recognition, and will undoubtedly be a medium that will stick around for awhile.

If a single game can affect and/or influence a million people, while the genre is still in its infancy, imagine what we can do for Christ with it tomorrow. The internet and a few marketing agencies have paved the way for a new strategy for global and local outreach. The point of this and other ARG blogs will be to put the knowledge and tools in your hands, so that you can affect the world for Christ. Expect blog posts on a regular basis.

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Andrew "Night Watch 565" Steele is currently a research assistant for a Christian Foundation. He spends no less than 18 hours a week surfing the internet, and currently plays the ARG "Perplex City". He hopes to develop his own Christian ARG with the help of others (accepting applications and proposals!). He is also trying to get into Seminary, with the goal of becoming a Chaplain for the United States Army.

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