I have lived here three years now I believe. It has gone from clean to messy so many times I can not recall. Tomorrow, I am going to clean it again, but for once, I'm excited about it.
Why, you might ask, would I be excited at the prospect of cleaning my clearly messy apartment? The answer is that tomorrow begins my experiment, an ARG (Alternate Reality Game). For those not familiar, an ARG, as I will define it here at least, is a narrative game taking place in "reality." This could be as simple as pretending that you're a ninja when you take the trash out, and scoring yourself on speed and stealth. It could also be something much more complex, like the Quest to Learn school in Manhattan, a bold experiment which augments schooling with game design elements.
Most ARGs use fantastic elements in their narrative, and it is here that mine differs. My game is not about fighting aliens by cleaning my kitchen, or foiling the plans of some evil overlord by sorting my DVD collection. My game is about an aspiring artist and graphic novelist using the summer before his senior year of college to begin seriously working on building a solid body of work and writing his first graphic novel, and I will play it by living his life. He has struggled in the past, not just against his own laziness, but with drugs and alcohol as well. He's been afraid that he might take a shot at his dreams and fail. He has held back from jumping into life, but he's not holding back anymore. My game jumps right into the action, beginning as he takes the plunge into life itself.
My game could be thought of like The Sims in first person. A simulation of all the elements of the artist's life. Not only will my game involve painting, drawing, and writing, it will also involve the more mundane elements of the artist's life, those which facilitate his abilities. These are things like eating (with bonus points for eating healthily), exercise, and maintaining a clean living space. Other activities will be included as well, like reading and watching movies. These can help the artist by giving him a larger background of material from which to, potentially, draw inspiration. Though they can also just give him a chance to take a well deserved break. You get the idea.
My game is the whole package, a detailed narrative which will probe many areas of the artist's life. All of his activities are linked together so that, seen as a game, even something as simple as shaving has a greater context which gives it meaning in relation to his goals.
The game works by issuing experience points for certain actions within the context of categories which can be leveled up and will effect the overall level of the artist himself. For example 'cleaning the bathroom sink area' [which can be done only once a week or when it is visibly messy] is worth 10 points towards the Personal Aesthetic stat, or 'finishing a page of writing' is worth 15 points towards the Artist Skills stat. As well as these tasks, which can be regularly completed, there will be larger quests and side quests, worth many points. One example is the quest 'Memorize the Tao Te Ching,' which is worth 250 points towards the Knowledge and Spirit stat, and is large enough to be broken into sub-goals which are also worth points.
In addition to counting towards experience, points will also be recorded and scored on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis in order to produce a scoreboard. This is used to compare productivity on any given day, as well as to facilitate a challenge to beat previous high scores. As the artist levels up, he will unlock methods of obtaining bonus points while completing tasks, which gives leveling up a real meaning since it can help continuously boost high score.
As it is now, my game is not yet complete, however I will not wait any longer to play it. Like many things, it is sometimes only through a process of trial and error that methods of improvement can be implemented and potential flaws can be fixed. That is to say that as time goes on, my game will evolve to make it more fun and more engaging. More stat categories, tasks, and quests will be added, and in all likelihood the scoring and leveling systems will be tweaked.
For now, however, I will have the following stat categories
Artist Skills: {LV1 at 500 XP} Includes my primary objectives, such as building a body of work and developing my graphic novel.
Health: {LV1 at 500 XP} Mostly has to do with eating well and exercising
Knowledge and Spirit: {LV1 at 500 XP} A wider category which includes reading and watching films, as well as meditating and participating in other thoughtful practices, especially those which help the artist see the links which tie him to the greater whole of existence.
Personal Aesthetics: {LV1 at 500 XP} Hygiene and maintaining a clean living space.
Misc: {LV1 at 500 XP} A category for tasks and goals which do not necessarily fit into the other current stat categories.
Overall: {LV1 at 2500 XP} A category based on the others, and used for tracking overall character development.
Tomorrow I begin to play the game I have made of my life. I could not be more excited.
I am ready for the experiment to begin.
