Against The Authority

Colleen Stieler-Hunt; Sandra Elsom; Craig Hargraves

Against The Authority is an alternate reality game (ARG) co-designed by Craig Hargraves and Dr Colleen Stieler-Hunt. It is designed to be used as a pedagogical tool to further the learning outcomes of SGD100 Introduction to Game Design course. The ARG interweaves a fictional story and quests with real-world class interactions. This is done through the class receiving messages from — and sending messages to — fictional ARG characters who live in a future in which games have been banned. Course materials are “hacked” by these fictional characters to set class quests. The game includes player (student) achievements, and a fictional story that aligns with course assessment tasks. We have found that the ARG provides additional opportunities for learning that did not exist prior to introducing the game; the way the ARG aligned with assessment provided extra meaning for the assessment tasks being completed; and students engaged with the ARG in many different ways. For an overview of the game, go to www.againsttheauthority.com/tour

Research Background Against The Authority (ATA), an educational alternate reality game (ARG) designed by USC researchers, is embedded in a first-year university game design course. Players find clues and solve puzzles in the physical and online worlds to advance a fictitious narrative. ARGs are pervasive; players pretend the game is real (Kasapakis & Gavalas 2015). In higher education ARGs have been primarily used for student orientation and socialisation (e.g. Evans et al. 2010, Elsom et al. 2021, Piatt 2009, Pløhn 2014, Whitton et al. 2014) with very few embedded in university courses. Research Contribution The game design process applied the Octalysis Framework for Gamification & Behavioural Design (Chou 2014) and the Serious Game Design Assessment Framework (Mitgutsch & Alvarado 2012). Online interactions were facilitated through the learning management system, a custom-created website, and social media. An ethnographic case study using a situated learning theoretical framework (Lave & Wenger 1991) found that ATA provided a valuable context for students to engage with one another and their instructor; encouraged students to research relevant topics and use evidence to support their arguments; and engaged participants in the theoretical content they were learning. Research Significance Applying design frameworks to ATA enhanced the learning opportunities. For example, the Octalysis Framework (Chou 2014) lists “epic meaning and calling” as a “core drive” that motivates people to do things larger than themselves. This was incorporated into ATA by the protagonist requiring knowledge about games from students to escape a deadly situation and by students using their game knowledge to “save” the world from a gameless future. The ethnographic case study shows that well-designed ARGs embedded in university courses can be useful tools to improve learning and social cohesion. ATA is outlined in a peer reviewed book chapter (Stieler-Hunt et al. 2021). ATA was presented within a keynote presentation at the Education in Games Summit 2019 hosted by the Australian Centre for the Moving Image as part of Melbourne International Games Week. “An Alternate Reality Game Useful for a 1st Year Game Design Course” was presented at the annual international Serious Play Conference in 2021.

Against The Authority

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