A telephone ringing in an empty call box; a classified advert for a missing cube; a Web site of bloggers who reply to your messages from a city that does not exist. This is the strange world of alternative reality gaming -- usually an innocuous way of wasting time on the Internet, but now offering the very real prize of ?100,000 (US$178,380).
Tens of thousands of people across the world are taking part in what could be the biggest treasure hunt in history: A part-real, part-virtual game which will lead one of them to an object buried somewhere on the planet.
To find the Receda Cube and claim the cash reward, players of Perplex City have to spot clues in the real world, collect puzzle cards and enter the solutions on a Web site, interact with fictional characters and other players, then use powers of deduction worthy of Sherlock Holmes. The competition is intense: Everyone in the world can take part.
In the era of The Da Vinci Code and Sudoku, it is an idea whose time has come, but the game's creator, Michael Smith, was inspired by a book published in 1979. Masquerade, by the artist Kit Williams -- which contained clues to the whereabouts of a jewelled golden hare he had buried at Ampthill in Bedfordshire -- sold more than a million copies and sparked a frenzy of nationwide digging. One German sold his home and moved to Britain to join in, while Fred Hancock drove 180,000km, digging scores of holes hundreds of kilometers from the treasure.
The people of Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, had gardens dug up and Haresfield Beacon, a National Trust site near Williams' Gloucestershire home, was carved up by diggers. Williams had to issue a statement saying the treasure was not buried on private property.
The hare was found after nearly three years by a man linked with one of Williams's ex-girlfriends, prompting the author to say he felt "conned."
Perplex City has already gained nearly 40,000 registered players since its launch in April. Stunts so far have included a series of cryptic messages, asking for help in locating "The Cube," in the Guardian, Times, Los Angeles Times and the South China Morning Post.
One character turned up at the Beatles-famed zebra crossing on Abbey Road in north London to hand over clues to around 20 players who had worked out the time and place of the rendezvous.
Smith, who has spent two years constructing the virtual city, which even has its own newspaper, said: "We're trying to create a modern version of Masquerade -- a game that spills off the Internet."
"We're hoping millions of people will get involved and turn this into a massive international experience. When the cube is finally found, we'll start another game," he said.
PRECARIOUS RELATIONS: Commentators in Saudi Arabia accuse the UAE of growing too bold, backing forces at odds with Saudi interests in various conflicts A Saudi Arabian media campaign targeting the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has deepened the Gulf’s worst row in years, stoking fears of a damaging fall-out in the financial heart of the Middle East. Fiery accusations of rights abuses and betrayal have circulated for weeks in state-run and social media after a brief conflict in Yemen, where Saudi airstrikes quelled an offensive by UAE-backed separatists. The United Arab Emirates is “investing in chaos and supporting secessionists” from Libya to Yemen and the Horn of Africa, Saudi Arabia’s al-Ekhbariya TV charged in a report this week. Such invective has been unheard of
US President Donald Trump on Saturday warned Canada that if it concludes a trade deal with China, he would impose a 100 percent tariff on all goods coming over the border. Relations between the US and its northern neighbor have been rocky since Trump returned to the White House a year ago, with spats over trade and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney decrying a “rupture” in the US-led global order. During a visit to Beijing earlier this month, Carney hailed a “new strategic partnership” with China that resulted in a “preliminary, but landmark trade agreement” to reduce tariffs — but
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) purge of his most senior general is driven by his effort to both secure “total control” of his military and root out corruption, US Ambassador to China David Perdue said told Bloomberg Television yesterday. The probe into Zhang Youxia (張又俠), Xi’s second-in-command, announced over the weekend, is a “major development,” Perdue said, citing the family connections the vice chair of China’s apex military commission has with Xi. Chinese authorities said Zhang was being investigated for suspected serious discipline and law violations, without disclosing further details. “I take him at his word that there’s a corruption effort under
China executed 11 people linked to Myanmar criminal gangs, including “key members” of telecom scam operations, state media reported yesterday, as Beijing toughens its response to the sprawling, transnational industry. Fraud compounds where scammers lure Internet users into fake romantic relationships and cryptocurrency investments have flourished across Southeast Asia, including in Myanmar. Initially largely targeting Chinese speakers, the criminal groups behind the compounds have expanded operations into multiple languages to steal from victims around the world. Those conducting the scams are sometimes willing con artists, and other times trafficked foreign nationals forced to work. In the past few years, Beijing has stepped up cooperation
RSS