Alternate Reality Games and the Cusp of Digital Gameplay is a rabbit hole into a wondrous world where everything we encounter is playable, every problem demands extreme-scale collaboration, and every story is open to co-creation. In this world, the virtual games we play threaten -- or promise? -- to blur the boundaries of our real lives and even become our lives. The volume is nothing less than a definitive history and the most significant theoretical examination yet of the strangest happenings in the most transgressive and personally transformative genre of games to emerge in our connected age. Don't forget: In an alternate reality, anything and everything might be a clue to something bigger -- including, yes, of course! the very pages in this book. Happy playing! And keep your eyes open for clues... * Jane McGonigal, Alternate Reality Game Creator and author of Reality is Broken * A well-researched and in-depth collection. Especially useful as a retrospective and case study of ARGs' first decade. * Steve Peters, Founder/Chief Creative Officer, No Mimes Media, USA * Alternate Reality Games and the Cusp of Digital Gameplay provides a timely critical exploration of the histories, terminologies, and tropes of the genre. Bringing together theory and example, with contributions from some of the foremost researchers in the field, this volume represents an essential overview of the scholarly state-of-the-art in alternate reality gaming. * Nicola Whitton, Professor of Professional Learning, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK * Alternate Reality Games (ARGs) are notoriously hard to define; luckily this new collection grapples with their complexities with a playful and scholarly approach. Using interdisciplinary perspectives, the contributors show how ARGs provide insight into humanity, reality, play, and what it means to have fun. * Karen Schrier, Assistant Professor and Director of Games & Emerging Media, Marist College, USA, and author of Knowledge Games (2016) *