U.S. Spies Want to Play Alternate-Reality Games (For Work, They Swear)

Alternate-reality games are no longer just for geeks and corporations that want to sell you stuff. America's intelligence agents now think these interactive games could make for a better way to study human psychology and social behavior.

The intelligence community's blue-sky researchers, the Intelligence Advanced Research Agency (IARPA), announced they're seeking designers for alternate-reality games, or ARGs. It's for work, they swear. The project, which goes by the name UAREHERE (as in 'you are here'), 'may provide capabilities that allow for high-quality, externally valid social, behavioral and psychological research in near-real world contexts,' according to a request for information released this week.

Alternate reality games emerged in the last decade as a form of transmedia storytelling, or the practice of using multiple forms of media ' particularly the internet ' to craft a narrative structure. The directors of an ARG typically start by developing a story, litter clues on the internet, and when the players solve them, the players are led to further clues or a staged event featuring live actors. Many ARGs require dozens or hundreds of people to play out, and the games are interactive: Players can shape the course of a story by their actions. It's also become a means to market products, whether musicians teasing a new album, or a movie studio promoting a new film.

While the ostensible purpose of the game is to research human behavior, the specific intelligence function served here is a mystery. Nor does the agency specify who the players would be: The info request notes that recruiting and screening players will be a challenge. Another: determining whether an ARG would even work as a research tool, let alone how to design an ARG.

One idea: build a game that combines 'controlled data collection as well as periods of 'free play' and interactions.' The agency also makes a quick reference in the request to this WIRED article about Conspiracy for Good, an ARG developed by TV show Heroes' creator Tim Kring. The game, which played out online and in London in 2010, fused puzzle-solving with live events, and counted more than 4,000 members assigned to take down a fictional conspiracy.

How far IARPA can go depends on whether the agency will get enough funding. James Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence, told the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on Tuesday that budget cuts will mean the intel community must 'scale back cutting-edge research that in the long term helps us maintain a strategic advantage.'

IARPA is cautious to note that privacy and anonymity of the players is a concern, along with providing informed consent to participants. Another problem, the request notes, is the potential for a priming effect to occur when explaining the purpose of a game to its players, which could skew the results. Which doesn't make for good intelligence.