Perplex City Review and Interview by Geek Woman

Do you collect Tarot cards? Got stacks of Middle Earth the Wizard’s Cards stashed away some place to increase profits for posterity? Or how about a guilty pleasure caché of Card Captor Sakura Cards? Yep, I know who you are, because I’m right there with you as well. When WomenGamers Editor Atari pointed me at Perplex City I have to admit to being pretty jazzed to do this story. I set out not only to play the game, but also to try and interview some of the developers.
First of all Perplex City is a card game. The oversized Tarot-like deck is the central feature of this feel good game. They are complete with a satisfying scratch off spot that even satisfies that ‘other’  kind of gaming itch. The cards are each an individual puzzle. Some are word based brain teasers, others are math problems. Some are just off the wall and it makes you wonder who the heck was so clever. Women of course!

Eventually by solving all the cards, which are being released in phases like other collectible card games, you have the chance to win a cash prize. The object of the game is sort of like Clue and City of Villiains banged together. The point is to solve the mystery that surrounds the disappearance of a missing artifact.

Next, the game is also online. You log into a member based system to solve your cards. A virtual world exists online where you can assemble clues and a map. In fact Perplex City itself is on an alien world, and the creators playfully ask that you suspend your disbelief and enter another reality entirely to play this game.

There are tons of support websites including a Wiki and a huge and fun community of people who are playing the game. It is multiplayer by nature. How you play it is up to you. You can order the cards and solve them cooperatively with friends. Or you can play by yourself. One of the features of this game is that you wouldn’t feel like you are alone when you are online playing. It is competitive without having those competitors up your nose making rude remarks. If you want to join in forums, chats or other game related gatherings you can. Or you can just play on your own, when ever you like.

There is no game avatar. You don’t wear a cyber - made persona to play this game. There is no “you the gamer” in the game. It doesn’t have a first person or third person perspective. It isn’t a god game. It is unique in a genre of “alternate reality games” or ARG’s. The game blurs the line of where it ends and where your RL (real life) begins.

Gameplay is different than in a standard PC game. The cards are a tangible fun factor. Once they are solved you flip them over to reveal the bigger picture which is the map. On your member screen this is done handily with an original engine that shows you your cards front and back. The pleasure of this game is the journey. Each card that you solve gives you a little thrill. It is an exciting game. … If you are the sort that enjoys Sherlock Holmes reruns on PBS. This is what guys would refer to as a “chick game” for sure. I found it to be intriguing, addictive and refreshing. I think that many women are going to be attracted to this game.

Marketing To Women

From my perspective the game looks like it was the perfect career evolution for a female writer. Who wouldn’t want to write a story, and then invite everyone in to play in your world? Women do have a penchant for productivity when it comes to /fiction (slash fiction). Female writers have no problem working with, (and reading about ) existing characters in a predetermined fictional reality. For example the long lived Dungeons and Dragons books and the Star Trek novels are written by some male, but also by many female authors.  Perplex City has the kind of story line that will get us involved. It has a intellectual feeling to it, and the cooperative participation make the game compelling and entertaining.

Sound / Music
There isn’t any sound or music in the game other than what you put on your own iTunes. The game takes place right there in your own room so it is largely what you make it. Altho there is the “ten-track CD Created by the reclusive Perplexian musician, Viard” that is included in the Perplex City  starter pack.

Graphics
Again because Perplex City is an ARG it doesn’t have monster graphics card driven images. It isn’t really a video game. Each card is gorgeous and painted and designed by top flight artists. The artistry in this game is something tangible and collectible. It is a game that you have something to show for, besides an empty box on the shelf. The graphics rich aspect of this game is entirely different and that is what makes it so much fun.

This game came to my attention at the perfect time. Winter is great for reading and challenging the brain meat. The game has lots of the right stuff. Competition, mind mangle-ing, cash prize, deep storyline, and a huge effervescent community around it. It is past time for something different, and Perplex City certainly is that. I give it a 9 out of 10.

Pros: A unique and interesting game.
Cons: Cheating is far too easy : (

Geek Woman : I spoke to developer Mind Candy’s “AD HOC POLYMATH” Andrea Phillips.

Andrea is a lifelong gamer who read AD&D books at age eight and spent all of her allowance on Infocom games during grammar school. She entered the world of alternate reality gaming during The Beast . In her role as a Cloudmakers moderator, Andrea updated ‘The Trail’ and edited the Editorials section of the Cloudmakers’ website. She has a BA in Journalism and Japanese Language and Culture from Eastern Michigan University. Andrea has career experience both with technical project management, and as an editor for print and web publications. She plays a mean DDR and can clear ‘Ghosts’ on heavy.

Geek Woman : How did you become involved?

Andrea Phillips: Perplex City was initially the brainchild of our CEO, Michael Smith. A few years back, he approached Adrian Hon and Dan Hon about the concept, since they were both pretty high-profile in the ARG community; like me, they were both moderators for Cloudmakers, the 7500-person community that played the A.I. game. We’d remained friends since that Cloudmakers experience, and I was brought into the project pretty early on because we already knew we had a great working relationship and everyone felt I had a lot to bring to the table.

In the early days, I was more of a freelancer, helping develop story and doing some writing and card design as needed, but the amount of work they needed me for gradually grew so big they had no choice to bring me on full-time a few months ago.

Geek Woman : What work do you do on the game?

Andrea Phillips: What don’t I do? I’ve got my fingers in a lot of aspects of production — lots of writing and puzzle design, mainly, but I’ve had to do tasks as varied as troubleshooting Apache, diverse kinds of photography, planning live events, working trade show booths… I think my job isn’t so different from a movie producer, in that I wind up doing a lot of whatever it takes to keep things going in the right direction.

Geek Woman : For the people that don’t know, what is Perplex City?

Andrea Phillips: The description our PR guys have come up with is: “Perplex City is a trading-card-based Alternate Reality Game blending real-life treasure hunting, interactive fiction, puzzle-solving, online communities, and live events in cities around the world.” Basically we’re trying to create a persistent alternate universe where we can tell really great stories, and where the audience can effect the path of the story. Our game mechanic is puzzle cards you can buy, that have deeper information in them that immerse you further into the world of Perplex City.

Geek Woman : Some people call Perplex City an ARG (Alternate Reality Game) do you agree?

Andrea Phillips : I absolutely agree. In fact, it’s important to note the distinction between us and the M-ARGS (marketing ARGs). We’re not out there to sell you Halo2 (ilovebees) or Audis (Art of the Heist). We’re not selling anything but ourselves, but the game experience is very similar. We have an additional element, of course, in the puzzle cards, and to my way of thinking, that just adds another layer of player to it. We’re keen on providing multiple levels of play to suit a variety of different types of player.

Actually, my own perspective on what is and isn’t an ARG has been expanding quite a lot in the last year or so. I’m seeing more and more ARG-like elements popping up everywhere. I think the question of ‘what’s an ARG?’ is going to be a moot point in the next five years or so, because every form of entertainment will have that kind of cross-media narrative. The TV show with a fake company with a real website, which a phone number to call which leads you to a character’s online journal… this is all stuff that’s being done already, and I’d call even that an ARG.

Geek Woman : Is this the first game that you have worked on?

Andrea Phillips: Yes and no. It’s my first commercial venture. I was part of a group that went through the planning phases for a grassroots ARG, but that never made it out the door. I was also one of the Cloudmakers moderators, as I’ve said, and that was practically a job on its own, but I don’t think it counts.

Geek Woman : There seem to be several women involved with this project, the lead writer and the studio manager are women. Writing for a game like this seems like a dream job.

Andrea Phillips: It’s really a terrific job, and it is a very woman-friendly environment. It’s also been a wonderful team to be a part of; we have a really terrific collaborative relationship, and I think it brings out the best and most creative elements of all of us. You get to use lots of different skills, lots of problem-solving. I feel very fortunate to be a part of this.

Geek Woman : Is anyone winning?

Andrea Phillips : I couldn’t possibly say.

Geek Woman : Oh I see ; )

Geek Woman : What’s next?

Andrea Phillips: Right now we’re just beginning a serious U.S. launch, which we’re pretty excited about, and we have live events coming in NYC and in London in the next few weeks. We’ve got a new wave of Perplex City cards coming out before much longer, and even further on, we’re already planning for Season 2, as well. We have some pretty big plans, but of course it’s all top-secret.

Geek Woman : There is a tremendous amount of support on web sites for this game. Including forums with reveals of the puzzles, How do you feel about that?

Andrea Phillips : You know, part of that is the nature of the internet, and we always expected that would happen. In fact, it lets us set the bar for some puzzles even higher — we don’t need to know that anyone can solve it, we just need to know that one player can, and then they’ll share with the community. I’m coming around to a point of view that it doesn’t so much matter, though. Having all of that shared information out there allows each player to tailor the game experience in a way that suits him or her best. I’ve been known to use walkthroughs and FAQs with my traditional games, and I think our players are only really participating in that same level of information-sharing. Yo get bragging rights if you solve on your own, but if you don’t, there’s still a way for you to get the most out of the content.

That said, it does lead for some amusing statistics. We have something like 40 people all tied for first place for points on our leaderboard right now.

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