Prototype161
Prototype161 is a scavenger hunt game that first took place in NYC on Saturday, July 12th. I attended it with Kat and Jill and we had a BLAST! I’ll explain more about it below but the first thing I have to say is that it was extremely fun. :D
The plot of the game was that a woman named Sarah Lonseko was missing and we had to race to find her. Throughout the night we’d meet with various characters around the city, as well as receive clues and solve puzzles, codes, and hidden messages to get closer and closer to finding Sarah. Some puzzles were easy to solve, while others were extremely difficult, but all of them were very well done and smart! This game was not for the weak. While it required a good level of intelligence, it also required ALOT of running around.
Being that this was the first stop for Prototype161, I was expecting that there’d be a few flaws. As it turns out, I was right.
- The first flaw was that registration was very sloppy and the game itself started almost two hours later than it’s original starting time of 6pm because of it. Everyone just massed around the women taking care of registration without any organization or anything, so it was most likely difficult for them to keep track of everything easily. Since it started late, it ended late. Or early depending on hoe you look at 5am. Yes it seriously ended at 5am. By 3am most teams, including mine, had left and there was only 2 or 3 teams (or pieces of teams) playing anymore.
- The second flaw was that their system of acquiring hints was a little sketchy. It made sense and might have worked out better if it had started on time, but as the puzzles got more difficult and well-hidden it was obvious even to them that they needed to start giving hints out over the phone. The way it worked was that you’d text them, they’d text back their location, and you’d have to go find them and get your hint. As it got really late, they started giving out hints over the phone. Being that it started so late, they should have done that from the start. If it had started on time that problem may not have come up.
Aside from those problems, it was very well thought out and planned The clues were great, the puzzles were great, and the actors were AMAZING! They were scattered around the city and you’d only know they were actors involved with the game if you went up to them and asked if they knew anything about Sarah. We even asked some random strangers about Sarah and they had no idea what we were talking about!
In case they use some of the same aspects in an upcoming event, I won’t get into too much detail about any of it. I will, however, tell you what to expect, what to bring, and what to do before going!
- First things first, make sure you have a team of 8 people. If you have less, you’ll have to pair up with another small team and if your personalities clash then you will probably have a harder time solving puzzles because you won’t discuss them with eachother. Just make sure you find 8 of your friends or aqcuaintances that can make it and go with them.
- Consider bringing a backpack with you and fill it with drinks (water, Gatorade, etc) and even snacks. You can stop at any time to get food and drinks in the city, but if you don’t want to drop everything and stop somewhere then definitely consider a backpack or something.
- A few extra things you may want to think about bringing with you are: maps, flashlights, pens, paper, and even a bicycle! If you live in the city and someone in your group can bring a bicycle you might want to have them bring it. It will save time when you need to have a teammate run back and get a hint.
- Expect to run. Alot. Unless you want to take a cab or the subway everywhere, you’ll be running for a good portion of the night. Not all of the locations are right near eachother, some are a bit further away and require either running or transportation to get there. That being said, wear running shoes and comfortable clothing.
- Expect to think. ALOT. You’re going to get stuck on puzzles, there’s no way around it. Some of them are really difficult, while others are slightly easier. If you aren’t smart or creative at all, you may want to be the one on the bike. ;]
- Be careful. You’re in the middle of a city, the people running the game aren’t able to control everyone or the traffic. It’s up to you if you want to run out in front of a truck just to get to the other side of the street two seconds earlier. As ridiculous as that sounds many people did it and while luckily noe of them got hurt, they didn’t buy any more time because the rest of the team was waiting for the light to change. Also you may not be in the nicest parts of the city all night, if at all. So just pay attention to your surroundings and be safe.
- Make FUN your first priority. This is the most important rule (except for the safety one, of course). It’s easy to get a little TOO into these things and forget that you’re primarily there to have a fun night running around the city solving mysteries and puzzles. Don’t forget that because then you’ll just remember stressing out when you couldn’t solve one of the puzzles in time and saw another team run past you! I’m terrible at this one and I get really into it, so just try to remember and make sure you have a great time! :D
Now you may be wondering what this was all even for. Was it to market some new movie? Or was it just for fun? Well we never got an explanation, but there’s one very obvious possibility.
It’s an upcoming videogame called “Prototype”. In the game, you control Alex Mercer, an amnesiac shapeshifter, as he goes throughout New York City trying to outrun the military, as well as infected creatures that have begun to take over. It’s currently scheduled to come out in February 2009.
Again, I won’t ruin anything, but there were infected creatures in a part of Prototype161. I don’t know how it played into the whole story of Sarah Lonesko, but regardless it’s obviously very similar; the title, location, and the inclusion of the infected creatures.
Apparently Prototype161 will be at “E3” in Los Angeles from July 15th to 17th, the “Penny Arcade Expo” in Seattle from August 29th to 30th, and back to Los Angeles for “E For All” from October 3rd to 5th. These will most likely be some sort of booth at the events, but then they’re supposedly going to be starting a new case in Bellevue, Washington from October 10th to 17th. Since they’ll be at a bunch of videogame related events, it’s a safe assumption that Prototype161 is related to the upcoming Prototype videogame. I’m not saying it’s a definite obviously, but you can look at the facts and guess for yourself for now.
So we could be looking at a very large scale viral marketing campagin. I would have no problem with that because it was extremely fun, but if it is for the game then I hope that doesn’t mean this was the only time they’ll be doing it because I’d love to participate again someday.
All in all, Prototype161 in NYC on July 12th was an amazing time! Even though many teams began leaving as it got to be around 1am (my team left at around 2:30), we all still had a blast solving clues up until that point! I really hope they do something like this again in the city because I’ll definitely be there, and this time I’ll know what to expect. I’m going to keep my eyes open for other scavenger hunt sort of things going on as well, because apparently lots of them happen all the time in the city. :D
If you get the chance to go to a Prototype161 game, definitely do yourself a favor and check it out! Also if you hear anything about it being related to the upcoming Prototype video game, please let me know!
