1) The document describes a Twitter-based alternate reality game created in 2007 for the BBC, in which clues and missions were shared over direct messages and players took photos as tasks. 2) It discusses using Twitter's direct messaging and photo sharing capabilities to facilitate a spy-themed game without polluting players' normal Twitter feeds. 3) The game took 3 days to build and used automated systems to analyze messages and assign new missions while surfacing game activity on a separate Twitter account.

1. QNTMFSLC*
playing and making games and
interactive fiction through Twitter
qntmfslc is Quantum of Solace with the vowels removed
Jaggeree
QNTMFSLC - playing and making games with Twitter /think/help/create/work
just a short 140 second talk about games built on and through twitter...
here’s our example, a game of espionage played over twitter

2. espionage in real world != spymaster
Jaggeree
QNTMFSLC - playing and making games with Twitter /think/help/create/work
but in the real world, not the activity stream... I’m not from spymaster

3. Name Paul Denchfield
Location London
pauldenchfield Web http://www.paulde...
Bio Producer / Director
42 50
following followers
Want to get your hands on Mark Updates 70
Ronson's keyboard? Check out the Favorites
BBC Big Weekend site and join the Following
Instrument Hunt.
7:59 AM May 22nd, 2007 from web
The Gossip's guitar was stolen by Cyrus! Visit the Big
Weekend website for details of how you can retrieve it - and
keep it.
9:55 AM May 21st, 2007 from web
WE DID IT! FOUR TRANSMITTERS DOWN, CYRUS RUN OUT OF
TOWN, AND THE BIG WEEKEND IS SAFE. NICE WORK AND View All…
THANKS! ENJOY THE MUSIC!
10:14 AM May 20th, 2007 from web RSS feed of pauldenchfield's
updates
Everyone head up to the VIP entrance now - by the north tip
of tri 5 - going to see if I can get you backstage to find the
final transmitter
9:36 AM May 20th, 2007 from web
playing games since 2007
More from Vi: Transmitter is live and in place at triangle 1,
up at the north end by the bar and open air stage. Everyone
head over now!
8:38 AM May 20th, 2007 from web
Just filmed a vid about the last two transmitters, putting it up
on the blog in ten or so
8:00 AM May 20th, 2007 from web
Got email from Vi: transmitter in place at triangle 5, right at
the south by some stalls. Let's move.
7:12 AM May 20th, 2007 from web
Brilliant - first one down! Triangle 2 is out. Three more
transmitters to go. Be ready.
6:10 AM May 20th, 2007 from web
News from Violet: transmitter is in place at triangle 3, by the
signing and merch tents. Get there now!
5:53 AM May 20th, 2007 from web
Guys here have a neat system. We've numbered the five
Jaggeree
QNTMFSLC - playing and making games withthis.to south - so 3 is the new music tent.
triangles 1- 5, north
We'll navigate by
Twitter /think/help/create/work
5:07 AM May 20th, 2007 from web
We’ve got some form here, back in 2007 I was part of a team who produced an alternate
Violet just emailed - she's going to know exactly when the
reality game for BBC transmitters will be placed in position. Doingused a Twitter stream in the story telling of the
in UK, we created and a vid now with
more info
game and to place clues May 20th, 2007 from web
4:51 AM
Morning all. If you're coming to the fest today, have a big
breakfast. We've got a big day ahead - transmitters to find,
villains to foil.
2:20 AM May 20th, 2007 from web

4. game controllers should have
less buttons than this
Jaggeree
QNTMFSLC - playing and making games with Twitter /think/help/create/work
Many games are too complex, game controllers have even more buttons than the lifts in the
Intercontinental

5. games are more fun/easy to play
with more natural controllers
Jaggeree
QNTMFSLC - playing and making games with Twitter /think/help/create/work
And we all know that if you make natural interfaces games are more fun/engaging and have a
wider audience

6. even easier with every day
objects: SMS, Twitter
Jaggeree
QNTMFSLC - playing and making games with Twitter /think/help/create/work
So we make games with things like SMS and Twitter, everyday services/devices... we also
learn about how they use these devices

7. merge microfiction and
gameplay
Jaggeree
QNTMFSLC - playing and making games with Twitter /think/help/create/work
Story telling and personal involvement in story telling are key too, like Japanese mobile phone
fiction

8. game commissioned for
British Film Institute festival
Jaggeree
QNTMFSLC - playing and making games with Twitter /think/help/create/work
So we were asked to produce a game about James Bond for a pervasive games festival as part
of their Cubby Broccoli season

9. weaving in real world objects
Jaggeree
QNTMFSLC - playing and making games with Twitter /think/help/create/work
And we wanted to weave in real life objects like this toilet door graphic we added red dots to
and turned into an assasination target

10. follow M to join the game
Jaggeree
QNTMFSLC - playing and making games with Twitter /think/help/create/work
Game play is simple, follow M, who follows you back and DMs you

11. M sends missions as DMs
Jaggeree
QNTMFSLC - playing and making games with Twitter /think/help/create/work
M then sends you on missions as DMs, remember, it’s a game about spying and DMs are
hushed whispers

12. players DM their solutions back to M
Jaggeree
QNTMFSLC - playing and making games with Twitter /think/help/create/work
The players then DM their solutions to the missions back to M, keeping their answers secret

13. Twitter username ••••••••••••••••
Remember me
Posted on May 2, 2009
by wiilassie
More photos by wiilassie
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players send in twitpics
Jaggeree
QNTMFSLC - playing and making games with Twitter /think/help/create/work
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Sometimes the DMs contain Twitpic links if we’ve told them to photograph something
©2009 Twitpic Inc, All Rights Reserved Home Blog API FAQ Terms Contact

14. active listening robots and a
custom contol deck
Jaggeree
QNTMFSLC - playing and making games with Twitter /think/help/create/work
We have some automation tools, robots which sit talking to the Twitter API and deciding
whether the player’s messages have fulfilled the missions and sending them on new ones.
We also have a custom game control panel where we can look at messages which we can’t
categorize and act on automatically

15. surfacing game activity on twitter
Jaggeree
QNTMFSLC - playing and making games with Twitter /think/help/create/work
Instead of spamming back into the players stream we surface the game activity on a separate
twitter account... player’s stream stays as their own.
Here we’re surfacing it about 20 foot tall with a projector on a wall at the BFI using a hacked
up copy of Twistori

16. development time for game, 3 days
faster to write software than do
manual analysis
Jaggeree
QNTMFSLC - playing and making games with Twitter /think/help/create/work
Couple of quick points
Took 3 man days to code the game logic robots and the custom deck
It’s often faster to write software to perform analysis rather than to hire interns, never a
replacment for human touch but can help to sift/sort and surface

17. all DM’s and @replies, no fake tweets,
so not spammy
players as advocates rather than
as advertising pawns
Jaggeree
QNTMFSLC - playing and making games with Twitter /think/help/create/work
all the game play is as DMs so doesn’t pollute the stream of real conversation and upset
followers. the @replies are from the players and they write them themselves, so players are
really advocates rather than pawns in a spammy viral/social advertising campaign

18. thank you
chris thorpe
twitter:jaggeree
can.we.talk@jaggeree.com
Jaggeree
QNTMFSLC - playing and making games with Twitter /think/help/create/work
thank you, now back off to London (yes I do really come from London)