MMObility: Fleck highlights the possibilities of ARGs

Earlier in the week, Massively posted some news about a new alternate reality game called Fleck. Being the ever-curious roving gaming reporter that I am, I immediately checked it out. I found a game -- sort of -- that reminded me of FarmVille with a hefty dash of Parallel Kingdoms and a smidge of the whimsical Glitch. None of those is a bad thing, which is the good news. The bad news is that Fleck does not go as far as I would like... yet.

This means that as more and more games like Fleck come out (and they will), we will continue to see improvements on the genre. Could alternate reality games really become successful? Is it realistic to assume that one day we will see ARGs become the most popular type of massive gaming?

I think it's possible. Very possible. But let's talk about it past the cut. First of all, let's stop using the term alternate reality games. I prefer the term reality-based gaming. That's all, nothing fancy. As soon as you're able to load an MMO that depends on your real-life location while you're waiting for your oil to be changed, you're augmenting an alternate reality -- a situation that would not have happened if not for that game and device. Let's just say that I hate the term alternate reality gaming -- it sounds like something out of a movie from the early '90s.

"Hell, I could shout out my real-life location in any number of normal MMOs and have the same effect."

Fleck simply allows players to roam across a board that is based on real-life locations. Hell, I could shout out my real-life location in any number of normal MMOs and have the same effect. Now, if my little characters would order my food for me at the local fast food joint as I drove up, or if I actually became the mayor of the 59th street Jiffy Lube, then that would be augmenting reality. The point is that the excitement I feel playing Fleck isn't because of the game's connection to the real world. We have plenty of that with Facebook, and all it gets us is 100 million teenagers putting their lives in danger by telling 674 "friends" that they are home alone after school (and posting pictures to prove it).

The exciting thing about a game like Fleck is that it is trying something new, providing a real (if not basic) MMO experience playable in-browser, and wrapping it all up with nice design. For me, any new advance in portable gaming is a good one, simply because anything is possible right now. The rules of design have not been set as they have been with "normal" MMOs, so developers are trying all sorts of wonderful, and sometimes horrible, new designs.

When you log into Fleck, you go through a very basic tutorial that shows you how to plant seeds and collect flowers and fight zombies. It's pretty basic stuff... zombies are fought by simply going near them as self-activating weapons fire on them. Planting comes from the FarmVille school of design. The key component -- real-life map interaction -- works OK, but just OK. I was able to locate my real-life neighborhood by typing in an address, followed by laying down a house to stay in, and I was even able to buy the local restaurants for profit. In a very nice twist, the eateries around my house were themed after their real-life counterparts -- a fast food taco joint has a tiny taco on top, and even the local sandwich place features a sub sandwich on its roof. Unfortunately, the neat miniature signs were about as close to my real-life location as the game got, at least so far in my experience. After all, anyone in the world could find my spot on the map and lay down his own house, so nothing is really "owned" or distinctly "my location."
Could the game allow players to "claim" their real-life spots on the map? Probably. Parallel Kingdoms does something along those lines. This is where a lot of the portable or location based games will have many issues: How can they be safe when players show the world their real-life locations?

I tend to come from the school of thought that says those scary tales of scorned guildmates finding their guild leaders' houses, thanks to Google maps, are mostly bogus or at least very, very rare. Still, this is the age of the lawsuit, a wonderful age in which anyone can sue anyone for almost anything. Does anyone actually think that any developer, especially a new developer, would take a chance with the safety of its players? I doubt it.

"If I claimed a spot near a forest, perhaps I could collect the growing trees and sell the wood to other players?"

So Fleck's potential magic is sort of lost. The map really just becomes a blank piece of paper for anyone to stick a straight pin into. Now, if the developers included bonuses to real-life locations like lakes or valleys, then the game would start to feel more like reality. If I claimed a spot near a forest, perhaps I could collect the growing trees and sell the wood to other players? Perhaps something like this is already in the game, but I have not come across it yet. It's still in beta, as well, so I'll keep that in mind. You can, of course, grow your own trees and gardens, but that can be done with many games that are not "reality-based."

It might sound like I am criticizing Fleck. I suppose I am, but mainly because I can see how much incredible potential the game has. It runs in any browser, so I can only hope that the devs decide to bring other devices into compatibility sooner rather than later. If the developers can tweak the current game to beef up the real-world connectivity or to include more real-life benefits such as location to real-world objects or landmarks, then we might see something wonderful. Perhaps players could stake a claim on any location within 50 miles or so of their real-world home, giving everyone a chance at some of the prime, over-populated spots in the world while still placing some restrictions on "home."

However they pan out, games like Fleck are showing that the mobile market is still anyone's game. There have been other ARG announcements made, but none so far provides an alternate reality as much as overlays a bit of gameplay on top of it. That's no small achievement, don't get me wrong, but it should be noted that to truly do that, you need to make players actually bend to the rules of reality a bit. Take fairness and kick it out the window -- players will adapt just like they do in real life. Sure, that player who lives on a small farm in the middle of Ohio might not be able to claim that prime spot in New York City, but give him the chance to become a trader or a farmer. His reality would really be blended with his gaming then. He could even take a lot of his real-world knowledge with him into the alternate world.

You can check out Fleck at the official site. Bear in mind that it is still in beta, but also remember that games will often say "beta" for a long, long time.

Each week in MMObility, Beau Hindman dives into the murky waters of the most accessible and travel-friendly games around, including browser-based and smartphone MMOs. Join him as he investigates the best, worst, and most daring games to hit the smallest devices! Email him suggestions, or follow him on Twitter, Facebook, or Raptr.