Gamification is now a household word, but it remains at the top of the lists of emerging technology and expected trends for the future of instructional design. If this is true, how can we take gamification to a level beyond badges and points? This paper argues that narrative is a key element that has not yet been fully realized in gamification, reviewed through its prior successes in entertainment-education, game-based learning, project-based learning, and digital storytelling. It suggests that Alternate Reality Games may be the true future of gamification as we know it today.

Transmedialt berättande innebär berättande som sker över flera medium som samverkar för att berätta samma berättelse, där varje medium dessutom enskilt bör hålla god form, för att sedan skapa en större summa när det sammanförs med de andra. En sådan produktion kräver mycket ur publiken, såväl som forskare, då man behöver analysera och värdera varje enskild del av berättelsen varpå man kan ta sig an den fulla konstellationen. Denna uppsats syfte är att belysa transmedia och hur det kan brukas, samt undersöka hur webserien Marble Hornets utnyttjar sin transmedialitet för att forma flera berättare. Seriens berättarform kommer därefter jämföras med filmtolkningen av serien, Always Watching: A Marble Hornets Story, för att belysa vad transmedialiteten tillför för möjligheter, vilket sedan diskuteras. I studien utnyttjades en blandning av narrativa och semiotiska analysmetoder och tyder på att transmedia och alternate reality gaming öppnar många dörrar för manusskribenter för att förändra hur berättelsen skildras, på flera olika sätt.

For my thesis project for the Masters of Fine Art in Film and Digital Media, I designed and produced Evelyn Offscreen, an alternate reality game (ARG) that was facilitated by interactive performance. The goal was to create an interactive experience that allowed several players to collaboratively create story across numerous media within the field of alternate reality gaming. The approach used in Evelyn Offscreen was intended to provide a degree of creative freedom to the players that has not been demonstrated in other ARG experiences and to use digital media to capture information about the relative effectiveness of the different techniques that were employed. During the month of October 2009, Evelyn Offscreen invited players to participate in an overarching story as characters. The game existed simultaneously through several media platforms such as Ning, twitter, and blogger as well as scenes located in Central Florida where players could embody their character in a real world setting. The results revealed insights into techniques for massive collaboration of story and player reactions to this hybrid form of alternate reality gaming and interactive performance.