Comprehensive ARG (Alternate Reality Game) design toolkit for creating immersive puzzle experiences. This skill should be used when: (1) Designing an ARG or puzzle trail from scratch, (2) Creating hidden content with ciphers, steganography, or encoding, (3) Building trailheads (entry points) to hidden content, (4) Connecting puzzle elements in a cohesive narrative, (5) Implementing specific ciphers or encoding methods, (6) Choosing platforms for ARG deployment (Discord, Twilio, YouTube), (7) Reviewing ARG design for TINAG principles. MANDATORY TRIGGERS: ARG, alternate reality game, puzzle trail, cipher, steganography, hidden message, trailhead, TINAG, puzzle hunt, transmedia, unfiction, encode message, hide data
Design immersive Alternate Reality Games by combining hiding methods, trailheads, connectors, and narrative principles.
Identify content to be discovered: TEXT (messages, URLs, passwords), AUDIO (recordings, hidden data), IMAGE (photos, QR codes), VIDEO (frame-hidden content), FILE (documents, archives).
Select from references/hiding-methods.md based on difficulty (1-5), content type, required tools, and narrative fit.
Create entry point using references/trailheads.md. Must feel organic to fictional world and reward observation.
Link elements using references/connectors.md. Each puzzle output becomes next puzzle input.
Review against references/design-principles.md for TINAG compliance and mimesis preservation.
| Difficulty | Ciphers |
|---|---|
| 1 (Easy) | Caesar, ROT13, Atbash, Reverse |
| 2 (Medium) | Vigenère, Rail Fence, Base64, Morse |
| 3 (Hard) | Playfair, Nihilist, Book Cipher |
| 4 (Expert) | Custom multi-layer systems |
Full cipher details: references/ciphers.md
| Content | Methods |
|---|---|
| TEXT | Unicode steganography, EXIF metadata, HTML comments |
| IMAGE | LSB steganography, layer hiding, QR codes |
| AUDIO | Spectrograms, reversed audio, DTMF tones |
| VIDEO | Frame insertion, subtitle tracks, timecodes |
| FILE | Nested archives, polyglot files |
Full hiding methods: references/hiding-methods.md
| Use Case | Platforms |
|---|---|
| Real-time | Discord, Telegram |
| Phone/voice | Twilio IVR |
| Narrative | Dreamwidth, WordPress |
| Drops | Pastebin, GitHub |
Full platform guide: references/platforms.md
[CONTENT] → [HIDING] → [TRAILHEAD] → [CONNECTOR] → [NEXT]
Example: Story fragment → Spectrogram → YouTube audio → Phone number → Twilio IVR → Password
See complete examples: references/recipes.md
cipher_tools.py - Encode/decode Caesar, ROT13, Atbash, Vigenère, Rail Fence, Base64, Morse, Binary, Hexsteganography.py - LSB image hiding, metadata hiding, Unicode zero-width encodingspectrogram.py - Convert images/text to audio spectrogramsciphers.md - 30+ cipher types with implementations and toolshiding-methods.md - 60+ techniques by content typetrailheads.md - 40+ entry point patternsconnectors.md - Puzzle linking methodsplatforms.md - Platform setup guidesdesign-principles.md - TINAG, Crimes Against Mimesis, puppetmaster role, player types, pacingmeta-puzzles.md - Meta-puzzle structures, gating mechanics, puzzle hunt architecturerecipes.md - Complete puzzle chains from famous ARGs (I Love Bees, Cicada 3301, Year Zero)