Hello everyone! Welcome to the very first Puzzling Matters News Week, where I hope to capture any significant news I find in the ARG and immersive media community, on any given week. Which may be a challenge some weeks because the community can be a bit slow at times, so bare with me.

We have some interesting things to talk about this week though. I wasn’t planning on starting this quite yet, but as of this morning, I have enough to talk about to go ahead and start now.

The Wilson Wolfe Affair

A few days ago, a new puzzle board game/ARG hybrid was announced by a new group known as Simulacra Games. It’s billed as a home puzzle game with magic trick-like solutions. And I’d say that’s a pretty apt description. They’ve been targeting the ARG crowd with their marketing, so I heard about this when it was announced just recently.

Then, when I made my last post about what kind of content people would like to see here, the people at Simulacra caught wind of it due to us overlapping in where we like to put our info. They shot me a message asking if I’d like to talk about it and if I’d like a digital press kit to do so. And I said sure! I already thought this project was pretty interesting, so it was a done deal.

So, what exactly is The Wilson Wolfe Affair? What’s it like? There’s not much you can compare it to, really. It’s it’s own beast and uncharted territory, and I’ve been waiting for this land to be mapped out for a long time.

When this is available, you will be able to order a box that includes some old memorabilia from a character out of the genesis of cartoons, as well some odd journalism by someone who believes there’s something more sinister lurking behind these animations and the people who create them. As you fiddle with the objects and solve puzzles, you find out they may have some substance to that claim after all. It’s a fully immersive story that’s trying to replicate the feeling of finding an old box of your grandfather’s belongings in the attic. And it seems like they’re going a pretty good job so far.

This isn’t a board game you sit down to beat in a few hours either. This is supposed to be a very long and difficult game, especially if you only play with one or a few people. You may very well spend the next few months analyzing clues, mulling over notes, and forcing yourself to think outside the box. I really like that idea, and can’t wait to see how exactly that plays out. They’ve also been very smart about keeping it this way. Most of the images released that showcase puzzles actually have fake dummy solutions, so most of what you can look at right now is 100% spoiler free puzzle wise. It’s a nice way to showcase their ideas and what’s cool while still keeping everything under wraps.

Speaking of the puzzles, the graphic design of these items is stunning. The people at Simulacra have a background in that sort of stuff, and it really shows. Everything I’ve seen so far is very polished and clean. It hits the nail on the head of the style they’re going for. Heck, for some of these items, if you told me they were made in the 1930’s, I just might believe you. Everything is made with care and attention here, and it all meshes together well. Nothing seems out of place.

All around, it’s just really solid design wise so far. It all looks extremely promising. And it’s especially impressive on little budget.

Simulacra Games is planning to release a kickstarter for their game in the following weeks. We don’t have many details on that yet, but I will make sure to let you know everything as I come to know it myself. If you’re interested in this, I’d suggest keeping up with them on their social media, which is placed at the end of the segment.

I know Kickstarter and crowdfunding in general has a shaky reputation when it comes to games of all kinds, but I have faith in this project for sure. If it’s something that interests you, I really think pitching in for this will be worth it when the time comes. I certainly will be.

(Sorry for the odd video quality. I had to do some weird things to get it to work on WordPress correctly)

Their website is Simulacragames.com.

Their Twitter handle is @Simulacragames.

Their Facebook page is Simulacra Games.

Their YouTube channel, along with two special teaser video puzzles, is Simulacra Games.

Thanks to Simulacra for reaching out! I look forward to seeing this unfold.

Webseries Cave Of Shadows Discontinued

In other news, creator Aidan Elliott announced on the official out-of-game Discord chat for the controversial series Cave Of Shadows that it has been discontinued to most likely be rebooted at a later date. After much controversy and hiccups throughout the project’s run, he feels he may be able to do better at a later date, in a retooled and tweaked style. This was his official statement:

Hello @everyone ! For those of you who don’t know, I am the creator of Cave of Shadows ARG as well as the actor who plays Elias Doyle. I, unfortunately, have some bad news for anyone who is a fan of this series. The Cave of Shadows/System ARG will no longer be continuing. This might come as a shock to some, if not all of you. However, this has been a decision in the back of my mind for a few months now. I just don’t feel that the story in this capacity is servicable anymore to both you, the audience, as well as myself. The reception has been generally mediocre at best since the beginning of this ARG. While I was comfortable with that for a while because of the success of Cave of Shadows in viewership, I have honed in my skill and craft over the past 2 years this series has been running. And I look back on this ARG webseries mostly in shame, because I don’t believe it reflects the quality of work I am capable of now. I’m making another series now called Factors of Zero (https://youtube.com/c/factorsofzero) and that is the kind of quality of work I want to make from here on out. Anyway, I will write out a big long explanation on my Patreon page at some point soon for those who want to read it. I will link that here when it becomes available. But know that I am not finished with telling this story. At some point in the future, I want to start from scratch with a fresh start and give this story the treatment it deserves: a hard reboot, most likely in a completely different format than before. Thank you all for taking the time to read this, and I’m sorry if I disappoint some of you. The channels, videos, and twitter accounts will continue to stay up though, so you can still enjoy the old Cave of Shadows if you wish. Thank you again, and remember that I’m definitely sticking around for the long run regardless of the future of this series.

I perfectly understand his decision, and where he is coming from. Given the track record of the series, this decision makes a lot of sense. I wish him the best of luck on his reboot when he chooses to do it, and his new series Factors Of Zero is of excellent quality. I covered it a while back in my article About three new webseries with serious potential, and it’s most recent upload is especially interesting. Aidan’s certainly going to be doing great things from here on out.

Closing

I hope you enjoyed this first installment of News Week. There’s still new content coming on Monday as well! Make sure to tell me how you like this format and way of doing things. Remember that if you don’t like something, my social links and the comment section are right there for you to yell at me with. I’ll see you then!