Las Vegas End Game Recap

Many thanks to the people who shared their experiences and pictures: Diandra, vpisteve, signalost, Kim, konamouse and andrewxc.


"Okay, here's what we're going to do.  I met a guy who can help us out.  Meet him in front of the Stardust in Las Vegas, January 11th between 6 and 8 PM.  He'll be wearing a black warmup suit with white stripes.  Ask him if he has a fork.  He'll know where to find me.  Don't be late.  Keep this number with you." (916) 930-1143.


O-Kay, so the BMWfilms.com people REALLY know how to put on an Alternate Reality Game event! The lucky 200 plus people who were in Vegas and asked for that fork were treated to some fun and a little intrigue. When players approached Mr. Warm-up Suit they had their pictures taken with him and were directed to the Courtyard Room inside the hotel.

Inside the Courtyard was a rather serious and grim-looking fellow in a black jacket with several items on a desk before him including negatives, photographs and the golden box seen in the Season 1 film Chosen and also in the first photo album in the game.  Players were shown two photos and asked if they recognize any of the people in them.  One was of a woman in a jacket near a maid's cart (the maid from the sub-plot movies) and the other was of a man and a woman going into the room next door (also from the subplot movies).  Then he asked if the player recognized the golden box.  After the items had been identified by players they were given a chess piece  and told to go to the front of the Stratosphere and show it to a man in a trench coat, speaking to no one along the way.

In front of the Stratosphere players approached the man in the trench coat standing in the vicinity of the BMW Z4 Roadster.  The man asked the players to complete two sentences: When you are feeling great you are on top of the world. When you are feeling high you are on cloud nine. Then players were told to go up the escalator to "Top of the World" under the sign "Cloud 9".  Players were directed to not stand in line but go beyond it and find a lady by the elevators and tell her "BMW Films" to be taken up to floor 107.

Once there, players were asked to sign a guest book and were given a raffle ticket for drinks and their choice of schwag including tee shirts and dvds from season one and two.  In addition to being shown the BMW films the players were allowed to see the actual files and photos from the game.  A chess board with a missing pawn was on the table too.

Then the winners were announced.  Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Fisher (#43) newlyweds from Bellingham, Washington won the BMW Z4 Roadster.  Andrew L. Brown (part of a small group at the University of New Hampshire #37) won the Mountain Bike.

Players were also told to hang on to their chess pieces for something 'down the road' (so to speak).

I highly recommend reading Steve Peters report on his experience to learn what the creators of the game had to say about the unqualified success of this event and the game in general.

Again, thanks to everyone involved for creating and successfully executing this outstanding game and event.
 
 

Special thanks to Sapagoo for writing the javascript for me.