Last week, Wired, Universal Pictures, and Lone Shark Games launched an alternate reality game combined with a manhunt. It's connected to the upcoming March 19 release of the movie Repo Men. In the futuristic movie, characters who have received replacement organs from "the Union" fall behind on payments have to go on the run from Repo Men. In the new game, four real people have gone on the run, and it is the job of the public to find them.
This game is modeled after the #vanish hunt run last year by Wired, where writer Evan Ratliff went on the run and was tracked and eventually caught by a horde of hunters with amazing computer skills. (Read this Vanish blog in reverse to see the whole story of the hunt.) Follow the new hunt, by checking the Repo Men Pink Slip Database.
The four runners who departed on February 25th are Usman Akeju, Alex Gamble, Will LaFerriere, and Ciji Thornton. They are all real people who applied to Lone Shark Games, the outfit running the contest, and were selected as runners. They are scattered around the country, and each has received $2,500 in expenses. If a hunter who has registered as a "repo man" here approaches them and says the words "you've been repo'd," the hunter wins $7,500. If Usman, Alex, Will, or Ciji can last a month without being found, he or she wins $7,500. (If you're interested in trying, check the full entry rules.)
When Ratliff went on the run, he doled out clues to me and gave me access to his credit card and bank accounts. This allowed me to post enough clues that the hunters had a chance. In this hunt, the four runners, who have to stay in the United States, are bound by a different set of restrictions. Most importantly, they have to complete a particular task each day, such as reading a Neil Gaiman book in a public library, watching the Olympic closing ceremonies on television, or speaking on the phone to a hunter. Each day, the tasks they'll have to complete will be announced online.
The goal of the tasks is to give hunters who have figured out the location of runners a genuine chance to catch them. To further this goal, all sorts of clues are scattered. For example, people have found clues in the March issue of Wired, and in a code that connects to a story about Wired Repo Men in Sunday's New York Times.
Another element of the ARG is that hunters who figure out interesting things – for example, if they solve puzzles or find old photographs of the runners online – are allowed to advance levels if they share that information publicly, either by posting it on Twitter or e-mailing it to theunionreallycares@gmail.com. As hunters advance levels, they are given additional clues and information by The Union, the villainous corporation in the film. To advance levels, you can register, figure out smart stuff, post it on Twitter, and e-mail us.
If you're new to the hunt, the best thing to do is to go on Twitter and look over the conversation at #repomen. You can also look at conversations about the various runners at: #repoalex, #repociji, #repousman, and #repowill. Hunters have also set up secret IRC discussions so that they can talk in private. To learn more about that, ping @mescad, a hunter who seems to help coordinate the secret conversations.
Thousands of people have registered and started hunting. But they need help, and there's a chance to win lots of money. It's also likely that at least one of the runners will pass somewhere near where you live in at some point. For more information, you should scroll through the posts and read the information that hunters have compiled on this cool wiki
Follow the hunt on Twitter: @theunioncares (which gives out clues), @theatavist (Evan Ratliff), @nxthompson (me), as well as @piercedavid and @cjhamilton (Wired interns who give out clues and conduct interviews).
Lastly, remember that no one at Wired or Universal knows where the runners are at any point. There's only person who does – The Wizard – and he’s not talking.
