arg-designer

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

ARG Designer

Design immersive Alternate Reality Games by combining hiding methods, trailheads, connectors, and narrative principles.

Core Workflow

Phase 1: Define the Payload

Identify content to be discovered: TEXT (messages, URLs, passwords), AUDIO (recordings, hidden data), IMAGE (photos, QR codes), VIDEO (frame-hidden content), FILE (documents, archives).

Phase 2: Choose Hiding Method

Select from references/hiding-methods.md based on difficulty (1-5), content type, required tools, and narrative fit.

Phase 3: Design Trailhead

Create entry point using references/trailheads.md. Must feel organic to fictional world and reward observation.

Phase 4: Build Connectors

Link elements using references/connectors.md. Each puzzle output becomes next puzzle input.

Phase 5: Apply Design Principles

Review against references/design-principles.md for TINAG compliance and mimesis preservation.

Quick Reference

Cipher Selection

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

Hiding Methods by Content

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

Platform Selection

Use Case	Platforms
Real-time	Discord, Telegram
Phone/voice	Twilio IVR
Narrative	Dreamwidth, WordPress
Drops	Pastebin, GitHub

Full platform guide: references/platforms.md

Recipe Pattern

[CONTENT] → [HIDING] → [TRAILHEAD] → [CONNECTOR] → [NEXT]

Example: Story fragment → Spectrogram → YouTube audio → Phone number → Twilio IVR → Password

See complete examples: references/recipes.md

Resources

scripts/

cipher_tools.py - Encode/decode Caesar, ROT13, Atbash, Vigenère, Rail Fence, Base64, Morse, Binary, Hex
steganography.py - LSB image hiding, metadata hiding, Unicode zero-width encoding
spectrogram.py - Convert images/text to audio spectrograms

references/

ciphers.md - 30+ cipher types with implementations and tools
hiding-methods.md - 60+ techniques by content type
trailheads.md - 40+ entry point patterns
connectors.md - Puzzle linking methods
platforms.md - Platform setup guides
design-principles.md - TINAG, Crimes Against Mimesis, puppetmaster role, player types, pacing
meta-puzzles.md - Meta-puzzle structures, gating mechanics, puzzle hunt architecture
recipes.md - Complete puzzle chains from famous ARGs (I Love Bees, Cicada 3301, Year Zero)

arg-designer

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