On NationStates “ARGs”
by Bloohete (@bloohete), Yusania (@yusa), Hunray the Sequel
On May 2nd, 2026, almost 150 days ago, a user by the name of ‘Mysterium’ created the very first ARGs (acronym for ‘Alternate Reality Game; an interactive, story-driven experience blending fiction with reality), in the South Pacific, and one of the first ARGs/Unfictions on NationStates; the Third Eye Phenomenon. This is how the ARG community started.
Mysterium’s dispatches sparked much inspiration in other TSPers’ brains, leading to the development of the ARG community, massively contributed to by Mysterium, Bloohete, Yusania, and FluxNyte. Bloohete began Fatherall, a space-themed ARG. Mysterium continued, dedicated to continuing his ARG, the Third Eye ARG. Yusania created Android-476…which was not that good, and FluxNyte created the Fusioncell ARG and was a key analyser of many such ARGs.
Soon, after the conclusion of Fatherall and the inactivity of the Fusioncell ARG and the exciting Census ARG, it had seemed that for the community, the pond had dried up. But this doesn’t mean activity died out – if anything, the community grew; Ruxpidator was born, the first ARG to follow a Minecraft theme. The Third Eye Phenomenon ARG was booming with a variety of character arcs and plot twists. And who could forget Navektogorsk, an ARG largely unsolved, pioneering the usage of pictures and videos.
So we’ve talked about the early ARG history, where dinosaurs used to rule the earth, but alas, most of those ARGs have been concluded. What remains? Well, a lot. Here are three recommendations for ongoing/recent ARGs:
Firstly, we have Macorinster, an ARG depicting the tragic story of 9 teenagers forced to undergo a life-threatening ordeal at sea for seemingly no reason as of the time this is being written. The ARG is being authored by Bloohete and Mysterium, the former the creator of the iconic, concluded Fatherall ARG, and the latter the creator of the first, active ARG ‘Third Eye’ widely considered the greatest of the bunch. Secondly, there is the Resanat Documents, an ARG focusing on a narrator who tells the story of two twins who stumbled too far into a facility they shouldn’t have been in. Simple, right? But while doing this, he’s forced to evade his tyrannical nation and the reader he sees as intrusive by using ciphers and codes to hide his tales. The ARG is innovative for its use of ciphers and anagrams, both a key and necessary part to uncovering it. It is well known for its plot twist which we will not spoil for your own benefit. Its creator, Yusania, has been a key figure for analysing other ARGs and is one of the community’s rising prospects. Finally, we have the Parasite Files, written by Hunray the Sequel, one of the first non-TSP users in the ARG community. It is pretty self-explanatory; parasites show up and start terrorizing everyone. In the early files, the parasites haven’t arrived yet. There are instead little clues proving their existence. There is also a great summary by Anduna of the ARG, but it is recommended to read the actual thing first.
The ARG community in TSP isn’t the first on NationStates, but it has seen so much over the past 150 days, some of which have already been covered; from the likes of the veteran that is Third Eye with characters with Michael Solbrook and Abigail Nightshade, to new-gens like Macornister with characters like Orion and Noah. However, one, and only one, true question remains; are these really ARGs? Or are they just Unfictions? No matter your answer, feel free to pop in and write, or solve, some of our ARGs, even if you don’t think you are the best at them. If you are struggling with writing or solving ARGs, no worries! You can use the tips from this RMB message. Have fun, and remember: there is more food at the oak tree than the cherry tree.