The Traveler
- Liz Robinson
- Feb 22, 2016
- 2 min read
Could Transmedia Change the Way We Tell Stories?
The Traveler is a story that is played out over multiple mediums. I helped create it in 2015. It's about a young scientist who is obsessed with the classic novel "The Time Machine" by H.G. Wells. He creates a time machine in the form of a wristband. He winds up getting lost in time and it becomes the player's job to help him return to the present.
***Spolers***
The game starts with a beginning page which gives the player everything they need to get started.
Which brings them to the first step.
From there the players know to look for his blog.
But when they get there an urgent message from the Traveler plays. This leads them to a puzzle.
Once they solve the puzzle they know what the Traveler needs to fix his time machine. After they email him the right code they receive an email back from the Traveler himself. Embedded in the email is a new video and phone number to call once you have compleated his tasks.
The Player can then visit the T.E.A (Time Travel Enforcement Agency) website and email one of the T.E.A agents as instructed by the Traveler.
This is when things get interesting. The T.E.A then sends the player an email threatening them. The player can then give the Traveler a call and he tells them that he'll take the fall to keep them safe. At that point, the T.E.A sends them an email with this embedded video.
We also add some extra content for some world and character building such as the blog post "My Darling Vera", "The Time Machine"my first guide to time travel", "Temporal Holes", "Where Am I?", "I’m Not Alone" and The Santa Barbara Enquirer blog.
And as an extra something visual we add some time travel photos.
I think the coolest part of this project is that it was 100% free to make. We just spent our time and we created an immersive story. Granted it was a low budget and campy production, but hey just imagine what could be done with a budget! The cool thing about transmedia is it takes a story and drags the viewer in. If they don't do what the characters ask they don't see the full story. I love how it blurs the lines between fiction and reality. Over the last ten years, transmedia has really taken off. You tend to see it more and more incorporated into regular mediums.
Here are some cool examples to check out:
- Liz Robinson
Comments