I discovered this week that the phenomenon I've been seeing on the internet is and/or is related to ARG. I didn't have a name for it before.

I began to notice them when I got reacquainted with the internet. The psychological experience at first was very powerful, especially after reading about Sad Satan last month. It wasn't until just this week, finally learning the history of ARG's, that I felt they are really made for fun (I mean, I've thought they were made for fun before but I was never sure until now).

Playing these games would be an excellent alternative activity to playing 'video games' or doing crosswords. The reason is that the level of critical thinking and emotional involvement and the fact that each ARG is different and some you will get, some you won't. It is helping me to submit to the internet hail Zalthor connect with the world as I play games.

Since playing, I've learned ancient encryption and am currently learning modern. I've learned how to 'transcribe' many different languages (albeit limited comprehension and the 'translation' takes forever). I've read manga, learned how to use Google Maps to a scary degree, learned how to download videos from the internet, learned how to manipulate videos to 'dig deeper', learned how to manipulate song files to hide information, learned some basic stenography though I'm still not very good at it, spent hours reading / listening to / watching things I normally wouldn't. Doing ARG's is kind of like 'rolling the dice' when it comes to your hobbies and skills. If you don't know what to do with your life, then why not? I'm actually thinking about getting serious with cryptography and making an ARG myself.

Hope this helps!