You win sim, you lose sim: How alternate-reality games changed for the better

A gun would seem out of place in many of the newer ARG worlds. Today, players may inhabit the intricately built realities of a YouTube star, an industrial farmer, a hospital administrator, a chef, a football-team manager or the head of an amusement park.

These are ARGs meant to be played on the go, on a smartphone, during a commute, and so they’re gentler, more immersive, with the sense of reward coming from hours spent within complex plots, fine tuning the details of a second life. It’s a segment that boomed in the pandemic, with data released by Research Dive stating in January that the global gaming simulator market will be worth over $13 billion by 2026, up from $4.3 billion in 2018.

So, who can you be, in the new worlds? Farming Simulator 22 (released in end-2021; priced at about ₹1,999) lets the player inhabit the avatar of a farmer who has just bought a Lamborghini Massey Ferguson tractor. There are over 400 other machines and tools with which he manages his barn, fields and farmhouse. Earnings come from selling crops, with bonuses for enterprising side hustles such as bee farming, contract jobs or the leasing of equipment.

Youtubers Life 2, meanwhile, lets the player assume the life of a YouTube star. One starts by picking a genre (food, travel, games, beauty), and carefully customising one’s avatar (hairstyle, body type, apparel, accessories, mode of transport).

Posting content on the in-game video channel unlocks in-game cash which lets players buy virtual items such as better recording equipment, games, tickets for events and more. If an upload is about a “trending” topic, it is awarded more views. Viewership and cash flow dips if one doesn’t post consistently.

Players can wander around the game world to find new locations in which to record content. Developers Raiser Games announced a free entry level called City Stories in October, which also offers customisation and a range of locations to shoot in. The game was released a year ago; the full version costs about ₹2,122.

A third unusual ARG flips the script by allowing players to log out, while logged in. Airplane Mode (released in 2020; priced at about ₹399) invites players to switch off their phones, read a book in-game, watch a movie on the in-flight entertainment system or simply look out of the virtual window (at sky, clouds, landscape beneath). It’s uncomplicated, and surprisingly addictive. As in real life, one can even complain that the movie catalogue could have been better (it features mainly classics from the 1930s).

Meanwhile, the original ARG, Grand Theft Auto, has had a bit of a change of heart. This is a game popular since 1995 for offering ordinary players the chance to steal cars, work for crime syndicates and run over pedestrians. Over the years, it evolved detailed storylines, career modes, an extensive arsenal of weapons and vehicles. Lately, it’s taken a detour. The upgraded version of Grand Theft Auto 5, released in 2020, offers father-son bonding missions such as street races (no, there are no mother-daughter ones). It also lets players chase down a criminal or take part in a brawl outside a pub. Not the most inspiring, that last one, but still more misdemeanour than capital offence.