Abstract

[in]visible belfast is an alternate reality game, or ARG, devised by Alan Hook and Danielle Barrios of the University of Ulster which ran from 12th May to the 19th June.The game is based around and adapted from the writings of Belfast author Ciaran Carson, and was designed to immersively draw players into the multilayered realities of the city. For six weeks players followed Ana Kuipers (a fictional character), a student of astronomy, on a mysterious quest through the labyrinth of Belfast to answer the question asked in the game’s first chapter: What lies at the heart of the city? The [in]visible belfast ARG endorses translation, collaboration, and various modes of networked cultures both digital and analogue; it conceives Belfast as a complexity constructed of many interlinked histories, whose interactions produce fascinating and unusual forms. The interconnections and linkages that the game forms through its interaction with the players can be an educational tool, a form of “edu-tainment” that highlights writer Ciaran Carson and Belfast history, engaging students and non-students with the rich culture of the city as a part of the Belfast Book Festival. [in]visible belfast is designed to be a flagship project in the literary arts, giving rise to further innovative projects that forefront the literature of Belfast, and creating and fostering progressively more avenues for dynamic education in the city.