The Discovery Expedition Co.
Project Name: The Discovery Expedition Company (The D.E.C.)
Opened: Spring 2014
Role: Creative Director, Producer, Show Writer, Graphics, Character Performer
Overview: The D.E.C. was a story driven Alternate Reality Game that operated at Chapman University Over the Spring, Summer, and early Fall of 2015. The game invited players to attempt to complex puzzles, codes, and scavenger hunts in order to unlock the mysteries of and join The D.E.C., an organisation interested with the discovery and protection of enchanted artefacts and relics from the legends of yore.
Opened: Spring 2014
Role: Creative Director, Producer, Show Writer, Graphics, Character Performer
Overview: The D.E.C. was a story driven Alternate Reality Game that operated at Chapman University Over the Spring, Summer, and early Fall of 2015. The game invited players to attempt to complex puzzles, codes, and scavenger hunts in order to unlock the mysteries of and join The D.E.C., an organisation interested with the discovery and protection of enchanted artefacts and relics from the legends of yore.
The TEA on the DEC
During my time as a student at Chapman University, I had the unique privilege of co-founding and serving as President of the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) at Chapman University. As it was associated with the international Themed Entertainment Association, the club proved an excellent place to network with others interested in pursuing careers in the field many of whom I remain in touch with to this day.
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In addition to the lively discussions about industry happenings and guest speakers that filled our meetings, we also sought to cut our teeth by creating real-world themed entertainment experiences with limited budgets, often partnering with other student organizations such as Club 55, Chapman’s Official Disney Club, to bring these to life. After a few successful such partnerships we set out to create an experience that would be intriguing for multiple other students and student organisations.
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An Origin Story
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Inspired by Alternate Reality Games like "Disney’s The Optimist," "I Love Bees," and "The Adventure Trading Company," as well as MMORPGs and interactive scavenger hunts like "The Game" and "The Scav", we envisioned a story-driven experience that would offer challenging puzzles, a sense of discovery, and team bonding opportunities. We also knew that a surprisingly large portion of Chapman University students had Disneyland Annual Passes, in fact they were even required for some Chapman courses at the time, and that by setting our game in the parks we could help students find friends to go with and create an enticing team bonding exercise for other student organisations' executive boards. Who doesn't want to go on a leadership retreat to Disneyland after all?
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Legend of the D.E.C.
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The guiding story for our experience was as follows: A top secret organisation known as the D.E.C. (The Discovery Expedition Co.) had spent centuries traveling the world, collecting enchanted artefacts and protecting them from those who would these relics for their own personal gain. In the 1950s, one of their members came up with the idea that they could hide the artefacts in plain sight if they built a theme park and pretended that they were just fake props and thus, per our story, Disneyland was born.
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Over the years more and more artefacts were hidden across the parks but in time the membership dwindled and now only a few old timers are left. With dark forces gathering and new threats on the horizons, the rag tag crew of the once illustrious DEC has begun searching the world for new members, individuals worthy of taking up the mantle and protecting the magic from those who would destroy it.
Field Work
After weeks of meticulous planning, writing, play testing, rewriting, and play testing again, we launched The D.E.C. in the Spring of 2015. Interested individuals or student organisations could sign up via the Chapman TEA website, where they would provide their course schedules and some other basic information. In the coming days a mysterious envelope containing materials for the initiation quest, would be found waiting for them in one of their classes. This quest, a scavenger hunt through Disneyland, was designed to challenge participants while also encouraging them to work together.
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Successful participants would receive official signed membership certificates, in a similarly clandestine fashion to the initial envelope, as well as access to a hidden website, where they could undertake additional quests. These quests varied in difficulty and skill type, such as cartographic or cryptological puzzles, with the intent for each level to eventually unlock progressively challenging quests within the same skill tree. Player progress would be tracked on their "Member Profile" page on The D.E.C website.
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The Legend Lives On
The D.E.C. was a hit among student organizations, with both past partners like Club 55 and new collaborators like the Philosophy Club taking part. The Chapman Student Government Association even provided funding for Disneyland tickets for other club's members to visit the parks and undertake the initiation quest. Feedback affirmed that the participants enjoyed the sense of exclusivity and adventure that quest provided as well as the mystery and light education they received from undertaking the missions.Unfortunately, with the graduation of key team members, including myself, and a shift in club focus, The D.E.C. project was not developed much further beyond its initial launch offerings and was eventually discontinued.
As this was my first entry into developing highly interactive guest experience I remain exceptionally grateful to both the creative development team I worked with and all that partook in the D.E.C. during its limited run. I learned a great deal through the development and operation of the game and have carried many of these lessons with me into both my professional and personal works in the years since.
As this was my first entry into developing highly interactive guest experience I remain exceptionally grateful to both the creative development team I worked with and all that partook in the D.E.C. during its limited run. I learned a great deal through the development and operation of the game and have carried many of these lessons with me into both my professional and personal works in the years since.