[co-designer, game runner]

SCA Reality is a project that serves many functions, although it’s probably easier to discuss what the game/project is before discussing what it does. In its simplest form, SCA Reality is a collaborative project game based around cards. It was designed for all incoming undergraduate students in the USC School of Cinematic Arts as a method of getting to know each other, collaborating on projects, and getting to know both the school and the faculty within it. It’s evolved to a state much more than this. Underneath the various layers of the game are also puzzles, ARG-elements, hidden rewards, and a website that drives both cooperation and competition.

We’ve recently opened the website a little more, letting people who aren’t involved in the game see some of what happens during play. In addition to what is seen here, the players can look up cards, be involved in a community discussion space, vote, see leaderboards, and a number of other items that are meant to foster a creative community and are thus, walled off to those not involved.

The first season concluded in December 2011, after USC’s Fall Semester closed. We had approximately 120 projects created over the course of 15 weeks. The second season of play started late August 2012 to welcome in a new group of undergrads. The current plan is to continue the game into the future as part of a greater push to reinvent the idea and attitude of the film school.

More information about the project can be seen on its website.

Featured

• Impact Award Winner, IndieCade Festival 2012
• IndieCade, Big Games 2011
• DIY Days, Los Angeles 2011

Press Coverage, Interviews, and Blogs

• Interview with Henry Jenkins, Part 1
• Interview with Henry Jenkins, pt 2
• Transmedia Talk Podcast
• Out Front Article (USC School of Cinematic Arts)
• Engine29: “A Game That Works”
• ARGNet: Reality: Transforming USC Film Students’ Freshman Year Into an Addictive Game
• Wired: USC Film Students Practice Artistic Craft Through Games