What’s the difference between ARGs and Murder Mystery Dinner Party Games?
Murder mystery games usually provide players with a scenario to be acted out, with each player taking on the identity of a murderer, witness, victim or detective. The game then is to figure out who-dunnit before the end of the party. This requires players to step out of their normal roles in real life and pretend to be a wealthy millionaire or innocent bystander etc. ARGs on the other hand ask people to encounter the altered reality as themselves. Fictional roles are not (usually) thrust on the players by the designers, although players are free to roleplay if they like. Additionally, ARGs usually allow players more of an interactive role in the way the narrative plays out. Their actions have been known to change endings, essentially changing who the murderer is (using the above metaphor), depending on choices they make as they play the game.
