ZOETRAP
Zoetrap is an alternate reality game where Victorian occultism collides with 21st century technology to take you on a terrifying ride through the spirit world…
“With Zoetrap, the more you put into the game, the more you got out of it. And that is quite rare in the ARG world.”
– Rowan Lambelle, Player and ARG veteran
“I was really impressed with the production design and it communicated reassurance that my time invested in this world would be well spent. Establishing the character on Twitter and engaging me ahead of the live action part—the hotel murder scene—gave me a sense of ownership or closeness to the project that resulted in me advocating to others in the hotel lobby to go check out the room.”
– Robert Pratten, Founder of Transmedia Storyteller Ltd.
Dare you take a spin with death…
Zoetrap is a spine-tingling alternate reality game Story Juice creative directed, project managed, co-wrote and co-produced with a pop-up arts collective called Spirit Level Productions, formed of actors, writers, producers, filmmakers, illustrators, VFX artists and sound designers.It combines environmental storytelling, a bespoke mobile app, social media character interactions and live performance in a three-day experience created for the Storyworld Conference & Expo. It’s Halloween in San Francisco and eccentric transmedia producer, Oliver Drew, arrives in the foggy city with a mystical old Zoetrope he claims will open up the spirit world as a new entertainment platform.This follows Twitter seances he ran before the conference… Everyone thinks he's off his rocker, but then he suddenly disappears leaving his hotel room a supernatural crime scene…Players are recruited as Paranormal Investigators and given access to Oliver's mobile phone (the game mobile app), except there's a catch—it's haunted!Armed with evidence found at the crime scene, and communicating with his worried girlfriend via social media, players set out on their mission to find him, analysing blogs, websites, newspaper articles, physical locations, social media and his phone. As they listen to chilling voicemails, take frightening video calls and decipher odd texts in the phone, players find clues to break the hex on his secret documents file; but, a wicked and terrifying force is calling.Some of the enigmatic video content players unlocked in the phone.
Will you answer the phone? Can you save Oliver’s soul?
Beneath the surface of this exciting transmedia journey lies another story to discover. It's hinted at in the mysterious tarot cards turning up in random locations around town… Could it have something to do with Victorian serial killer Arthur Warburton Lytton (aka 'Prisoner L'), one of the most terrible Alcatraz inmates? A man locked up for murdering people according to the major arcana of the tarot, believing if he trapped 22 souls inside his zoetrope he would gain immortality.The stories of Oliver Drew and Prisoner L entwine as players discover Oliver has become ‘The Hanged Man’ and is trapped inside the zoetrope. After shocking revelations about Oliver’s past come to light, players are asked to make a decision on his fate and choose from alternate endings. 
Zoetrap was crowdfunded on Indiegogo and supported by Cyfle and Skillset; the mobile app was made possible through sponsorship and collaboration with Calvium. The game began on social media engaging its target audience of Storyworld Conference & Expo delegates and international ARG fans. It then played out live over the three days of the conference, with designed content and improvisation in response to player interaction. A creepy, post-game postcard was also sent to players and backers from the game’s villain, Prisoner L. The first person to complete the game was a veteran ARG player in New York. Rowan Lambelle was collaborating with players in San Francisco to obtain the physical clues that would unlock content on the mobile app.Full production credits, including for all the imagery can be found here.
