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Tweetcryption is a game QR code-based role-playing game, played through twitter. Two players work together to create an improvisational story. Followers of either player may observe as a theatrical sketch. Watching the story, the sketch seems like a dance between the two participants. Others may even 'cut in' to splinter off a new dance in a different direction. Each new sketch is a dance unto itself. This is because of the branching nature of conversations on Twitter.
Starting a new sketch is something anyone can do. Any sketch may flow in new directions. All it takes is a quick scan of the QR codes and your dance can begin. This document includes several sketch starters and element codes. These offer you a jumping-in point. You are free to create new QR elements for the game at any time.
To get started, you are going to need several things:
This game involves several terms that you may not be familiar with. Others are familiar terms used in unique ways. If you are eager to jump into playing, feel free to skip this section.
Character: Characters use orange QR codes. These codes link to a picture. Each picture serves as the inspiration for the character a dancer chooses to play. There are no statistics associated with this character. Dancers decide all the character's job, experiences and personality based on the image.
Complications: Complications use red QR codes. These are blocks of text that explain major conflict or problem. Complications raise the state of alarm . Use these when they flow naturally as part of the story.
Cutting In: The act of replying to a sketch that you were not participating in at the start. To do this, reply to a posting by the lead from any point in the sketch. Doing so branches the conversation off in a new direction.
Dance: A single length of replies between a lead and a dancer. Each dance is separate from the others unless they include other @names. (see: alternate forms of play section)
Dancers: Anyone who participates in a sketch is a dancer. Due to the limited space offered by twitter, any single sketch has a limited number of people for a reply. When someone wishes to join in on an existing dance, they may do so by cutting in and creating a new reply track.
Dance Ticket: Anyone who has replied to the first posting of a lead. Any number of individuals may choose to reply. Each reply creates a separate 'dance' within the sketch.
Hashtags: Comments and replies are searchable through the use of #
The Last Dance: The final climactic scene of a sketch.
Lead: The person who starts a new sketch is the lead. While other dancers may cut in and create new tracks of the story, a lead remains a part of all dances within a sketch.
QR Code: Quick Response Code. This is a way to relay tracks of information with a single icon. Some QR elements are pictures, some are text and some lead to story web pages.
Reply: A tweet used to respond to another dancer. These may be text or a QR code. This may also include cutting in on another sketch. To make a reply public, place a period in front of the name of the dancer you are replying to. (Expl: .@DXLogan My character does jumping jacks and says, “Don't judge me.”)
Setting: Settings use blue QR Codes. Setting codes link to pictures. These should inspire the nature of a current scene's location. As with characters, there are no statistics. Dancers explore all features of the setting through the visual clues.
Situation: Situations use purple QR codes. These are blocks of text or URL links representing the basic nature of a scene and what is occurring. Some conflict may arise out of these situations without the use of complications. This depends on when a situation occurs within the sketch. If both dancers agree, situations may result in a rise in the state of alarm . A situation known as the primary situation is a larger situation used to set up the beginning of a new sketch. These will generally be distinctive in some way.
Sketch: A series of scenes to explore a concept, character or situation. Within Tweetcryption, a single group of Twitter replies is called a sketch. It creates a unique and interesting interaction of paired dancers to create a story.
State of Alarm: The level of concern or uncertainty in a scene. This represents the increasing tension of a conflict. State of alarm begins play at a 0. This may instead start at 1 if a complication is played in the initial scene. 0 represents the starting scene being peaceful and calm. 1 represents some initial conflict that occurs before the start of the sketch. When the state of alarm reaches 4, the next scene following should be the last dance of the sketch. All resolution should occur then within the last dance.
Tool: Tools use green QR codes. Tools are either pictures or text representing items of interest. These items are brought in at the start of a scene. They leave play before the start of the next scene. Tools should create greater depth and interest to the scene.
Track: A set of replies between two dancers. New tracks form by cutting in . A track typically involves replies only between the lead and the person who has replied.
Tweet: A 140 character or less reply on Twitter. These describe any of the following:
First time playing or needing to verify a rule?
The speed and quality of play is greatly improved if you can use both a phone and computer at the same time. To do so, you do all of the tweeting on the computer, but use the phone to quickly translate QR codes. Some people have reported that their phones have difficulty decoding pictures on Twitter or the site directly. This difficulty seems to go away when using the camera mode. For the greatest success in posting QR images from this page, select 'view image' and save the file. When tweeting, use the saved picture rather than the image directly from the website.For those who refuse to use Twitter, it is possible to play Tweetcryption as a Play By Email style game. Treat it as with Twitter, but with a larger number of characters available in replies. Starting a new dance ticket is the difficult aspect of trying PBE. You will have to seek out participants rather than relying on a hashtag to bring them to you.
Twitter is removing @names from the word count in a reply, at some point. At the time of this game's creation, that is not yet the case. This means that those who want in larger groups limit in how they much may say in replies. To include multiple dance partners in a single dance, a black QR code for text extends your total word count. This allows a reply with @names of participants and text as QR.
If you decide to dance as a group, each person in the sketch should reply in the same order each time. That order should be set by the order that they selected character QRs at the beginning stage of the sketch. The lead dancer may alter the state of alarm needed to reach the last dance beyond 4. This increase reflects the greater likelihood of increased conflict of a larger group. If so, the lead must state the new number in the primary situation post.
This game is playable on phones of any OS, on PCs, Macs or tablets. Many phones lack a QR reader these days, however. To resolve this, you may need to download a reader app. I recommend QuickMark. I know for a fact that it can scan with the camera, from saved pictures, and from websites. That said, feel free to use whatever you like. The following website offers options for the common OS, including both phones and computers. HERE.
If you do not have InDesign, there are many options for creating codes. The QuickMark program recommended above is capable of creating new QR codes on the spot. This includes the option of coloring them to fit the color-coding of Tweetcryption. To do more than colorize, editing programs like Photoshop and Paint.net are helpful. They allow you to make visual changes to QR codes generated on sites like QRStuff.com.
Most QR allow up to 30 percent of their surface covered without loss of data. The links below offer insights into how you can alter QR codes in interesting ways. Be aware that the more you alter a QR, the more likely there are to be errors in some QR Readers. As you can see from the code library above, the majority of codes are best kept simple. Interesting visuals make a nicer presentation, but in no way alter the playing of the game.