The Puppets Game

Hello all. I am Jester. May the games begin.

—The Jester

This Alternate Reality Game took place in The Fear Mythos. It has long since concluded.

It all started with Jester. He left comments on a number of different blogs, inviting readers to play a game. When his name was clicked on, it would bring the curious to a strange Twitter account where Jester posted a number of riddles. It turned out that Jester had kidnapped a man named Derek and placed him in a cabin in an undisclosed location. Derek's twin sister, Grace, soon began receiving a number of riddles from Jester, with the promise that they would lead her to her brother. Meanwhile, Jester continued to post riddles on his Twitter feed, as Derek's well-being hinged on the riddles being solved in time.

Like most ARGs, the story was spread out all over the place. Jester's Twitter feed, Derek's blog, and Grace's blog formed the core of the story. However, there were also a number of side blogs that provided puzzle hints and heavily fleshed out the story: Grace's Twitter feed, The Mummer's Farce^{[dead link]} (a Formspring account), The Lonesome Artist's Facebook profile, and The Dance of Fortune, a blog maintained by one of the Wooden Girl's puppets.

The game began on July 30, 2011, and concluded on September 8, 2011.

Tropes used in The Puppets Game include:

Altum Videtur: Grace's blog is called Sola Gratia, which is Latin for "Grace Alone." This becomes ironic when it's revealed that she's not alone.
Arc Words: Toward the end, the phrase "we are nearing the end of this mummer's farce" began popping up. In fact, the words "mummer's farce" could qualify all by themselves.
Big Bad: Jester
Bigger Bad: The Wooden Girl aka "Puppet Empress", who never actually appears in the story.
Bittersweet Ending: Grace survives, but she has to kill Derek, who has been made into a puppet of the Wooden Girl.
Brainwashed and Crazy: Derek, aka the Mummer's Farce
Deadly Game
Dragon with an Agenda: The Vagabond wants to help Grace, unfortunately for him, his attempts to do so did not go unnoticed by the Wooden Girl.
Freak-Out: Derek has one at one point, when the stress of being locked in a cabin gets to him.
Goldfish Poop Gang: The Misfits, a group of puppet people who leave clues for Grace.
Monster Clown: Jester, oh so much.
Multiple Personalities: Grace and her other personality, Karen, aka Kevin, aka the Lonesome Artist.
Repressed Memories: Grace has no memory of her other personality.
Sadistic Choice: Jester was fond of offering these to players as a "reward" for solving his riddles.
Shout-Out: In the first of the Vagabond's comments, he codes Magro's obituary and the show Magro created in Italy (Il Balo di Fortuna) is compared to other foreign shows: Laetibar and Kerzebucht - German for Candle Cove.
The Unfavorite: Maggro favored his daughter Karen over her brother. And it's implied that he favored Karen over her other personality, Grace.