ARG stands for “Alternate Reality Game” and is basically, in short, a game that uses social platforms such as youtube links for people to watch that may give clues to solves puzzles to things in-game.
I’ve seen games in the past have youtube links placed around their maps for people to type in and watch.
I was wondering if such games are still allowed or were ever allowed in Roblox. Of course, the videos would abide by Roblox TOS (assuming it is allowed).
Thank you in advance!
You’re allowed to add links but not in game. However, you could try to add link to the youtube channel under the game social’s links and hide clues there for players to find.
Idea: have all the video links in the description, and number them so when the player finds a clue, it tells them to click on that specific link number. Does that make sense?
You could use game social links, where you can link social media accounts within the description of the game. The catch is, however, social links don’t show up to <13 users, but that’s ok because, to be honest, ARGs should not be played by people under the age of 13 in the first place, so just age-restrict the game, one thing to note is that if you are to include a Discord link, I advise you to be cautious as Roblox claims to heavily moderate Discord links. How I’m thinking you could do this is as follows:
In the game there is a hint telling the player to look in the description of the game, which links a YouTube account with only one video of a caesar cipher message, which links to something else, etc.
Thanks for the clarification! Glad I could confirm that links like that aren’t allowed in-game.
The only problem with that is players can easily just click on the links if they don’t feel like solving the codes.
I guess my only option would be to use social links like you said. However, would I be allowed to include simply the code at the end of a youtube link in the game, and the player would have to type the beginning part?
For example.
If I want them to go to this youtube link: The Story of Roblox - YouTube
I would put “VL6rYNmfrjM” in game, and the player would have to type the “YouTube” part.
I won’t be using Discord for this, but that’s good to know, thank you!
You can use PolicyService to display YouTube links in-game to the appropriate users:
You don’t need to resort to social links ONLY but it would be helpful. I’m pretty sure if you use the official methods it’s allowed. Don’t see why not.
If you want a good example of an “ARG” type game on roblox Untitled Door Game - Roblox is the closest i can think of. It is unique in the fact that some of the puzzles require you to watch youtube videos, search through profiles, models. etc. It’s not the same as there is no overarching “story” so the idea of making an ARG in roblox is really un touched. It would be an awesome game idea. Good Luck!