Alex is Missing
"Alex is Missing" is a collaborative web-based Alternate Reality Game
(ARG) developed by a team of 15 students from UCF's Digital Media
Master's Program. For my contribution, I originated the ARG story
concept and significantly shaped its foundational narrative. I played a
key role in developing the game mechanics by designing interactive
puzzles and implementing a complex automated email system using Google
Apps Script. Additionally, I built responsive websites using HTML, CSS,
JavaScript, React, and Tailwind CSS to enhance user engagement across
multiple platforms. My development and design work can be seen on the
Find Alex website, the main website for Draconis Squamae, the sites for
uploading evidence, the final hacking games, and the vault portal ending
page.
I am particularly proud of the email system I engineered in Google Apps Script.
This system leveraged Google Sheets as a real-time database to store player
information—such as email addresses, game stages, and interaction counts—which
allowed the game to trigger narrative-driven, automated emails from a character
named Olivia via Gmail. By combining these tools, the system dynamically
sent personalized emails at crucial moments in the story, maintained continuity
with in-game responses (including auto-replies based on player input), and
further immersed users in the ARG experience. My work on this system not
only streamlined communication within the game but also served as a foundation
for the overall storytelling and interactive design of the project.