Building Story and Interest: How Lore and Atmosphere Affect Immersion Within an ARG

Beginning on April 9th, 2024, a team at the University of Central Florida ran an alternate reality game that lasted until April 12th, 2024.This game, called Penumbra, followed the story of two students who started noticing weird happenings on campus, eventually leading to the discovery of a secret society called Penumbra that created an AI "cryptid" called the Umbra, with nefarious intentions.The story was made to give students nearing finals an exciting adventure and encourage them to explore their campus while raising caution and awareness about using AI responsibly.The contents of this paper describe the original design of the ARG, focusing on the narrative and how lore and atmosphere were used to push those points forward.The game utilizes a lore-heavy narrative to entice players to explore and learn more about the story and further immerse themselves in it.The lore and atmosphere of the game were built to create a cohesive and comprehensive storyline that allows players to dive as deep as they want while still giving the players a rich story at any level.Gaining a more lore-heavy story as the players explore throughout the week allows deeper levels of immersion to be achieved.Lore and atmosphere affect immersion within a narrative-driven augmented reality game.