Six to Start and BBC Team Up for “The Code Challenge”

Six to Start and the BBC have teamed up to create a transmedia experience tied in with BBC Two documentary The Code, expected to air at the end of July. The Code is presented by Professor of Mathematics Marcus du Sautoy (Horizon on BBC2, The Beauty of Diagrams on BBC4) and explores how the world around us conforms to and can be explained by mathematical codes. Six to Start are next-generation storytellers with plenty of experience creating storytelling projects for different clients, often in the form of alternate reality games or treasure hunts. They’ve worked with the BBC before on projects like Spooks: Code 9 and Seven Ages Quest. As a first for the BBC and possibly a world first, an interactive experience called The Code Challenge has been seamlessly integrated in the writing and filming of The Code since inception. Viewers can participate in an
engaging treasure hunt which will take place before, during, and after the series that will extend their understanding of basic mathematical principles.

The Code Challenge begins well before the airing of the actual show. Soon, 1000 people in the UK will receive a secret message with one of the first puzzles of the challenge. For a chance to be one of those 1000, keep an eye on Twitter @bbccode and apply via Twitter or e-mail. A few weeks before the show airs, several Flash games containing clues, puzzles, and more information about the Code will also appear online.  The series itself is expected to air at the end of July and will be split into three 60-minute episodes: Magic Numbers, Nature’s Building Blocks and Predicting the Future. Six clues are connected to each episode. Three will be hidden in the programme itself, which can be watched live on BBC Two or on BBC iPlayer. One community clue can only be solved by working together with a group of players. Two further clues will be revealed on the blog and through a Flash game. Players can then enter the six answers they found for each episode into the ‘codebreaker’ to receive three passwords with which they can unlock the ultimate challenge.

The Code Challenge is conceived so everyone can play, even those with no prior understanding of maths or ARG experience, although the final stages of the treasure hunt will be increasingly challenging. The puzzles are presented through syndicated Flash games, the TV series itself, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and iPlayer, and the entire experience is designed to be fun and collaborative. Adrian Hon at Six to Start hopes the more dedicated gamers participating inThe Code Challenge will develop their own community resources such as forums and wikis as they work together to uncover the clues leading up to the final decoding. To encourage interaction, players will be invited to upload video messages and videos of themselves solving the Code, using the tag ‘bbccode.’ Their footage, combined with BBC footage of the finalists competing to win, will form an aggregated online documentary culminating in the reveal of the ultimate winner.

To participate in The Code Challenge, check out the BBC The Code website, the@bbccode Twitter account and hashtag, Facebook, and ‘bbccode’ tagged videos on YouTube.

My article as originally published on ARGNet.