Remember my review of Exclusion and the closing line of "I'm not yet convinced that collecting swirls to reveal a hidden picture adds anything to the game..." Turns out that this is only part of the bigger picture, as the Nokia Ovi Blog now reveal Exclusion is a gateway drug game into the Conspiracy for Good project. Developed by Nokia and Tim Kring, the writer of US TV series “Heroes”, it’s going to mix Alternative Reality Gaming (ARG) music, storytelling and other elements to “effect social change.”

Here’s how the Ovi Blog describe what’s going on:

...Over the decades, members of Conspiracy For Good have been reputed to be quietly and effectively doing good in the world’s most troubled areas.  But CFG is not without enemies, and it is now under fierce attack by Blackwell Briggs, a London-based multinational company committed to advanced infrastructure development and security services. For help, CFG turned to Kring, a master storyteller, to share their story, recruit new members to read the signs and bring down Blackwell Briggs.

The game is likely to include a certain amount of location based game-play, and there are strong indications that the game will be based in and around London from mid July through to early August. London of course being the base for the fictional big bad Blackwell Briggs.

This isn’t the first time Nokia have been involved with ARG’s. “The Nokia Game” started in 1999 in the Netherlands, and eventually to over 20 countries in the last full game of 2003. The history of the various games and their plots can be found via Wikipedia.

Next up after Exclusion is the Mainframe Liberator game, also a free download from the Ovi Store, which will let you do some hacking into one of the game elements.

More clues and bits ‘n pieces at the Conspiracy for Good website, and in the words of Nokia, head down the rabbit hole.

I wonder if that’s a clue as well…