"Waiting for Modo", the game
When BookCrossing rhymes with story-writing and enigma-solving
by andrasMarch 29, 2005
Do you like BookCrossing? That's a silly question. I will start again. Do you like BookCrossing and writing short stories and solving enigmas and playing with others? You said "yes"? I think we may have something for you. And its name is: "En attendant
Modo". Yes, it is French, originally. But you can call it "Waiting for Modo" if you prefer. Does that sound more familiar? Even the Frenchies will understand . . . well, some of them. Let's call it "Modo" for short.
What's it all about? At the beginning there were 2 BookCrossers, damned-marcel and me, who were in search of a game that BookCrossers could play in their own town, and yet in connection and interaction with each other. Step by step this vague idea became reality: on April 9, BookCrossers from 20 cities in Europe (France, Switzerland, Germany and Spain) will participate in the Modo game, a writing-BookCrossing-investigation game. What is the trick? Please concentrate. It's not for kids. ;-)
The basis of the game is an investigation: "who is Modo?". Do you remember when some of us asked for a "moderator" on the forums? On the French forum, a new BookCrosser appeared with Moderateur as a screenname, soon nicknamed "Modo". Not without humour, he (or she) pretended to run the French forum on Reno's behalf. This arrival brought a lot of animation and questions to the forum. We all tried to find out who was behind this screenname, probably one of us, but who? So far, we still don't know.
So we have conceived the following plot: a private detective called "Alfred Bogué" (a possible French reincarnation of somebody else ;-)) receives a call from an anonymous but sensual voice that he calls "Voix de velours" (Velvet Voice) for himself. The voice proposes the following deal to our man: "Find out who hides behind Modo on the French forum and you will be very well paid". No surprise here: Bogué accepts the deal and begins his investigation.
That's the starting point of the story that damned-marcel wrote down in a typical French thriller style. Then we asked all the BookCrossers who wanted to participate in the game to write down his/her own chapter of this story in his/her own town. In each chapter (one or 2 pages can be sufficient), Alfred Bogué arrives in the town looking for a clue about Modo. The way he arrives there is up to the imagination of the author. And as a clue, he always finds the trace of a book. Sometimes he finds the book, sometimes he doesn't; it's up to the author. But as an author of one of the episodes,
you have to describe a real place in your town where the book is supposed to be because you will have to really hide a book there, so that other BookCrossers or hunters can find it.
Got it? But there's more to it than that!
During the writing phase (Phase 1), all participants write down their episode bearing in mind a place to hide the book. For the sake of simplicity, all chapters are independent from each other. And all of them have to indicate a place where a book will be hidden. Just before the "D day" on April 9, all books will be concealed (Phase 2), and at the beginning of the day, all chapters will be put on the game's website, so that hunters can hunt for the book(s) in their own town (Phase 3).
"And what about Modo?" you're about to say. Don't be so impatient! Modo has not been forgotten. Bogué has only found books during his investigation. How can these books possibly lead him or at least us to Modo? That's our Phase 4. That's the trickiest of them all. Relax... Take a deep breath ;-). We're getting there.
Each book will come with a label asking the finder to register the book on the BookCrossing site and on the "Modo" site. And each time a BCID corresponding to our game is entered on the Modo site, a clue will be displayed in real time to help find out who is behind "Modo": a photo, a fragment of music, a small text, etc. Oh, no! We don't speak of the BookCrosserer who has taken "moderateur" as screenname. We actually don't know who he/she is. But a substitute for him/her, that everybody knows, probably a character of a fiction work. Wait and see…
So the loop ends here: once enough clues are revealed the enigma will be solved by our smart BookCrossers and the face of our Modo will appear on the screen. And the winner will be generously congratulated and gain . . . a place in the game's hall of fame. Because no doubt that there will be a second edition, why not on a larger scale? Will you join in?
Other BCers contributed to the game set up: Mosava played a decisive role in Phase 4; Snoow built the website; LilouMalou created the "Modo" special labels; and lesezeichen put this article into regular English. The whole game was a team work - definitely a funny team work. If it's not too late when you read this article, go to the "Modo" website on April 9, and play with us! After the game, we will print a book with the whole "Bogué" story that will be ringed. And a PDF version will be available on the website too.
The "Modo" website is http://enattendantmodo.free.fr.
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What's it all about? At the beginning there were 2 BookCrossers, damned-marcel and me, who were in search of a game that BookCrossers could play in their own town, and yet in connection and interaction with each other. Step by step this vague idea became reality: on April 9, BookCrossers from 20 cities in Europe (France, Switzerland, Germany and Spain) will participate in the Modo game, a writing-BookCrossing-investigation game. What is the trick? Please concentrate. It's not for kids. ;-)
The basis of the game is an investigation: "who is Modo?". Do you remember when some of us asked for a "moderator" on the forums? On the French forum, a new BookCrosser appeared with Moderateur as a screenname, soon nicknamed "Modo". Not without humour, he (or she) pretended to run the French forum on Reno's behalf. This arrival brought a lot of animation and questions to the forum. We all tried to find out who was behind this screenname, probably one of us, but who? So far, we still don't know.
So we have conceived the following plot: a private detective called "Alfred Bogué" (a possible French reincarnation of somebody else ;-)) receives a call from an anonymous but sensual voice that he calls "Voix de velours" (Velvet Voice) for himself. The voice proposes the following deal to our man: "Find out who hides behind Modo on the French forum and you will be very well paid". No surprise here: Bogué accepts the deal and begins his investigation.
That's the starting point of the story that damned-marcel wrote down in a typical French thriller style. Then we asked all the BookCrossers who wanted to participate in the game to write down his/her own chapter of this story in his/her own town. In each chapter (one or 2 pages can be sufficient), Alfred Bogué arrives in the town looking for a clue about Modo. The way he arrives there is up to the imagination of the author. And as a clue, he always finds the trace of a book. Sometimes he finds the book, sometimes he doesn't; it's up to the author. But as an author of one of the episodes,
you have to describe a real place in your town where the book is supposed to be because you will have to really hide a book there, so that other BookCrossers or hunters can find it.
Got it? But there's more to it than that!
During the writing phase (Phase 1), all participants write down their episode bearing in mind a place to hide the book. For the sake of simplicity, all chapters are independent from each other. And all of them have to indicate a place where a book will be hidden. Just before the "D day" on April 9, all books will be concealed (Phase 2), and at the beginning of the day, all chapters will be put on the game's website, so that hunters can hunt for the book(s) in their own town (Phase 3).
"And what about Modo?" you're about to say. Don't be so impatient! Modo has not been forgotten. Bogué has only found books during his investigation. How can these books possibly lead him or at least us to Modo? That's our Phase 4. That's the trickiest of them all. Relax... Take a deep breath ;-). We're getting there.
Each book will come with a label asking the finder to register the book on the BookCrossing site and on the "Modo" site. And each time a BCID corresponding to our game is entered on the Modo site, a clue will be displayed in real time to help find out who is behind "Modo": a photo, a fragment of music, a small text, etc. Oh, no! We don't speak of the BookCrosserer who has taken "moderateur" as screenname. We actually don't know who he/she is. But a substitute for him/her, that everybody knows, probably a character of a fiction work. Wait and see…
So the loop ends here: once enough clues are revealed the enigma will be solved by our smart BookCrossers and the face of our Modo will appear on the screen. And the winner will be generously congratulated and gain . . . a place in the game's hall of fame. Because no doubt that there will be a second edition, why not on a larger scale? Will you join in?
Other BCers contributed to the game set up: Mosava played a decisive role in Phase 4; Snoow built the website; LilouMalou created the "Modo" special labels; and lesezeichen put this article into regular English. The whole game was a team work - definitely a funny team work. If it's not too late when you read this article, go to the "Modo" website on April 9, and play with us! After the game, we will print a book with the whole "Bogué" story that will be ringed. And a PDF version will be available on the website too.
The "Modo" website is http://enattendantmodo.free.fr.
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