Sunday, November 11, 2012

The Garden in Second Life Launches

Dwarf Hamsters in The Garden FTW
As Salome and I warned you in our last podcast, The Garden in Second Life launched on Friday and the game is afoot! It must be real, we made the Editor's Pick in the SL Destination Guide. (woot!)

I'm psyched that The Garden has appealed to people who like to play a new game, as well as those who would rather just explore the sim and take photos of themselves, say, as a delicious dwarf hamster. Right now, we don't have a leader board for hamster photos, but according to Nate Silver there is a good chance that in the future we will. (Please don't tell Salome or Trav I said that.)

If you want to know more about The Garden and how it works, you can find details on our site The Garden Whispers, and there were some fantastic posts published this weekend:

Even if you haven't made the hamster transition, you can still play and if you are loathe to read instructions (like me), fear not. Salome and Lyndon Heart put together a quick video introduction.


The game can seem challenging at first, but here's a helpful clue: when you learn something that is NOT true about a Guardian put an X in the right place on your HUD with a single click. When you discover truths about the Guardians, note them with a dot *, which takes a double click in the square. Here's another hint for those that like to stand and cam: you have to be within chat range of the Artifacts, else you don't get the clue.

Once you get the hang of the X and dot thing, the game becomes rather addicting. Give it a shot for free using the DEMO HUD and see what I mean. If you buy a Patron HUD, you can play as many games as you'd like. Each time you solve a puzzle, a new one is created for you and enters you into the Achievements.

Below is what a completed Achievement tab looks like. It gives you a glimpse into the twisted minds of Trav Rexen and Salome Strangelove - note the conspicuous absence of hamster accolades. 


We hope we see you around The Garden. If you get stuck, you can always ask for some help. Esoteric and difficult questions can go to Sal and Trav, but feel free to ask me the rest.

So if you've got a few minutes to spare, go play The Garden.

If you are wondering about the story part, hang in there.  It's coming, like winter.
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