Welcome to the Great British Mole Game - a unique ORG with a European flavour.
The concept is simple enough. Ten players will work together to complete a series of twenty-five different challenges. All of them are worth money in a group bank account. Together these challenges could earn the players anything up to £25.00 of very real British Pounds Sterling - just under US$50.00. The players will have their own game-specific e-mail addresses, journals and Instant Messenger Accounts, as well as their own brains and resources, to give them the best possible chance of winning the money.
There are, however, two obstacles.
The first is that one of the ten players is not a genuine contestant. This player will be hired, by me, to prevent as much money from going into the bank as he or she can while remaining undetected. This saboteur, the mole, will do everything in his or her power to disrupt the other players and keep my money out of their hands.
The second obstacle is that only one of the nine genuine contestants can take home the money that all of them have won. To do so, this contestant will have to survive seven gruelling elimination quizzes, after each of which the person who knows the least about the mole will be eliminated from the game. The winner will then have to take the final quiz, beating his or her opponent's score, and correctly identifying the mole.
So do you think you could challenge the mole? Do you think you could BE the mole? If the answer to either of these two questions is "yes", then please have a go at applying. Give it your best shot and you could be in with the chance of winning some real cash and possibly some serious prestige. I hope to hear from you soon...
Check out the "Applications" section, above, for details and testimonials by Nelson Mandela and Helen Hunt!
Here are some testimonials from respected ORG critics who are NOT, in any way, made up on the spur of the moment to make the game more appealing. Honest.
"Potentially the best online Mole game since 'Pine Marten 4 - The Burrowing'" - UBend_66
"Go Mole! Kill Fluffy! Go Mole! Kill Fluffy!" - JockHandle10358
"Personally I think it's overrated" - NotTheRealSkippy_203
And here are some other testimonials from A-list celebrities and world leaders*:
"This is going to be the best ORG ever!" - Nelson Mandela
"A feast of intrigue and decapitation." - George W Bush
"What, you mean it hasn't been hacked yet?" - Helen Hunt
*Quotations may be paraphrased**.
**By "paraphrased", I mean that these celebrities would doubtless have used the quotations attributed to them if they'd known how great GBM was going to be. Or even heard of it.
These are the things that you will need to play GBM.
You will need to be able to take a screen grab (if you're not sure I can help you), and use image editing software - for example, Microsoft Paint, Apple Livequartz, Jasc Paintshop, Google Picasa, the Gimp or Adobe Photoshop - to crop or resize it.
You will also need a browser; either a digital camera / webcam or a microphone (but not both); a messenger client that can use whichever messaging service is most popular (probably AOL at present); and Macromedia's Flash Player (download it here if the banner at the top-left of this screen does not display itself properly).
And that's just about it as regards technical stuff. Take a look at the section entitled "What you may want" for software recommendations. All of the software there is 100% free, easy to use, and comes without spyware.
If you have a digital camera or webcam then there is a great likelihood that you will be asked to take a photograph that includes yourself, or get a friend to do so, as part of a challenge. I would also like all players accepted into the second applications round to include a digital photograph for the "players" section of this website. You should know that I take your privacy VERY seriously and will not publish personal details about you on the web, with the exception of your name, age, occupation, town/county/state, star sign, and photograph. Your e-mail address will also be completely confidential and will not be given to ANYBODY.
Finally, the Winner and Mole will need to register a paypal account, if they do not already have one, on www.paypal.com. (Payments can be sent or received anonymously, so you will not need to give me any bank details.) For this reason I cannot accept applications from anybody who is too young to get one. (Sorry!)
Okay, here's some stuff that I'd recommend that you get. I can provide detailed support via IM, if needed, for any piece of software marked with an asterisk (*), and I can give you all the settings you will need for anything mentioned on this page.
Some other links / software that I can help you with:
If you have any other technical queries, put them on the forum. In all probability I'll be able to help. If not, one of the other forum users may be able to. And if there's still no answer - well, there is a truly awesome technical team that has been working non-stop to get this game ready. They should be able to get answers to pretty much anything you can throw at them!
HELP WITH THE APPLICATION FORM:
The initial application form is very simple and I'd recommend you either contact me via e-mail (click on my address at the bottom of this screen) or via the forum. You can log on anonymously to the technical section so please don't be worried about asking what seems to be an obvious question! Here are a few hints though:
You can use an alias in this game, if you wish, but try to keep the details handy. (I'll e-mail you your details back if you request them, but don't ask me to do this on a daily basis!) I'd prefer for you to be as accurate as possible, or at least use details that you know off by heart.
Click on the green button to the left marked "Application" or this link to go to the Application Form.
SO WHAT EXACTLY ARE YOUR OPTIONS?
In real terms, you have two: you can apply to be a contestant or you can angle for the position of mole.
I'm expecting a lot of applicants for the position of mole. Just bear in mind that there are going to be nine contestants and only one mole, so by choosing the option "I only want to be the mole", you may be taking yourself out of the running.
If you get through to the second (and final) stage of the applications process, and you have said that you would consider being the mole, I will ask you for further details about how you would operate. I will also try to be online via IM as much as possible (see below for my contact details), especially during the evenings (late afternoons in the US). Feel free to speak to me on AIM or MSN if I am online. I will make the final decision about who will be the mole based on the answers to the mole-specific questions and IM conversations ONLY. No other details will be taken into account.
I will acknowledge your application as soon as possible, and let you know if you have made it to the final stage of the process as soon as I have enough applications to justify sending out requests for further details from the applicants. Good luck!
THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT RULE IN GREAT BRITISH MOLE.
This is the second most important rule in GBM: Under no circumstances must the "C" word EVER EVER EVER BE USED EVER by somebody involved with GBM. Just so that everybody understands the importance of this rule, I will repeat that a bit louder:
ANYBODY WHO USES THE WORD "COALITION" IN ANY CONTEXT TO DO WITH GBM FACES THE PROSPECT OF A SLOW AND PAINFUL DEATH.
Now I'm not going to throw you out of the game for mentioning the "C" word. I won't even penalise you. However, if you ever come on a day-trip to Britain and happen to come across me, I may hang you. If you don't believe me then visit the Tower of London. You'll see there that there are two types of criminal who can still be hanged: traitors against the Crown, and people who spoil ORGs by filling them with inane pomposities.
And finally, and more seriously: What is the most important rule of GBM? HAVE FUN!!!
GREAT BRITISH MOLE GAME TERMINOLOGY.
The Application process consists of two stages: a first stage to determine which applicants would be available at similar times for live challenges, and a second stage in which fifteen of those applicants will be chosen based on the answers they give to an e-mail questionnaire about themselves.
All fifteen applicants will be assigned Instant Messaging and e-mail IDs and invited to play the first live challenge. Ten players can proceed beyond this point. If more than ten appear, and nobody voluntarily drops out, there will be a preliminary elimination - more details will be revealed about this when necessary.
The game consists of eight episodes. At the end of each episode, a single contestant is eliminated. The eliminated player will be decided solely on the basis of how well each player answered a browser-based quiz about the identity, activities and personal characteristics of the Mole. Eliminated players are asked not to contact the remaining live players unless asked to do so by the host.
At the end of the game, only three players will remain. All ten of the original contestants (plus any dropouts / late entries) will be invited back to play the very final game before the unveiling of both the Winner and the Mole.
To receive the prize money in the bank, the Winner must correctly answer the first question on the final Live Quiz, naming the Mole. If he or she does so, they will receive the total money won by the players.
If a player leaves the game early on, they may be replaced by another player, who may also receive a quiz bonus for his or her first elimination, at my discretion.
THE HOST RESERVES THE RIGHT TO REMOVE ANY PLAYER FROM THE GAME AT ANY TIME WITHOUT JUSTIFICATION. I won't do this unless I absolutely have to; but I'm not going to let one asshole spoil the game for everyone else.
The Mole will be briefed on the players, challenges, and any other pertinent information regarding the game, well in advance of any time when that information may be needed.
TWO moles will initially be chosen. Of these two, one of them - the "primary Mole" - will be briefed on the game long before it starts. In the unlikely event that the primary Mole fails to turn up at the first live challenge and the secondary Mole is used instead, this person will receive all of the briefings that the primary Mole has received. Otherwise the secondary Mole will simply continue to play as a normal player, trying to detect the primary Mole.
The Mole will receive payment, based on this formula: [(Total percentage of quizzes in which the answer to the first question is the Mole's name) * (£25 - Total amount of money won by the players)] + (Mole's Bonus). The Mole's Bonus will be explained during the course of the game.
The Mole can never be eliminated by Live Quiz result.
THE MOLE WILL BE INSTRUCTED NEVER TO REFUSE INFORMATION TO ANOTHER PLAYER, WITH ONE EXCEPTION. This is to give players an incentive to share information; If you refuse to give information to another player, it's because you're being a jackass. In fact - since the Mole usually does NOT withhold information in these types of games - doing so makes it more obvious to the other players who the Mole actually is.
The exception mentioned above is if a player misses a live challenge and wants to know what the episode's Live Quiz discussion topic is (see the section marked "Information" for more details). In this case the Mole has not been instructed on how to act, but will know that few players would give away such an advantage.
No player participating as a contestant will be asked to switch roles and be the Mole once the game has started.
At the end of the any live challenge(s) period, information will be given to the players about a Topic that will appear on the quiz (for example, if the topic was "favourite films" - which I hardly need add is NOT one of the Topics that will be used - a potential quiz question may be: "What is the Mole's favourite film".) You may refuse to give this topic to any player who did not appear at the live challenge(s), although in exceptional cases a player who had to leave early but still participated may be given the topic anyway by myself.
NO PLAYER MAY GIVE OUT INCORRECT PERSONAL INFORMATION TO OTHERS. I can't stop you from refusing to give out information (although see the "Mole Rules" section), but if any contestant or the Mole gives out incorrect information in an e-mail or Instant Message, and I see it, I will inform any player who has been given this information of the error. Players who persist in giving out incorrect info risk being removed from the game.
At the end of each episode, the players will be warned in advance of a "blackout period" during which they will be asked to do four things: send me their IM log files (don't worry if you don't know how, just use Trillian or GAIM and it's very simple for me to talk you through it); complete an email "journal"; answer a few questions about the Live Quiz topic that was introduced at the end of the live challenges; and take the live quiz.
YOU MUST NOT CONTACT ANY OTHER PLAYER DURING THE BLACKOUT PERIOD. Any player who provides evidence of a blackout breach by another player, in the form of a screenshot or e-mail, will be given a quiz bonus. Serious and persistent infractions may result in a quiz penalty for the culprit, possibly followed by ejection from the game.
You must not contact any player about anything GBM-related by any means other than your game IM account, e-mail account, or the GBM chatroom. Again, screenshot evidence of infractions will earn a quiz bonus.
YOU MUST NOT DELETE ANY E-MAILS FROM YOUR IMAP OR WEBMAIL ACCOUNT.
Most episodes will include two live challenges, to be played consecutively. One will normally last a short time and the other will necessitate the players completing the challenge within a strict time limit.
Successful completion of a challenge, while keeping to the stated rules, will add money to the bank. You will be informed of how much money this is in the challenge briefing. Failure in the challenge will either result in no money, or a loss of money from the bank. This also will be made clear in the challenge brief.
There will also be long-term challenges. Some of these will involve completing a real-world task and providing photographic or audiological proof. If you only have a microphone or webcam attached to your computer, don't worry - this will be sufficient for the tasks that you will be asked to do.
The criteria of challenge "participation" will be made clear in the challenge brief. BE AWARE THAT NON-PARTICIPATION COULD DAMAGE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING THE GAME. This game deliberately favours those who participate in the challenges, above those who do not, in three ways: non-participants will lose out in a Live Quiz tie situation, they may miss the quiz Topic that is given out in the live challenges, and they will certainly miss crucial information regarding sabotages and mole activity. So PLEASE make an effort to participate!
Cheating, or failure to otherwise adhere to the rules of a challenge, may result in the players being fined part of the prize money or, if the offence is severe, the challenge being lost.
Any player who provides proof of another player's cheating will receive a Quiz Bonus. This will be made clear in the challenge brief. Note that this will result in the loss of the challenge, and that the player who reports the cheating activity will be asked to choose whether or not to have his or her identity concealed (unless circumstances mean that this is impossible).
At the end of every episode, all remaining contestants will be asked to complete a browser-based quiz. This determines which contestants will continue through to the next episode. Each episode has a different quiz, in which both the number and difficulty of quiz questions will vary considerably.
In all eight episodes, if there is a single player with the lowest quiz score AFTER deduction of penalties and / or addition of Quiz Bonuses (both of which can be earned in the challenges), this player will be eliminated.
In the first SIX episodes, quiz ties will be decided by the following rationale:
In the final TWO episodes, quiz ties will be decided by the following rationale:
Quiz bonuses will be offered at certain points in the game, as well as given to players in certain circumstances (for example, exposing another player's cheating). Quiz bonuses are cumulative, but penalties are not; if a player receives a penalty, it will also CANCEL ANY AND ALL QUIZ BONUSES that that player has received that episode.
A SHORT HISTORY OF THE BRITISH MOLE TRADITION AND THE ORIGINS OF ONLINE REALITY GAMING.
Once upon a time, in a land far far away, there was a TV show called "The Mole". This show became a cult hit across a new generation of young Brits, picking up a horde of obsessive fans. And when the show ended its first series, some of those fans decided that they wanted to try it out for themselves. So it was that a group of genuine pioneers - Kazwak, Toad, Owl, Zebedee, Chris, Debs, are you reading this? - got together to play a game that would become the first series of the first ever Cybermole - a new kind of experience with an all-British cast.
And so it was that I became a midwife at the spiritual birth of what, years later, was to become known as ORG - online reality gaming. A tradition that spanned the world but has wholly British roots*. But, as is always the case with creation myths, there was trouble in paradise. For when the second British series came along, the fans watched, aghast, as the mole's name was spelt out in a clue in the second episode that made "The Next Betrayal"'s telegram ("The Mole is...") look positively obscure by comparison. And the watchers saw, and they said that it was Crap. And so it was that the fans deserted "The Mole" to go on to better things - mostly lusting after Buffy the Vampire Slayer and trying to ward off the onset of puberty. And no third series was ever made in Britain.
Since then, ORGs have become just one more thing that we used to rule at before the Americans beat us (along with coffee, sandwiches, empire-building, and mocking the French.) The British ORG, it would seem, is dead; and the ORG world has lost a lot of what made it great - even back in the days when we were astounded by the power of Windows 98 and Broadband was a science-fiction author's dream. ORG has come a long way since those times, and has gained so much: professional web design, universal instant messaging, international casts. But it's also lost some of its freshness and flair. Wouldn't it be nice to have a game that put those qualities back?
*Before any smart-ass points it out; I KNOW that ORG, like the program "The Mole" itself, actually started in Belgium. But allow me a bit of romantic invention here. Britain has a great mythological heritage that includes King Arthur, Robin Hood, Richard the Lionheart, and the founding of the Roman Empire. What does Belgium have? Cows. So cut me a bit of slack, okay?
THE LIVE QUIZ.
The eliminated player will be decided by a live timed browser-based quiz, pictured here. This quiz uses the same basic scripting and code as the application form - so anybody who can use the application form should have no difficulties with the quiz.
Quite simply, at the end of each episode I will put a link to the quiz on the button to the left marked, "Live Quiz". I will also e-mail each player this link as soon as they have sent me their episode journals.
The players then use their passwords - provided with their e-mail and MSN accounts - to log into the quiz. The timer starts when a player clicks "submit" after entering their password, and stops when they answer the final question. No player will know in advance how long the quiz will be, or how difficult the questions are, so all contestants need to be prepared. The mole, of course, has no worries whatsoever; the mole cannot be eliminated by live quiz result.
THE FORUM.
Run on the open-source AZBB engine, which is so good that I've included a link to it on the main section of the site for other ORG designers, here is the GBM forum. To get to it, click on the button on the left or on this link.
The forum is divided into sections that are open to everybody and other sections that only those directly involved in the game - players and staff - can access. These include sections where new players and guests will be able to request help with technical stuff, ask general questions, etc.
THE CLUES.
There will be many clues throughout the game that point towards the identity of the mole. At least one clue will be in the very first episode, to guarantee that every player has a fair shot at discovering his or her identity.
A lot of online mole games use clues relating to morse code, number keypads, telegrams, mobile phones, semaphore, foreign languages, hidden spellings in words that reveal the mole's name, etc. These types of clues have to be hidden very carefully because, if a player were to spot one, it would essentially give the game away. Because of this the "clues" become less a matter of hinting at the mole's identity, and more a matter of the host or mole saying, "hey, look how clever I am, I've come up with all these really obscure clues that nobody spotted!"
THIS KIND OF CLUE WILL NOT BE USED IN THE GREAT BRITISH MOLE. But don't worry - there will be clues. Lots of them. The clues will relate to specific things that, apart from the sabotages, indicate that one player is in fact playing a very different game to the others. While far less conclusive, and therefore less likely to spoil the game, all of these clues will nonetheless point directly to one person as the saboteur. All of the clues will be revealed in the final episode.
THE CHALLENGES.
Each challenge, with one exception, is worth either £0.50, £1.00, or £1.50. If you complete the challenge, you win all of the available money. If you fail to complete the challenge, you win nothing. In a few cases you can actually lose money by failing to complete a challenge. In all cases, you will be informed of the amount of money that is available to be won or lost before the game starts.
As previously mentioned, most long-term challenges will require you to have access to either a digital camera or a microphone (although no challenge requires a single player to have both.) The live challenges will mostly take place in twos, two per episode. Some of these challenges will be a timed challenge, in which the players are given a task to do within a certain time limit. The others will be short challenges in which players will attempt to complete a challenge within a certain number of "moves", or make a single decision, etc.
Finally, the challenges will be kept as simple as possible. While quiz bonuses will play a part in a few of the games, most will stick to what I think is the essence of "The Mole": a number of players, working as a team to complete challenges for money, with one member of that team secretly attempting to stop them from doing so.
There are no details about this player at this time.
There are no details about this player at this time.
There are no details about this player at this time.
There are no details about this player at this time.
There are no details about this player at this time.
There are no details about this player at this time.
There are no details about this player at this time.
There are no details about this player at this time.
There are no details about this player at this time.
There are no details about this player at this time.
There is currently no Live Quiz to take.
This is where details of the group bank will be posted.
Any clues about the game posted by the host will appear in this section.
Any messages from the mole to the players will be posted here.
This is where I will post credits of all those people who've helped me create the game and the website. I'm bound to be missing some people here, but here's a few...
And here's a few people who just can't be ignored:
Any other details about the game will be posted here.
Episode summaries will appear on the main site once the game is completed.
Episode summaries will appear on the main site once the game is completed.
Episode summaries will appear on the main site once the game is completed.
Episode summaries will appear on the main site once the game is completed.
Episode summaries will appear on the main site once the game is completed.
Episode summaries will appear on the main site once the game is completed.
Episode summaries will appear on the main site once the game is completed.
Episode summaries will appear on the main site once the game is completed.