I just read this Wired article on SpyParty and the concept is more than a little brilliant, and it looks like QT3’s own Checker’s behind it.
SpyParty begins with the spy player, who first selects his character. The player can chose to slip into a handful of different character models: a guy in a tux, women in a variety of dresses, a rotund chap in a top hat.
The mind game starts immediately, because even on this character-selection screen, the spy is trying to outwit his opponent: Which character do they suspect I’d pick?
The spy player has to complete four tasks to win the game: Plant a bug on the ambassador at the party, make contact with a double agent, move a book from one shelf to another and swap a statue for a different one.
Each of these actions has a “tell,” a giveaway that the sniper can pick up on if he is paying attention. In the case of the physical actions, it’s a quick character animation. For the double agent bit, it’s a secret code phrase — somebody will say the words “banana bread.” (Hecker says this is what he was having as a snack when he recorded the audio.)
The sniper player needs only to watch and listen, but within the limitations of his faraway vantage point. From afar, the sniper can see the entire party, in the windowed corner of an apartment building. He can see everyone mingle, chat and stroll around the room. But he’s too far away to make out the subtle “tells” that can help identify the target. Zooming in with the rifle scope narrows the view, but lets him see what the guests are doing.
My first try as the sniper was easy: All I had to do was watch for the one player that didn’t act like a computer-controlled bot. The first time I caught my friend correcting his movements in mid-stride, I knew I had my target.
Later moments behind the trigger weren’t so easy, once the spy had figured out how to pretend to be artificial intelligence. I wasted more than a few bullets on wild guesses and longshots. SpyParty gets hard.
I can imagine spending hours just to get good at the game, if only to fuck with people’s minds. Imagine playing the game with someone else who’s in the room with you, or even over voice chat. They’d yell the moment you shot them and it would feel like pure satisfaction.