Alleycat at Neo 2022
Eight weeks before the first Neotropolis, our friend Zach told us we should go, that “everyone was going.” Our crew of friends who all wanted to go suggested we submit a “faction application” and create an experience for the patrons. After some back and forth, and realizing that Neotropolis Event had a strict stance of “no karaoke factions,” we decided on a bounty hunting experience, and so Alleycat was born.
With such a tight timeline. We focused on a simple analog device we called a Data Crypt. “Volunteer” bounties signed up with our staff as part of our Bounty Hunter Training Module. We took a Polaroid of the bounty in front of our Wanted Poster and secured it to a Bounty Contract. Hunters would peruse our Bounty Board to see who was all playing.
The Data Crypt had an acrylic key that could be pulled out of it in a capture-the-flag sort of way. We asked every bounty if they were ok with contact by the Hunter who would either lay their hand on the pack to tell them they had been captured OR by trying to pull the key before the bounty should notice. Any bounty that said NO to touch would be given a key to wear with their pack that said “DO NOT TOUCH. We learned a lot this year about how the community actually played the game, what parts worked, and what parts did not.
The other innteractable we introduced this year was Laser Jail. It was a dead simple idea: laser diodes, hot glued into drilled holes in 2x4 lumber. It required a fog machine to be running and at least one staff member with a hand fan to get it the right kind of vibey for photography.
