# TINAG **Domain:** Alternate reality games / Design convention **Doc Type:** Developed Term Node **Maturity:** Developed **Collection:** [[collections/Gamification|Gamification Collection]] ## Definition **TINAG** abbreviates **“This Is Not a Game,”** a design convention and player-facing posture associated with alternate reality games. The fiction is presented through ordinary websites, messages, telephone calls, physical places, organizations, and social interaction rather than confined to a clearly labeled game interface. ## Significance TINAG intensifies immersion by withholding or destabilizing the frame. Players may treat artifacts as if they belong to ordinary reality, while designers rely on distributed clues and community interpretation. The technique creates aesthetic power and ethical risk: outsiders, vulnerable participants, and institutions may be drawn into play without informed understanding. The phrase is not proof that an event is fictional, and the absence of a game label is not proof of an ARG. Playable systems literacy requires attention to provenance, consent, safety, exit, and what survives beyond the designed experience. ## Sources - International Game Developers Association, [Alternate Reality Games SIG whitepaper](https://igda.org/sigs/alternate-reality-games/) - Jane McGonigal, [*This Might Be a Game*](https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4xq7j7cm) ## Routes [[wiki/Alternate Reality Game|Alternate Reality Game]] · [[wiki/Playable Systems Literacy|Playable Systems Literacy]] · [[wiki/Ong's Hat|Ong's Hat]] · [[wiki/Cicada 3301|Cicada 3301]]