Swedish company Boda Borg thinks that gamers need to spend more time on Quests, only this time in the real world – and they’re looking to set up shop all across the globe.
Questing, as the official site describes it, is a combination of “your favorite reality TV show, favorite adventure or action hero movie or favorite video game all wrapped up in real world challenges.” Only in Boda Borg, it’s less about slaying dragons or being a Bad enough Dude to rescue the President, and more about crawling blindfolded over irregularly shaped pillars – or so I guess. There’s a movie on the front page of the site, but there isn’t anything on the site I could find that gives an actual example of what the quests really are. Perhaps they’re going for the element of surprise, though.
At Boda Borg, you (and a group of friends) are given a task – sorry, Quest – and must complete it within a given time limit. If you fail, you’re done (but can try again if you choose) … so it’s sort of like an arcade where, if you lose at House of the Dead, they kick you out and take your tickets.
All kidding aside, it does seem like a genuinely interesting concept. It’s certainly a more interactive form of entertainment to do with one’s friends than, say, just going to catch a movie, and I can definitely see where (to paraphrase the site) the consequences of failing the quest might make for an adrenaline rush and some legitimately intense experiences. With only 20 to 25 Quests per location, though, one can’t help but wonder that maybe Boda Borg might not have the best, er, “replay value.” If you’ve solved a Quest once, it might not be all that thrilling to solve it again – sort of like playing through a text adventure like Phoenix Wright once you’ve already beaten it.
For now, the only places where Boda Borg can be experienced are in Ireland and the company’s home country of Sweden – though the website and a recent press release state that they’re planning on setting shop in North America and other locations around the world soon enough.
Personally, I’m just waiting until they give us a Quest to go kill 5 zebras and bring them 10 bear livers.
