While It’s been cool to see cultural institutions create virtual experiences for us to enjoy from home, sometimes it’s nice to get away from the screens for a little while, too.
YA author Leila Sales has created a new choose-your-own-adventure game specifically designed for the lockdown: Ada and the Lost Horizon. It’s a scavenger hunt within the confines of your own home; a real-world Ready Player One experience; and a community-oriented coronavirus quarantine activity that takes you on an imaginary journey to another world — while taking you on a physical journey away from your computer screen. While many IRL experiences like museums, theaters, and schools have moved their content online during this time, Leila saw a chance to create something we could all do together offline.
The premise: A young woman named Ada wakes to find herself alone. She was supposed to be here with her younger brother, Teddy. She was supposed to be watching out for him. But Teddy has disappeared in the night. Ada must find him, but her only clue is a ransom note. What the ransom note says, where it leads her, and if and how she ever manages to see her brother again… that’s completely up to the player. Leila received dozens of entries from players creating their own ransom notes – here’s the winner.
How to play
- Read each scene when it’s released on Leila’s Instagram and Twitter every other day at 4pm ET. The first scene came out on April 9th.
- Each scene is accompanied by instructions for a task that can be completed in the safety of your own house. You have 24 hours to complete the task and share it to social media using the hashtag #AdaAndTheLostHorizon. One player’s completion of each task will be selected to determine the course of the rest of the story.
- Enjoy other players’ completions, invite your friends to play, and find out where Ada’s journey takes her next!
Read a complete explanation of the game here.
Be sure to check out the hashtag #AdaAndTheLostHorizon on Twitter and Instagram – so far, the winning entries have been created by children, so it’s a great game for the whole family.
