I was fooling myself into thinking that I was ready for this...
"For as long as I can remember I've hated this place... Go figure, right? Girl from Ohio hates her hometown! But since college didn't work out and Mom sold the house, I'm forced to stay here with my Grandma. But it's not all bad. My little town isn't very exciting, but I think it has a lot of warmth and charm and there are good people here."
Riley, in her first vlog
Escape from Eden Park is an ARG that follows Riley, who returns to her hometown of Eden Park following the death of her brother, Ben. She soon discovers that Ben was involved in some sort of secret organization involved with the supernatural, and she is slowly being drawn into the mysteries that Ben was in the process of solving.
The ARG is told in chapter arcs with in between being filled with Q&As and other miscellaneous information. To date, Riley has helped reunite the ghost Cate with her memories and has figured out her brother's secret (other than the ghost-hunting one) and the secret of Alexandria, case three is expected in November 2015.
Escape from Eden Park includes the following tropes:
- Abusive Parents: Case 2 reveals that Ben and Riley's father rejected Ben's sexuality, on Thanksgiving no less, not letting him into the house and not letting Riley and her mother even know Ben had been by, making both siblings feel alienated from each other for different reasons.
- Ancient Order of Protectors: The FFC, a fraternal order that looked out for the weird and tried to record and correct it. There are apparently several chapters outside of Eden Park, although the informant isn't in contact with them.
- Coming of Age Story: The ARG focuses on Riley's return to her hometown after failing to deal with her grief over Ben's death away at school. She grows as more about her brother's life is revealed over time.
- Drama Queen: The FFC Informant has shades of this, over the top emotions and mood swings are common when players interact with them.
- Entry Point: Riley, The Protagonist, unlocks the first case when she encounters an angry ghost who seems devoted to blaming her for her brother's death.
- Extremely Short Timespan: Case 2 happened over a matter of hours, with a strict deadline of 6:00 to solve the mystery.
- Fake Video Camera View: The way the videos in the series are presented.
- Freudian Excuse: FFC comes off as a jerk to some of the players, but he(?) was close with Ben, who recently died.
- The Great Flood: Eden Park floods every 100 years. we now have evidence to suggest such floods are supernatural in nature and related to the Slaugh- a literal flood of human souls.
- I Will Wait for You: Implied that Gabrielle Adams waited for Alexandria after they were separated during a flood.
- Life Will Kill You: Ben died in a car accident on a slippery road on the way to Riley's graduation party. ...or did he?
- Poor Communication Kills:
- Ben's determination to lock Riley out and keep her protected is part of that what led her back to Eden Park, got various players involved with the game out of curiosity, and then led her into the very dangerous situations he was trying to prevent her getting into. Riley coming back to Eden park also happened to be the very thing the Big Bad needed.
- Other characters are also similarly shady, though perhaps for supernatural or otherwise enforced reasons.
- Mysterious Stranger: The players came into contact with a mysterious stranger during the course of Case 1. They were a friend of Ben's, living with him and currently still in his old home, and is determined that Riley not share her brother's fate, but beyond that hasn't revealed much about themselves. Since they have no name that players are aware of, they go by the title FFC/FFC Informant since they are the only connection players have to Ben's files and information of the group he was part of.
- Our Ghosts Are Different: Case 1 deals with an angry ghost that plays on Riley's guilt about her brother's death.
- Solve the Soup Cans: Par for the course in any ARG.
- To Be Lawful or Good: Some players feel torn about getting more information and prying into the life of a man who was clearly very secretive and the people close to him so soon after his death.
- Too Dumb to Live: The local newspaper, the Eden Park Echo, built their office directly next to a river that floods every year like clockwork, and refuse to move their premises.
- The Un Favourite: Cate, the ghost who felt overshadowed by her sister Margaret.
- Unreliable Narrator: It soon becomes clear that Ben wasn't entirely honest with anyone.
