Description: A video game created in the RPG maker game engine. On the surface, it seems to be a regular role playing game centered around the musical artist Kanye West. However, there is a secret terminal within the game that eventually leads to the implication of cult recruitment and activity.

Background: Both informants received the information through internet videos.

Transcript:

TS: But basically there was an arg thing in it that people aren’t sure is like an Easter egg or actual cult recruitment (like 90% chance it’s the former but still)

BD: there’s a few video essays on it on youtube

BD: it was an rpg maker game. like the base game was kanye quest but there was a terminal you could enter a password into and it’d go into a weird pseudo game where you had to keep entering passwords and then if you got to the end there’d be a thing saying “congrats you ascended” and would ask if you wanted to move into the next step and if you selected yes it’d ask for your info but the version of the game that was playable didn’t have internet capabilities however original version is lost i believe bc the creator locked it

Me: How does Kanye tie into all that?

BD: Honestly it(Kanye) doesn’t, that’s just what the game was. If you didn’t know about the terminal there was a whole full-ledged game about kanye basically.

TS: Yeah like it was a meme rpg game totally unrelated to anything. That’s why the ARG cult stuff was such a surreal thing.

BD: Also because the cult(referenced in the game) is a real cult.

Me: Is there actual indication that it was real cult stuff?

BD: That’s where it gets murky, like since the game didn’t have internet capabilities people think it was just a thing to spook. There’s also rumors that that’s because it’s the second released version of the game if i remember.

My thoughts:

Cult recruitments through the medium of the internet is certainly not something that is unthinkable. I think what is interesting is how under the surface it is. A seemingly innocent game having cult implications if someone digs deep enough. It is a popular genre when it comes to internet mysteries. One example would be the popularity of the iceberg, where obscure knowledge and rumors about a specific topic is placed within an iceberg image, separated by how obscure the rumor or fact is. This kind of thing tends to be a recurring theme when it comes to the internet. As everything on the internet is somewhat public and monitored, people start to devise methods to encrypt their actions and the information that they want to spread. I think it’s the feeling of secrecy that makes these tales so compelling, the feeling that you are within a secret club for a specific hidden knowledge. Also the hidden sense of excitement and fear when something digital begins to affect the real world. In this sense that hook also applies to many ARGs that have existed. As for what I believe, I think that there is a good chance that the cult elements were real. It is not unthinkable for cults to recruit people through these obscure means, and having Kanye fans as a target does make sense in some ways (some fans worship him like a god).