The Lost Experience

For Lost Experience clues detailed in-depth, see The Lost Experience clues

For a brief chronicle of the "happenings so far", see Timeline - The Lost Experience

The Lost Experience is an alternate reality game (ARG) designed by the writers and producers of Lost to engage fans and expand the storyline. The game was co-developed by three TV companies, America's ABC, Australia's Seven Network and the United Kingdom's Channel 4.

According to a New York Times article at news.com [1], the game will be "a multimedia treasure hunt that makes use of e-mail messages, phone calls, commercials, billboards and fake Web sites that are made to seem real." The Lost Experience is created by the show's actual writers and will progress the storyline.

The Lost Experience will be Internet-based and will feature a parallel story line that is not part of the TV show. There is no winning prize, but the experience will offer clues that could unlock some of the island's many secrets. What is known about the challenge is that it includes the introduction of new characters and the mysterious Hanso Foundation. Clues will vary by continent, so participants will benefit from coordinating their information. ABC has said the game is designed to appeal to both fans and people unfamiliar with "Lost."

Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse first mentioned the ARG in the official podcast that the Hanso Foundation website, which was offline for several months (or in their words, "down for remodeling").

International Launch Dates

The launch of the game coincided with various episodes of Lost.

May 2, 2006 in the United Kingdom, coinciding with the episode "Man of Science, Man of Faith".
May 3, 2006 in the United States, coinciding with the episode "Two for the Road".
May 6, 2006 in Australia.
May 15, 2006 in the Republic of Ireland, coninciding with the episode "One of Them"

The Hanso Foundation

Main article: thehansofoundation.org

Official website of the Hanso Foundation and launchpad of the Lost Experience. The site was heavily redesigned during its time offline, including a new logo, renamed projects and new areas (including "Joop's Corner), and a graphical Flash interface.

Hanso Phone Line

Main article: Hanso Phone Line

The Hanso Phone Line number was first placed at the end of the UK Television advert for the Hanso Foundation, during the premiere double bill aired on Channel 4 on 2 May 2006. It features an automated voicemail system for the executives of the Foundation. It was used by an unknown female named Persephone to get a password out to the listener. This password can be used to access a game off the Hanso website.

The phone line is constantly changing information, please check on the main article for the latest news.

Gary Troup & Bad Twin

Main articles: Gary Troup & Bad Twin

A tie-in novel, Bad Twin, was published by Hyperion Books in May 2006 under the fictitious author Gary Troup, who (in the show) was aboard Oceanic Flight 815 and whose manuscript was discovered by Hurley, read by Sawyer, and burned (at least partially) by Jack. Several clips of a nine-part video interview with Troup are scattered across the websites of the book's retailers, and 2 separate websites, www.garytroupbooks.com and www.garytroup.net, containing references to Troup's out-of-print "nonfiction" book The Valenzetti Equation.

In the Lost universe, Bad Twin is a work of fiction, yet it contains names and references that are being revealed in the show itself (like Valenzetti and Widmore). The exact relationship of the novel's story to that of Lost isn't clear, but the timing of the book's publication, as well as the 'scavenger hunt' sensibility of the interview clips, suggests that Troup and Bad Twin are another piece of the Lost Experience puzzle.

5/9/06 - a newspaper ad appeared in the Chicago Tribune, Boston Globe (page A4), Washington Post (May 10, page A7), and presumably among other major papers, placed by The Hanso Foundation. Claiming to be from Hugh McIntyre, the ad is entitled 'Don't Believe "Bad Twin"', and states that "The truth about the Hanso Foundation is available at www.TheHansoFoundation.org and not on the pages of Gary Troup's "Bad Twin"."

Theories & Commentary

As the game is running concurrently with the UK, which has just started airing season 2 episodes, it's unlikely that any major secrets will be revealed.
Persephone is actually Alex Rousseau. Do the voices match?
"Gary Troup" is actually an anagram (you can rearrange the letters) for "purgatory"
LOST is an acronym?
Both Sprite and Jeep may have slight literary allusions to the situation on the island, namely in that Ariel in Shakespeare's The Tempest is a "sprite" or fairy trapped on a desert island, while the possible origin of the word "Jeep" may be from the teleporting pet Eugene the Jeep from "Popeye" comics.

On the Web

Confirmed In-Game Websites

Game-Affiliated Websites

These are sites that are not necessarily part of the game universe, but do connect the players to the puppet masters. These sites will provide subtle guidance (such as confirmations of sites that are out of game) and the occasional product push, but will remain "in character" at all times.

Confirmed (FAKE) Out-of-Game Websites

Into every game, a little rain must fall. Be very wary of putting any personal information (email addresses, etc), into these sites.

UNCONFIRMED GAME WEBSITES

A ton of links I have stumbled into, these may or may not be directly affiliated with The Lost Experience. I will try to research them as best as I can

Widmore Main Site
Widmore Group (Mittlewerk and McIntyre on the corporate page)
Widmore Laboratories Clicking on "Contact Us" leads to Rottenralf's Bookstore - Another Mention of supporting Valenzetti?
Rottenralf's Bookstore - I havent found anything there yet but I am still finding more sites by the minute

Rxhector