Joseph Wayne Matheny (born December 24, 1961, in Chicago, Illinois) is an American writer and transmedia artist who has created works using alternate reality gaming and transmedia storytelling methods.[1] He holds patents for prediction, recommendation and behavioral analysis algorithms and software design.[2] He is a published author of screenplays, white papers, technology, sci-fi, marketing and gaming books. He is probably best known for the avant-garde work Ong's Hat, which has been called the proto-Alternate Reality Game.[1][3]Ong's Hat is often cited as the first ARG on many lists of alternate reality games.
He currently resides in Eugene, OR.
Early life
Joseph Matheny- 2018 Santa Cruz, CA
Matheny was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1961 and moved to California in 1989.
Books
Statio Numero: Part 3 of the Liminal Cycle, Wildcard Interactive, 2022. ISBN979-8-89074-509-5
Xen: The Zen of the Other (as Ezra Buckley), Wildcard Interactive, 2020. ISBN9798710187395
^McMahon, Chris (May 2013). "The Rise Of The ARG: games™ investigates alternate reality games and what the future has in store for the curious experiment". GamesTM. 135: 88.