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Michael Andersen

@mjandersen.bsky.social
1.1K followers 328 following 2.7K posts

Stares at numbers at Simon and Schuster, runs ARGN.com - more ARGs, escape rooms, immersive theater, and puzzle stuff than you probably want to hear

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Michael Andersen @mjandersen.bsky.social · 15h
Audiobooks to Listen To While Playing Mr Beast's "stare at your screen until you're incapable of staring anymore" book puzzle challenge (I'm just saying, Stephen King's Other Worlds Than These comes out tomorrow and clocks in just shy of 23 hours...)
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Michael Andersen @mjandersen.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Wow, Mr Beast does like his "who can stare at the screen the longest" challenges. At least the other puzzles were fun.
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Michael Andersen @mjandersen.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Starting at the bottom, find the page the excerpt appears on. Then, move in the indicated direction based on what quadrant the text appeared. Rinse and repeat until you reach the top of the maze. I'm not 100% sure I got it right, but it was a "novel" enough path that I'm okay with that.
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Michael Andersen @mjandersen.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Today is the day we find out the final (online) challenge for the Mr Beast book puzzle thing! The first three weeks were pretty creative in how it used the book as platform for puzzles. Personal favorite took place last week, and used the book to navigate a directional maze.
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Michael Andersen @mjandersen.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Neglected to share this earlier, but look at this nifty Taylor Swift Fan fan @bkuehner.bsky.social gave me!
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Michael Andersen @mjandersen.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
I'm really good at recruiting people for hijinks, y'all.
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Michael Andersen @mjandersen.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Finally tackling Face Off after reading In Stormy Weather, and this is an all-time first sentence. "I've been around a lot of penises in my life, but the one six inches away from my face is the last one I ever wanted to see."
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Michael Andersen @mjandersen.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
...dammit I forgot whether my pre-immersive bagel chain of choice is Liberty or Utopia.
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Michael Andersen @mjandersen.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I wanted to try writing a shaggy dog story, as essay. I'm still not sure how well it worked, but I enjoyed the experiment!
mjandersen.substack.com
Taken For Granite: On a Piece of the Ivy League and Literary Authority
If you subscribed for immersive theater reviews, maybe skip this one: a series of anecdotes about the evolving nature of authority
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Michael Andersen @mjandersen.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
...while referencing Norm Macdonald's shaggy dog stories but yes. I wanted to show off my fancy rock.
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Michael Andersen @mjandersen.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I have her tarot deck!
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Reposted by Michael Andersen
Ben Zimmer @benzimmer.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I spoke to @vulture.com about the nerdy pastime of "gridspotting," tracking down the provenance of crosswords in movies and TV shows.
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Michael Andersen @mjandersen.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
thank you
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Michael Andersen @mjandersen.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
So many people told me to watch it and I still haven't, what a great day. First Mamdani Scavenger Hunt sequel, now this.
watch.dropout.tv
Hundreds of Beavers - Dropout
A drunk salesman battles hundreds of beavers to become North America's greatest 19th century trapper.
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Michael Andersen @mjandersen.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
US specific but real!!! tiktok.com/ZSbfyJ9KG/
vt.tiktok.com
TikTok - Make Your Day
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Michael Andersen @mjandersen.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Hundreds of Beavers on Dropout?????
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Michael Andersen @mjandersen.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
In honor of the NYC mayor's office announcing a new scavenger hunt themed around city organizers, here's the review I wrote up about the hunt he ran during the mayoral race.
mjandersen.substack.com
Tammany Hall is a Petco: Zohran's Summer Scavenger Hunt
"You can't serve a city, you can't fight for a city, if you don't love that city"
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Reposted by Michael Andersen
Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani @mayor.nyc.gov · 01/10/2026
Want to learn about the history of our city?  Well you’re in luck. This month, we’re hosting a massive scavenger hunt across the city — all about the history of organizing in NYC. Sign up at organize.nyc.gov and come see the city through the eyes of the people who built it.
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Michael Andersen @mjandersen.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
"How can I spend more time off my phone..." No. Wrong goal. Maximize the handheld Skinner Box time. Explore the other worlds than these.
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Michael Andersen @mjandersen.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
I'm feeling hopeful - I know you've been advocating for this (and a wide spectrum of indie alternatives) for quite some time now!
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Reposted by Michael Andersen
Dr. Theron Sherman 🖊 (Site-42) @site42.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
ANOTHER HOLLYWOOD SCP MOVIE HAS HIT THE TIMELINE And this one actually spoke to SCP Wiki Staff and confirmed they are following SCP’s Creative Commons License. Be still my heart, I may faint. Statement from SCP Wiki Staff: scp-wiki.wikidot.com/statement-on...
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Michael Andersen @mjandersen.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
I lied to Focus Friend and felt guilty about my blinged out smol bean.
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Michael Andersen @mjandersen.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
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Michael Andersen @mjandersen.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Pickle juice is so great.
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Michael Andersen @mjandersen.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
It looks like it was an addition to the article...I wonder if they felt it was necessary to explain how he was the head engineer for the games team. web.archive.org/web/20260928...
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Michael Andersen @mjandersen.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Gotta appreciate the hustle of a "we are telling you literally nothing" street campaign. purplehippos.com
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Adrian Hon @adrianhon.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I can't get enough of the cover for my book, THE AGE OF IMMERSION, out June 2027! Designed by Rob Farmer, it's a shimmering, pixellated play on Monet's Water Lilies, one of the OG true "immersive" artworks. And yes, long subtitles are *in*. astrapublishinghouse.com/product/the-...
Book cover of The Age of Immersion: Make Believe Worlds From Medieval Cathedrals to the Las Vegas Sphere by Adrian Hon. The words are blue and shimmering, with a pixellated background of Monet's Water Lilies.
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Michael Andersen @mjandersen.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Oh fun - U of I is getting an immersive theater program?
theatre.illinois.edu
BA: Immersive & Interactive Theatre
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Michael Andersen @mjandersen.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Just finished my weekend obligations! Now I have time to... ...oh.
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Michael Andersen @mjandersen.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Hopefully, how to fight a fire in your building! "I don't know" is a scary phrase to hear in that conversation.
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Michael Andersen @mjandersen.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
It got big enough Variety responded!
variety.com
No, Tom Cruise’s ‘Digger’ Isn’t a Musical
The truth behind the internet rumor that Tom Cruise's next film, 'Digger,' is a musical.
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Michael Andersen @mjandersen.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Kind of disappointed Digger is (allegedly) not a musical. That was a fun theory.
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Michael Andersen @mjandersen.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
The scrapers have gotten really good at pretending to be human traffic though so it balances out, right? 😭
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Michael Andersen @mjandersen.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
What do you MEAN I have to work on a Taylor countdown day
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Michael Andersen @mjandersen.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
I know they did Salesforce, wasn't sure if that extended here too.
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Michael Andersen @mjandersen.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
I continue to be impressed with whoever is managing the Mr Beast book puzzle challenge - they've been consistently fun and approachable, while using the contents of the book aggressively enough to make having a copy a practical necessity.
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Michael Andersen @mjandersen.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Shout out to the woman next to me audibly gasping and whispering "oh no" at key moments, you made an already delightful show even better.
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Michael Andersen @mjandersen.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Went to see "Big Feelings" last night, which might be one of the hottest / hardest to get immersive tickets in NYC at the moment. The hype is real, and it was impactful enough I ended up writing about it. I am very much on board with Elementary School classrooms as immersive scaffolding.
mjandersen.substack.com
Working Through Some “Big Feelings”
An interactive play at The Cell Theatre in NYC puts you in the role of a 1st grader as your teacher works through some stuff
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Michael Andersen @mjandersen.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
At least they've been upgraded from quaint hamlet!
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Michael Andersen @mjandersen.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Coworker asked one of our authors if they could prove they weren't a spy at a book event recently, and I practically levitated with vindication.
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Michael Andersen @mjandersen.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Standing on the street corner and a guy quizzically points at me, starts asking a question, and walks away shaking his head. I got confused until I remembered I had just put on my immersive "uniform".
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Michael Andersen @mjandersen.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
The most recent Jet Lag episode stops off exceedingly close to where I lived in Japan for a year, and the nostalgia is strong. Especially since I was there exactly 20 years ago.
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Reposted by Michael Andersen
Eldritch Eric @yankeewhite.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
While digging into Control Resonant I also learned there’s a Silent Hill Townfall ARG!! We’re eating good now. www.reddit.com/r/silenthill...
reddit.com
From the silenthill community on Reddit
Explore this post and more from the silenthill community
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Michael Andersen @mjandersen.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
...what I'm hearing is I should go into the NYC office for work tomorrow, just in case ;)
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Michael Andersen @mjandersen.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Wheatpaste posters in public, it seems? Helsinki examples in thread. bsky.app/profile/reme...
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Eldritch Eric @yankeewhite.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Control Resonant ARG dead drop in London!
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Michael Andersen @mjandersen.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Thanks as always to @puzzlesnacks.bsky.social, for one of my favorite puzzling hobbies. www.puzzles.wiki/wiki/Spaghet...
puzzles.wiki
Spaghetti (game) - Puzzle Wiki
Spaghetti is a game invented by Eric Berlin involving creating metapuzzles on the fly using a randomly selected set of "answers".
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Michael Andersen @mjandersen.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
...okay I got challenged to Spaghetti up a solution to this puzzle, so here goes. We're supposed to read between the lines. sacchariDE/ARies from tHEVINEyard norTHORSouth Read as a homophone, that's DEER from HEAVEN, THOR'S. And guess what stag stands upon Valhalla? Eikþyrnir, that's who!
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Michael Andersen @mjandersen.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Honestly, "Saccharide Aries From the Vineyard North or South" sounds exactly like half the armchair hunt clues I never bother trying to figure out. If you told me that was a line from the Jonathan Collins Black hunt, I would believe you.
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Michael Andersen @mjandersen.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
What does it mean, Ben??? Many people are curious.
Google Trends results for searches of "saccharide" in the last 24 hours, showing a massive spike after Taylor Swift mentions it during the Emmys
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