One of the most obvious differences between completing the actual quest by walking around Madison versus the simulation is you actually got to view the sites that the game wanted you to see as you got the history of where the game wanted you to go. To me walking from place to place did not necessarily enhance my experience as I have been to these sites several time before. Yes, I did not know some of the history that it provided me with but had I been sitting using the cheat codes I do not know if I would have necessarily felt much different. Another reason I felt a lack of engagement with the game when I was actually walking around participating in it is that I was so concentrated on trying to get into the exact GPS coordinate to move onto the next part of the game by the time I reached the exact coordinate the place didn't seem to matter as much as getting the next clue. So in terms of engagement in the game I felt the same sense of engagement in walking through the quest as I did sitting at a table in Chicago using the cheat codes the ARIS website provided me with.
I almost found it easier to use the barcodes/ cheat codes from the website as it more accurately allowed me to move onto the next part of the quest. It was harder to find the exact GPS coordinate that the game wanted me to move to and much easier just to take a picture of the barcode which moved me to the next part of the quest. Although the cheat codes do put you at a disadvantage in terms of completing the quest. Since the website only provides you with three of the cheat codes per game you are very limited in what you learn and are unable to complete the full quest that you would likely be able to complete on foot in Madison. Also you are limited in the quests you are able to participate in since they only offer you a few cheat codes for a couple of games. So while it may be easier to use the cheat codes you are also at a disadvantage.
In terms of the experience I got using the simulation and walking through the actual quest what I experienced on my actual phone through the application really was no different. The only real difference was I did not have to follow the map during the simulation because I was not actually walking to each of these places. The different clues popped up the same way and both had dialogue which was spoken to you with little facts with the historical significance of buildings or events. As I continue to explore the game and go on more quest I may feel differently.
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