There’s a phenomenon you mention in these games called “This is Not a Game.” Can you explain that?

“This is Not a Game” is the idea that the game is more enjoyable for players if we try and avoid to break the suspension of disbelief as much as possible. This came to the fore with a game called, The Beast. Microsoft was behind it but nobody knew for a long time in. It started with a cryptic message on a movie poster, which, if you Googled it, led you a fake blog, which led to other websites and email addresses and more. Those playing knew it wasn’t real but the design made every effort to seem like it was.

And you note that, in order to prolong the suspension of disbelief, you never admit any designer error, you just add to the story line with more complexity like it was the plan all along?

Sometimes as a designer you will change something in the game on the fly based on how people are playing it. Sometimes their instincts and suggestions add depth to the game and so you quickly rewrite. You can see that happen with QAnon. New theories and tangents appear at dead ends.