19 hours ago
9
Hey, chap Undertale and Deltarune fan. Did you cognize determination was a Deltarune ARG going on? Did you cognize it's technically been going connected for 3 years now? Yeah, neither did I!
I archetypal learned astir the Deltarune ARG (Alternate Reality Game) earlier this week, erstwhile a video astir it surfaced successful my YouTube recommendations. I started retired conscionable mildly curious, but I rapidly fell down a rabbit spread that had maine digging done monolithic spreadsheets, scouring Reddit threads, and pouring implicit weird corners of the authoritative Deltarune website. And now, I'm going to infect you with it too.
In bid to afloat unpack the full ARG successful a mode that covers each small spot of what's happened and what it could mean, I would person to spoil each 4 chapters of Deltarune, astir apt immoderate bits of Undertale, and dive into a deep, deep, deep pit of Deltarune instrumentality theories. So I'm going to effort to support the mentation arsenic precocious level arsenic is imaginable portion inactive making sense. But arsenic a informing up of time: this volition incorporate spoilers for Chapters 1 and 2 of Deltarune, particularly the "Weird Route", and immoderate precise airy allusions to characters and events successful Chapters 3 and 4. Read connected astatine your ain risk:
The Deltarune ARG really began successful September 2022, during an lawsuit called the Spamton Sweepstakes celebrating Undertale's seventh anniversary, which raised wealth for the foundation Child's Play. Most of the lawsuit was fun, silly, and non-ARG-related, themed astir the eccentric Chapter 2 quality Spamton and including a batch of amusive caller merchandise courtesy of Fangamer.
However, astatine the time, the ever-vigilant Deltarune assemblage stumbled upon immoderate antithetic hidden contented wrong the pages connected the Deltarune website dedicated to the sweepstakes. At the time, astir of it consisted of amusive Easter Eggs, and I don't privation to get into it all, but it was the archetypal large motion that thing was up. It wasn't until May of 2025 (two and a fractional years later) that things truly kicked off. Fans abruptly noticed that determination were adjacent much secrets connected the Deltarune website dedicated to the sweepstakes. There were a fig of caller hidden pages, each of which made notation to the game's profoundly eerie and hidden "Weird Route", but the 1 that matters astir to the ARG was deltarune.com/chapter4/thankyou. At the time, the website consisted of 2 precise tiny blanks wherever users could input text, and a blank fastener that allowed them to taxable it. There were nary clues arsenic to what needed to spell into the blanks, prevention for a azygous question:
"How agelong did it instrumentality her to smile?"
Deltarune fans precise rapidly guessed that the "her" being referenced was Noelle, a beloved quality and the puerility champion person of Deltarune protagonist Kris. She's besides the focal constituent of the aforementioned Weird Route, successful which the subordinate (a abstracted quality from Kris) manipulates Noelle into doing thing unspeakable successful the involvement of becoming stronger. Fans besides figured retired that the archetypal blank was looking for an email address, with the 2nd blank being for the existent "answer" to the question. Unfortunately, the signifier was lone unfastened for a day, earlier being replaced with substance that conscionable said "Thank You." Those who had submitted their email successful the signifier began receiving efficaciously a confirmation email that conscionable contained "You answered [THEIR ANSWER]." No further explanation. Nothing! For months!
Notably, erstwhile each this happened, Chapters 3 and 4 weren't retired yet. Those released earlier this year, and with them, much Weird Route contented and a mates of horrifying, hidden scenes focused connected Noelle successful particular. Then 2 weeks ago, those who had received the confirmation email the archetypal clip received a caller email that conscionable said, "Second chance," and recovered that the signifier had been reopened. The assemblage efforts were much coordinated this time, with radical experimenting with antithetic combinations of clip amounts successful days, seconds, years, arsenic good arsenic different textual responses they felt made sense. A fig of assemblage members tried to papers submissions to debar duplications, though fixed the abbreviated announcement and abbreviated clip play the signifier was open, this was erstwhile again hard to do.
The signifier closed again, and erstwhile again, participants received emails. But this time, they were different. Individuals were getting 1 of a postulation of antithetic responses that seemed to beryllium based connected what they submitted. For instance, those who said "1 Day" received backmost "Then, 'The adjacent time you'll spot her smile.'" People who inputted precise tiny numbers, specified arsenic 4 seconds, got back, "So, 'she ne'er stopped smiling'". There are a clump of different creepy answers, similar "Do you deliberation that means she inactive can?" and "Then, 'It was the archetypal clip she ever smiled successful her life.'"
Many emails ended with different sentence: "Move guardant with this answer," seemingly indicating the submission was connected the close track.
That was 2 weeks ago, and the signifier has been closed ever since. There's nary denotation of whether anyone got the close answer, what the adjacent measurement is, oregon if the signifier volition ever unfastened up again. In mentation for a 3rd attempt, a fig of contented creators person been rallying fans into communities to way what answers garnered what responses, and portion those responses unneurotic to effort and fig retired a "correct" reply if the signifier reopens. There are aggregate monolithic spreadsheets retired determination cataloging confirmed responses, arsenic good arsenic others assigning antithetic answers to each subordinate up of time, truthful nary 1 wastes an reply connected a duplicate.
But what does it each mean? We're...not precisely sure. The wide statement is that each this has thing to bash with wherever Chapter 4's "Weird Route" leaves Noelle, and speculation astir what's to travel successful Chapter 5 astatine the "festival" lawsuit we cognize is going to instrumentality spot during it. But adjacent though that's the astir apt context, it's a beauteous antithetic one: the Weird Route is highly hard to fig retired without assistance from the internet, and its acheronian consequences marque it improbable that the immense bulk of players would ever spot it oregon recognize what immoderate of this is about. If this ARG is going to uncover immoderate heavy lore, oregon adjacent interaction the crippled somehow, it's apt that precise fewer radical volition recognize oregon adjacent attraction astir the result.
That whitethorn beryllium by design, though. Critically, the 2nd clip the signifier opened, lone radical who participated and received feedback from it the archetypal clip were capable to usage it again. If you're conscionable learning astir this (as I am), you whitethorn beryllium wholly excessively precocious to enactment astatine all. It's besides imaginable there's nary advancement connected immoderate this is for months, adjacent years. We've already waited on clip conscionable for this.
I'm truly conscionable scratching the aboveground here, and astir apt dependable similar I'm wholly crazy. If you've played Deltarune and didn't cognize astir immoderate of this, you astir apt had a pleasant clip with a cool, well-written RPG with funny, lovable characters, and near it astatine that. That's an highly mean mode to bask this game, and astir apt volition beryllium astir people's experience! But since Deltarune's Chapter 1 release, there's been a full ecosystem of secrets, instrumentality theories, and conspiracies surrounding the question of what this crippled really is, how it relates to Undertale, and what the implications of its hidden, darker communicative mightiness beryllium for the game's lighter side. It's complex, weird, and amusive arsenic hellhole to excavation into, and we astir apt won't cognize the afloat scope of it for years to come.
Which is each to say, bully luck to the concealed hunters, and I'm genuinely atrocious I can't help. I've inadvertently gotten invested successful this enigma adjacent though I volition not personally interaction the Weird Route with a ten-foot vacation pencil. Deltarune chapters 1-4 are retired present and combined marque a precise bully spot to leap successful if you've been holding disconnected frankincense far. Chapter 5 is expected to travel retired this year, apt successful the 2nd half.
Rebekah Valentine is simply a elder newsman for IGN. Got a communicative tip? Send it to [email protected].
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