Earth Died Screaming
Earth Died Screaming is a currently active ARG, based around other parts of the Milkbar Lads universe.
Part 1
The first segment was implemented in 1.1.5. In the gallery, multiple pictures have letters in them(all of them can be seen if the player has all the pictures 1-72 available) that spell out "EMTTJMZQOPBJIKS".
Once you beat the true ending, several of the pictures on the right have words that read out "Shift by 8 and enter in title". Taking the previous set of letters and applying the caeser, the new message is "WELLBERIGHTBACK".
Typing in the message on the title screen leads to a black screen with 5 dashes for letters. The following is a Wordle game(Gray means the letter isn't used, orange means the letter is in the wrong spot, blue means it's in the correct placement).
If the player successfully guesses three in a row, the game crashes and a pop-up appears that says "@_ _ _ _ _diescream". The answer to the blank can be found by searching the game files, where a note document can be found that has "@Earth_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _", leading to the finished message "@Earthdiescream". If it is searched for in Twitter, an account titled Earth Died Screaming appears. The account is used for teasing upcoming projects. mainly Shrimp OS and The Home Theater Update.
If the wrong answer is given,a glitchy screen with one of multiple messages will appear before the game crashes. While they are random, they lay out a complete story. The following messages are written in order:
~June 21st, 1978 -- The victim was found bound in a dog leash and what appeared to be a hastily-dug grave bound
~Of XXXXXXXXX & had a broken nose, three teeth missing, and a number of large, swollen bruises, the vibrant red coloring of which indicated
~Was completely shattered. The car's front tires had been slashed by a serrated blade 3/16 inches thick. According to Deputy
~Melfi's report, he spotted two identical sets of muddy footprints from the back of the car into the woods
~Off of Ridgewood Rd. He immediately called for backup and began to follow the footprints into the woods. After 15 minutes, Deputy Melfi and
~Officers XXXXXX(Can be assumed to be Carter) and XXXXXXXX discovered the body. After a sweep of the premises, Carter located a message carved on a tree
~"Break a leg"
Part 2
While the second part of the ARG hasn't started yet, it has been teased in the form of a special room. The room will only appear on the Upper Story on loops, and is a empty room with writing on the walls and a wooden bed in the middle. Each character has unique dialogue for the bed, and getting near it will display the text bubble "ZZZ...". Pausing the game while in the room will cause unique text such as "What are you doing here?" and "Are you sleepy?".
Trivia
- The report of the victim has been confirmed to be directly tied to another Milkbar Lads game Ridgewood Road. In that game, which takes place in the 2000s, a murder in the nearby forest is mentioned. It has been confirmed to be the same forest from Dead Estate, meaning the event happened prior to both games.
- It is unknown if the connection has been retconned. However, said officer does appears in a photo in the wallet of Luis, directly tying him to the game.
- The ARG was solved by members of the Milkbar discord in a total of 3 hours. Notable members of the search included users Stinkt, MegaDeku, Yep that's my Account and TheLemonSlayR.
- Hints on where to look for the clues in part 1 can be found at the top of 1.1.5.'s patch notes. Two messages are italicized at the top of the notes, saying the gallery and true ending credits were changed, cluing in people on where to look for the information.