Collective Intelligence in games

What makes games fun?
Well, I've always been drawn to the easy to play, hard to master games. For video games, I started off with a Sega Genesis and still play it fairly regularly because the games I have are simple to play. They keep me engaged in a way that I don't seem to find in newer console games. I still think story and visuals play an important role in making games fun, but it's the mechanic of the game that drives it to be fun and engaging. No different with card or table games. Anything that is easy to learn will hold my attention. If it takes more than a few minutes to understand the rules, I often lose interest. Simplicity makes it fun. Don't get me wrong when I mention simplicity though. I'm only referring to the basic mechanics of a game. It's the strategy and thought provocation behind the simple mechanics that make them fun. Hence, easy to play, hard to master.

Which of these things (if any) were present in the I <3 Bees ARG? If not present, what made I <3 Bees fun?
The mechanics of I<3 Bees were very simple: problem solving. You, as the player, contributed in a way you felt comfortable in, but the main goal was collaboration. The social storytelling and communication was what drove the game. There wasn't a right or wrong way to "play", as long as you were involved in some way. I really enjoyed learning about this experience and wish I had been a part of it. I don't know how I hadn't heard of it until now, but I'm really glad I did because the mechanic of the game is fascinating. I think they did a similar thing with Bioshock 2 by giving hints to locations at certain times, but it wasn't on such a large scale. Getting a massive amount of people involved to problem solve would be so much fun to coordinate and be a part of.