Enter: 'The Da Vinci Code Quest'

I was kind of hoping the immersive online game associated with The Da Vinci Code (pictured) would be called something like “Da Da Vinci Code” in an embarrassing attempt to pander to the youth market. But I suppose I’ll have to content myself with the milder absurdity of “The Da Vinci Code Quest,” a wonderfully excessive, near-redundant title. I’d have preferred “A Tribe CalledThe Da Vinci CodeQuest,” but that’s neither here nor there.

Do we have any veterans of “The Beast” here? The Beast was the nickname given by fans and sufferers of A.I.‘s sprawling alternate-reality game, which slopped over the sides of the Web and into people’s telephones — carefully stage-managed conference calls and fake voice mailboxes were all part of the show. But “TDCQ” seems to be a more modest proposition, offering 24 puzzles in 24 days and prizes for those who solve them all. So never fear, it’s not quite so reality-consuming, and you won’t be getting any creepy, cryptic calls from Will Shortz in the middle of the night. Unless, like me, you already do.

addCredit(“The Da Vinci Code: Simon Mein”)