Ways of Playing 2025-10-15-09-47_david
Oct 16, 2025
A pitch for a Shenmue-like game about a stressed young man learning zen within decaying institutions. Discussion of a playful ‘doing nothing’ mechanic that rewards stepping away from play. Anecdotes about a looming five-week book tour and how that life rhythm influenced the idea.
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Design Zen Through Learnable Mastery
- Build environments where institutional collapse contrasts with personal tranquil practices to create narrative tension.
- Teach players zen-like skills through masters to make relaxation a learnable gameplay loop.
Blurry Disengagement As Game Objective
- The game's goal is to become out of focus with the world, making blur the core mechanic and aesthetic.
- This reframes player success as deliberate disengagement rather than accumulation of achievements.
Game Pitch About Doing Nothing
- David pitches a game concept inspired by Shenmue about a stressed young man wandering a collapsing institutional world.
- He describes learning from masters to achieve zen and a single possible achievement when the player stops playing.
