This work explores the design and creation of games intended to promote existential, transformative change–games that directly engage the player in the contemplation of life, with the ostensible goals of reflection, awareness, empathy, and growth. Through this work we intend to re-contextualize games as a form of art that can move us profoundly, drawing on existential themes and awareness of the human condition in direct fashion, spurring our consideration of our place in the universe, and our own agency with respect to the meaning of our lives and relationships. The authors have spent several years theorizing a research-based design model for such games, and this work marks the first game that has been born directly from that framework as an exemplar of the form and format of more theoretical work. Thus, the game seeks both to illustrate the components of an existential, transformative game design framework as previously theorized, and also acts as a tool for analysis in considering how elements from the framework map to concrete elements of implementation. This work reviews the theoretical model that informed the design, discusses and dissects the game itself as an exemplar form, and presents the game itself for consideration of players and designers.
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