The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Chase... Challenge your own mind to determine the fate of your wandering thoughts in this engaging yet relaxing abstract solitaire card game inspired by the principles of meditation and mindfulness.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Day 21 - Rules, Teaching and Winning Time
almost 2 years ago
– Mon, Mar 20, 2023 at 04:48:13 PM
Less than 24hrs to go in the campaign, and the final planned campaign update. So let's get to it!
Campaign Status
There’s not much else to say that I didn’t already touch on in the last update. It is clear we are not going to reach the funding goal this time around, but I hope you all found this to be an enjoyable experience nonetheless. Thank you so much for your enthusiastic and unwavering support throughout. It has meant the world to me.
Tomorrow, after the campaign closes, I will be sending out one final update with links to a survey to collect your thoughts about what you liked, didn’t like and would have me do differently next time around. I will also include instructions for how to stay informed of future relaunch news and how to become part of our growing community to make sure the next campaign is a huge success.
Component Spotlight - Rulebook & Tutorial Cards
The final Component Spotlight for the campaign will be on the very important Rulebook and Tutorial Cards.
The rulebook for Nevermind has been the single biggest design challenge of this entire project.
I play a lot of board games, I do a lot of meditation and, as a design professional, I’m already my own best (worst) critic, so the game development sort of flowed naturally.
In a lot of ways you would think my profession being in architecture, which is essentially drawing massive scrolls of rulebooks for how to build custom buildings, would be a natural fit for writing rulebooks. Turns out, not so much. I’m here to tell you, writing rulebooks is hard.
This is compounded by the fact that the sliding scale of Thought intensity (tug of war) the game uses for its base card mechanic is incredibly difficult to describe, either graphically or in written form. Since its inception in 2020, Nevermind’s rulebook has been rewritten from scratch four times with countless edits in between.
I have easily spent as much time writing, rewriting and editing the rulebook for Nevermind as I have in the entire rest of the game design and development combined (with the one exception being Kickstarter preparation). Why do I tell you this? Am I looking for pity, or a cookie?
Not quite. Well… maybe a little.
The truth is, this is the one component of the game that is just plain not ready yet. The rulebook in its current form has received a fair amount of justified criticism. You can download it to decide for yourself, and please. I am very receptive to any and all feedback.
The most common quibble I receive is that the book is just too darned long. Some of this is due to the fact that the small box size means a normal sized rulebook of 4 pages takes 20 pages when scaled down so small. Some of it is trying to cram in tips for every different learning style. Being honest though, anyone who has actually been reading these updates also knows brevity isn’t exactly my strong suit.
Hey, I’m working on it.
One of the very next tasks for me to undertake is a fifth rewriting of the rulebook with a strong focus on teaching the game quickly. It seems a little silly with a game this small and simple, but I’m strongly considering splitting the current book into two different books, a Learn to Play and a Rules Reference, like Fantasy Flight does with all of its games. This way I can focus separately on clarity and brevity for one, and depth and detail for the other.
I have found, with much trial and error, the best way to teach Nevermind is a sort of learn-as-you-go during the first playthrough. This is how I demo the game in person and is usually (eventually) successful, though I admit I’m not the best teacher either.
To this end, the Tutorial Deck has been designed to fill this learn-as-you-go niche.
Currently, the 14 tutorial cards are stacked on top of the Mind Deck at the start of play and walk a new player step-by-step through every possible situation in 7 rounds, leaving a fresh Mind Deck underneath to finish out the first game.
These are also still a work in progress, but it is my hope that between the written rulebook, the learn-as-you-play style Tutorial Deck and the How to Play videos on YouTube, I will be able to cover the preferred learning style of any new player.
Nevermind The Theory - The Game Used for Teaching Meditation
I’ve talked in previous updates about how Nevermind uses flow state to provide a form of pseudo-meditation but today I want to talk about how the game attempts to actually teach meditation principles.
There are a couple different ways this is achieved. The first of these is a more subtle approach using the game’s overall arrangement and flow.
Like meditation, its three main elements are the consciousness, the mind, and the timer. Like meditation, the consciousness has a constantly changing and evolving dynamic, sometimes chaotic and other times quite calm, frequently bouncing between the two.
In meditation, your mind isn’t necessarily seen as an opponent per se, but it is certainly intended to be seen as other, or at least, not you. Hence The Watcher. The tug of war between the player and the mind is accurate to meditation, even if the exact steps along the way are slightly less so.
In these ways, playing the game even casually with any kind of regularity will result in a familiarity when the player tries to meditate for real. They understand keeping the mind perpetually blank is not a reasonable expectation, and it is actually letting go of distractions that come up that is the true goal.
This one common misconception about meditation is what drove me to design Nevermind in the first place. If there is one lesson I would want everyone participating in this campaign to take with them, even if nothing else sticks, it is this:
A clear mind is not a requirement for meditation, it is the result!
I say result because a clear mind is actually just a side benefit to the real goal of meditation, which is learning to take control of the mind. Most of us go through life with our minds like eager blindfolded toddlers with piñata bats, flailing around wildly hoping to hit something hard enough candy falls out.
Being aware of what our minds are trying to get us to do and deciding thoughtfully when to agree is the goal of mindfulness. Naturally, a controlled mind is a quiet one, because who would choose to have perpetual chaos in their heads if they could choose otherwise?
But I digress.
The other method the game uses to teach meditation principles is a little more heavy-handed and what I think of as the Karate Kid method. Every component, action and status in the game has a purposeful name that can be strung together to internally “narrate” the experience.
In the example below, this narration of a notice action would be as follows:
“I will Notice (action) I’ve been Distracted (status) by Feelings (noting token) of Purple Flowers (card art)”
Notice I’ve been distracted by feelings of purple flowers
A couple other examples might be:
“Now the mind is distracting me with anticipation of my flight to Mexico”
“I will acknowledge my memories of going to the zoo”
“The mind pops up a new thought about fall leaves”
“I will focus my awareness on my breath and then let go”
Though not necessary, playing the game in this way with a bit more intention can provide a more direct, almost “coaching“, through the steps taken to address distractions when we meditate. This should result in an experience where sitting down to meditate after playing the game leaves us with a clear set of instructions on what to do when they are thoughts in our head rather than cards on a table.
My goal is to offer these various ways of introducing meditation principles and techniques, ranging from the subtle to the direct. This should enable different player types to establish a meaningful connection with the theme at their own pace and in a way that feels most natural to them.
Creating Distractions - Time Results!
We've run out of time and the results are in!
Introducing our final Life Series Distraction Pack!
Another amazing result by the best backer-partners EVER!
What do you all think?
-AJ
Day 19 - Expectations, Control and Images of Time
almost 2 years ago
– Sat, Mar 18, 2023 at 06:29:28 PM
I hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend! Today we are going to talk about design conceit, expectations, and take a look at the Time image submissions!
Campaign Status
Well, there are under 3 days left in the campaign and we just crossed 70% of the funding goal. Being perfectly honest, the last few days have been slower than I had hoped and I think it may be time to start considering the real likelihood we may not reach our funding goal this time around.
Tomorrow morning, Kickstarter will send out the 48-hour notice which usually results in an influx of last-minute pledges. Getting a 30% spike in the last two days is not unheard of, but I do think in our case it might be a long shot. However, rather than cancelling early as some campaigns do, I have decided to keep it open for the duration and see this through to the very end.
Because there IS hope!
There are currently about 350 people who have favorited/followed this campaign who have not pledged. If only 25% of them decide to back the project at the $25 Nevermind Pledge level, it will fund successfully! So if you are following this project and reading these updates and are still on the fence, your pledge can absolutely be the make-or-break difference in having this project successfully fund!
If you're still on the fence...
To be clear, even if we do not reach our funding goal, I AM NOT GIVING UP! I will take some time to assess the situation, apply some lessons learned and make a plan to come back stronger the next time around. As far as I’m concerned, this project WILL HAPPEN, it’s simply matter of when.
Finally, I just want to reiterate the Kickstarter policy that if a project does not meet its funding goal YOUR CARD IS NOT CHARGED! So there is no need to cancel your pledge for fear of the campaign missing its mark.
Alright, that’s enough of all that. Let's get to the fun stuff!
Component Spotlight - Linen Bag
In today’s Component Spotlight, we’ll talk about the Linen Bag, which is probably the biggest concession to my designer’s ego in the whole game.
This small natural linen drawstring bag’s primary purpose is to store the Awareness Markers and Noting Tokens. You blind-draw the Noting Tokens out of the bag during game play, so it does actually have a mechanical purpose. But whereas the insert, dividers and playmat were seen as essential to the enjoyment of the game, the linen bag probably could have been skipped entirely with little consequence.
But you know what they say, anything worth doing is worth doing well, so I let myself include this one little extravagance. Like I mentioned in a previous update regarding the insert and dividers, I felt it was important that every component worked together to provide a cohesively designed system that takes your experience with it as seriously as you do. The natural color and chunky texture of this bag felt right at home with the rest of the components.
And at the end of the day, it came down to the fact that I just couldn’t let myself settle for a Ziploc bag.
Nevermind The Theory - Expectations and the Illusion of Control
One of the most powerful lessons living mindfully has taught me has to do with expectations and the human desire to ‘control’ my life.
Expectations and control are two concepts that go hand-in-hand. Sometimes an effort to control the outcome of a situation leads to expectations that your efforts will be fruitful. Often, the reverse is true, with expectations of an outcome causing significant effort spent in trying to control the situation to that successful end.
I realized at some point in my meditative inward journey these very expectations were the root cause of almost all of the stress and difficulty in my life. These could be big expectations like getting a promotion or small ones like making it to a meeting on time or coming home to a family that is happy to see me.
The problem is we spend so much time building up these expectations and then trying to force that outcome, we take it personally, often badly, when things don’t go our way. Just as unfortunately, we are often so focused on manifesting these expectations, we are completely oblivious to other opportunities presenting themselves that don’t fit within the goal of meeting that expectation.
Essentially we build these storylines in our heads about the way something will happen and then become so attached to that outcome we react poorly, even defensively when it doesn’t. Let me give a simple example:
Let's say you’re at work one day and a coworker mentions a restaurant they went to recently that had a fantastic pizza. The idea of pizza marinates in your mind all afternoon and develops into an expectation that you will get pizza for dinner.
You get home and tell your partner you want to get pizza for dinner and it turns out they had already made your favorite salad instead, with the expectation you would be pleased and grateful. Only, you had your heart set on pizza, and have a hard time hiding the disappointment. This causes an argument and the evening devolves from there.
This leads me to the second powerful lesson I learned which has to do with the illusion of control. As much as we like to believe it, we can’t actually control our surroundings, the people in our lives, or the events that happen to us.
Literally, the ONLY thing we CAN control in this world is how we react.
And if we live mindfully, it’s enough.
Think back to the last half dozen times you became very angry, sad or stressed. How many of these were caused by having an expectation that didn’t pan out? If you’re at all like me, it was probably an awful lot of them!
So how do we deal with this kind of thing mindfully?
When you get your heart set on something, simply recognize that the expectation it will happen is just like any other distraction causing your attention to wander away from the present moment. It’s perfectly fine to hope for something, even work toward the goal of making it happen. Just don’t get so distracted by the expectation that it WILL happen you are left with no flexibility when things work out differently.
Let’s step back to the example of the pizza:
Imagine that same situation, only throughout the day instead of developing a full-on expectation you will get pizza for dinner, you just notice you are craving pizza, and set it aside, telling yourself someday soon you’d like to get pizza if it works out.
You get home and rather than having the expectation you will have pizza for dinner driving you like team of wild horses lashed to a cart, you are living in the present moment. When you find that your partner made your favorite salad, you ARE grateful and not the least bit disappointed. You have a fantastic evening together and go out for pizza the following night.
This is one example of how living more mindfully can create some space between the things that happen to you and your reaction to them, allowing you to make the best decisions for each situation.
But it goes further than that. There’s a really weird thing that happens when you set aside your expectations of what will happen and just sort of.. roll with the punches, or “wing it”; somehow, cheesy as it sounds, the universe provides.
Believe me, I know this sounds like a bunch of fantasy hooha, but I have experienced this myself and it can be a very real thing. Being able to stay in the present moment allows us to recognize opportunities presenting themselves that would have otherwise been ignored because they didn’t fit within the context of fulfilling a specific expectation.
Going back to the pizza, an example of this might be that it was a really, REALLY good salad your partner made that night. So good, you were still talking about it at the table the next night having that pizza and the restaurant owner, overhearing the conversation, offers to buy the recipe; a salad being something they’d been wanting to add to the menu.
This is just one silly example, but I hope you can see how there are real benefits to letting go of expectations and the illusion of being able to control your environment. Instead, have goals but focus on maintaining an open-minded flexibility to life that will allow you to react mindfully and be aware of the hidden opportunities that often arise.
Creating Distractions - Time Image Voting!
The submission are in and once again, you’ve all outdone yourselves!
Vote on your favorite images using the link below and the most popular ones from each category will go into the final Time Pack.
You'll have until 3pm on Monday to cast your votes and the winners will be announced in Monday’s update.
Good luck on the voting and I'll see you Monday!
-AJ
Day 17 - The Playmat and Flow-State
almost 2 years ago
– Thu, Mar 16, 2023 at 03:28:48 PM
The weekend is on the horizon, and so is the end of the campaign. Rounding the final bend, today we will talk about Time, the playmat and how it helps put you into a flow-state.
Campaign Status
Woohoo!, we passed 2/3 funded!
Wow! I think with the exception of launch day, yesterday may have been the biggest single-day jump of the entire campaign! I’m not sure if this was from Dice Tower West or if you all are starting to recruit your friends (probably a bit of both), but it’s working! Keep it up!
My instincts having backed MANY Kickstarters is we still have a decent chance of pulling this off if we can keep even a little momentum into the last 48-hours. That will be when the people who are now only following the project will make their final decision.
I forgot to take photos, but last night I demoed Nevermind at a local Trivia Night and donated one of the few remaining prototype copies to give away as the winning prize. I think we may end up getting a few more backers from that effort too.
Finally, tomorrow morning I will be doing a livestream playthrough of Nevermind The Distraction with Community Connection Gaming on Twitch. The stream will start at 10am PST. If you want to join, you can use the link below:
Today’s Component Spotlight is on everyone’s favorite component, the Playmat.
The 12"x18" full-color printed microfiber playmat is another one of those components that would normally not be included in a base game version and would instead be a stretch goal of some sort. Nevermind is different though, and I really believe the playmat is one of the most important components in the entire game.
I talked a little bit in the last update about it being very important that the setup, game play, and tear down be as smooth and stress-free an experience as possible. You know what’s not stress-free? Constantly digging your fingernails under card edges that are sitting so flat to a smooth table face you have to try three times before getting it. Then having to lift carefully so the card you are flipping doesn’t slide over and knock into the one next to it.
clumsiness not staged, promise!
versus
So you can see how the playmat actually becomes an active participant in the game, helping transform it from a mechanical representation of meditation concepts to a smooth, relaxing experience.
The Japanese Zen Garden aesthetic helps provide a visual backdrop and framework for the game. When your thoughts are coming and going, ever changing, it helps to be able to anchor yourself within the larger storm of the mind. Usually in meditation, this anchor is the rising and falling of the breath, and/or the feeling of the chair or floor beneath you. In the case of the game, this is the playmat.
Nevermind The Theory - Flow State
Flow state is a concept in psychology that refers to a state of complete immersion and focus in an activity. It's often described as being "in the zone" or "in the groove." The idea is that when you're in this state, you're completely absorbed in what you're doing and you lose track of time and your surroundings, able to stay focused and in the moment.
I talked in Update #3 about the fact that there is no winning (or losing) in meditation and how it was important to find a way to insert a sort of distance with the win condition, so the game’s outcome didn’t feel so personal. As I mentioned in that update, I ended up taking a lot of inspiration from classic solitaire for the solution. By developing a system where the choices were simple, the turns quick and the overall game short, I was able to achieve this.
This combination of quick turns, simple choices and short game play also ended up allowing players to fall into a flow-state, which interestingly enough, was completely by accident. In the first version of Nevermind, I originally had a meditation exercise that could be done using the same cards and markers to provide the relaxing activity half of the game, so it was a two-part experience.
It wasn’t until I started playtesting the game portion that I found most players were reporting falling into a relaxing Zen-like flow-state while playing the game! It makes sense, with so much inspiration coming from classic solitaire, but it was a very happy accident that let me abandon the relaxing activity half of the game and blend it all together in one cohesive package.
To achieve flow state during gameplay, it also helps to create an environment that is conducive to focus and concentration. This can include finding a quiet space to play, minimizing distractions in your surroundings, and setting aside a specific time for gameplay, which incidentally is exactly what should be done for meditation as well.
Additionally, it's important to approach the game with an open mind and a willingness to fully engage with the mechanics and concepts.
By combining the game mechanics, which introduce and reinforce the principles of meditation, with the flow-state achieved during game play, Nevermind creates a two-pronged approach to the theme, becoming a meditative game about learning meditation.
Creating Distractions - Life Winner & Call for Images
The results are in, and the theme for the final Distraction Pack of the Life Series Core box is…. drumroll please….
Time was in the lead most of the way, but Travel stayed in second place and almost caught up to it in the end. Guess it ran out of...time!
Now our next task is to start looking for images for the Timepack.
Image Criteria
This will work similar to when we did the Space pack, with general criteria below:
Each single image should meet the following criteria:
It should be a high-quality representation of its media/genre. Examples include being colorful, having high detail, good contrast, good composition, and visual interest. Put another way, it should be something you would frame!
It should invoke a sense of curiosity, wonder or mild surprise.
It should be neutral in emotional tone in a way lets the player attach their own preconceptions to it.
For this Life Series specifically, images should also:
Have easily identifiable / recognizable subjects (unlike the Abstract series)
Be photographs rather than art or other created imagery.
For the final 8-card collection as a whole, the images should:
Make a concerted effort to showcase the most diverse representation of its theme possible within 8 images.
Be visually diverse with different patterns, color palettes and compositions.
As before with Space, the Center cards should have a circular, radial or center-point focused composition like these:
So keep an eye out for any Time images that look like this compositionally for the pack’s Center card.
Time in All its Forms
Also, I want to encourage everyone to think outside the box about what imagery could represent time, the keeping of time, the passage of time and time in all its various aspects. Cool clocks and time pieces are one for sure, but also rusted metal, ramshackle huts, eroded stone, dry lakes, or any other images representing of the effects or passing of time work too. But what other things could represent time?
I'd like to be able to break this into categories the way we did with Space (stars/galaxies/planets/nebulae). For now keeping track of time and the effects of time seem to be two good categories, but if you think of anything else, comment below and submit images based on your idea. One idea I like but I'm unsure how to represent is running out of time (like running after a bus or being late for a meeting).
Image Search
In order to make sure we do not violate any copyright by using images we don’t have a commercial license for, all images we use must be available via Creative Commons for commercial use. The easiest way to do this and make sure we are not violating anything accidentally is to limit ourselves to a few stock image sites which have such a license.
For this reason, I can only accept submissions from the Pexels, Unsplash and Pixabay stock image libraries. Click one of these links and once you are on one of those platforms, you can be as creative as you like with your browsing or keyword searches and long as the submitted images fall within the Space theme and the criteria above, they will most likely be accepted. These do not have to be photos from telescopes, some can be artist created imaginings!
As much as I would love to, I will not be able to use images you created yourself, so please, ONLY images from the above sources.
Image Submission
Once you have found an image you like in either the Pexels, Unsplash, or Pixabay libraries, copy/paste the link address from your web browser into the form linked below:
Some images may not make it to the next round of voting because they do not meet the criteria listed above.
There are no limits to the number of submissions that can be made by each backer, go crazy!
Inappropriate and/or offensive submissions will be ignored.
I will leave the form up until 3pm(PST) on Sat March 18th at which time I will collect the submissions and prepare them for the voting.
That's all for today! Have a great weekend everyone!
-AJ
Day 15 - Convenience and Voting for Life
almost 2 years ago
– Tue, Mar 14, 2023 at 02:54:12 PM
Happy Tuesday everyone! Today we are going to talk about organization, convenience, insecurity and ideas for life.
Campaign Status
Today marks the 2/3 point of the campaign. We have exactly one week left, as of an hour or so ago. At 66% through the campaign and 58% to funded, we’re falling a little bit behind the curve, but it’s common to see a significant jump in the last 48 hours as people make up their minds, so I’m not too concerned yet. This still might be a good time for everyone to start passing the word along. If each of you recruited just one friend, we’d be in very good shape!
I will admit that Dice Tower West doesn’t seem to have created the mid-campaign momentum I was hoping for but in hindsight, I probably should not be surprised by that. With all the great games available at the con, the competition was pretty stiff! That said, more than half of the dozens of folks who sat down to play were very intrigued and said they planned to back the campaign, so we may see them trickle in over the course of this week as they get settled down after their trip.
One final piece of news. At the request of some backers, I have created an add-on for anyone who wants to add additional copies of the game to their pledge. Previously this was done by increasing the pledge amount by the cost of another copy which would then be handled in the pledge manager. Though an add-on may feel a little like an upsell (why I avoided it initially), it is certainly more convenient, and you’ve asked for it, so you get it!
Alright, on to the main event!
Component Spotlight - Box / Insert / Dividers
Today’s Component Spotlight is a combined one involving the storage and organization elements including the Box, Insert and Dividers. One of the most important features I’ve tried to focus on with this game has been accessibility, pretty much in all forms. The specific flavor of accessibility I want to touch on here has to do with convenience.
A fair amount of internal debate has gone into deciding on the box size. I’m sure everyone can relate to buying a board game the size of your grandmother’s old recipe book to find it’s only a couple decks of cards and a pencil nestled into an almost offensively empty plastic blister. There are some legitimate reasons to do this, like shelf presence and rulebook size, but I decided the smaller box was more appropriate (and felt more honest) for this effort. The smaller box is nice and portable, costs less to ship (an increasing concern lately) and uses your valuable storage space respectfully by minimizing wasted space.
The insert and dividers for a game at this size and price point are things rarely seen unless they are stretch goals. However, there are a few reasons I decided these were essential components and needed to be in the base game from the beginning.
As previously mentioned, convenience is a major concern. If people are going to use this game as part of their daily self-care routine, it needs to be convenient enough not to get in the way of that. The game only takes 10-15 minutes to play, so setup and teardown need to be proportionally short to increase the likelihood of it being played frequently. The goal was to create a game that sets up, plays, and puts away quickly while reducing stress every step along the way.
Things start to get tricky when the cards only have images on one side and are blank on the other. Nobody wants to spend an extra 10 minutes playing the "hunt-down-which-Distraction-Pack-these-cards-belong-to" minigame after a relaxing 15-minute game session. It became crucial to provide an organizational system with every copy of the game to help players quickly and effortlessly find, use, and return the cards they need.
This is the main reason for the insert and divider cards. Keeping the game components organized and easily accessible for streamlined setup and teardown is an important part of the intended stress-reducing experience.
The Divider cards also have a sort of triple-duty. Not only do they help keep the various Distraction Packs organized, but they also include a card index on the front side to reference in case you need it, and the artists credits for the card imagery on the back.
I also believe these elements are important because of what they represent. When we begin to meditate, one of the first things we do is remind ourselves of our intention: to bring our most focused and deliberate effort to the practice. There is a certain weight, a formal sincerity, even a sense of gravity we bring to meditation, and this should be reflected in all aspects of the practice, including any physical components.
It’s a little like the intentional nature of that Japanese tea ceremony mentioned in a previous update. A ritual like that wouldn’t be the same done with a sauce pan of boiling water, a paper plate and a red solo cup. Rather than just having a bunch of cards thrown haphazardly in a box, I wanted Nevermind to feel like a complete system that takes your self-care routine as seriously as you do.
Nevermind The Theory - The Game As Meditation
From its early conception, Nevermind The Distraction was always intended to be more of an introduction to meditation than a method of practicing it or a replacement for it.
Some of this is due to imposter syndrome, which I recognize may be contributing feelings of insecurity with the design. Many people have dedicated their entire lives to the practice of meditation, which can make my own experience feel less significant by comparison. While I am not a certified professional or teacher, I have gained considerable experience just by practicing meditation and want to believe this unique approach has merit.
Some of this hesitation may be rooted in fear. My intention is to create a product that helps people, but what if there is a mistake made in the way these principles are introduced that inadvertently causes harm?
Despite repeated insistence that this game was never intended to replace meditation, I have heard many stories from playtesters and players who have incorporated it into their meditation routines with humbling results.
One playtester told me Nevermind is what got them through the first year of the Covid pandemic. Another used it to help overcome an addiction, and another to deal with the grief of losing a loved one. One player even replaced the cards with images of specific things bothering them in their personal life to help work through a tough situation.
Stories like this led me to the decision to aim for a wider release and launch this Kickstarter campaign.
Though I always intended for Nevermind to be used to help people improve their mental health, this is sometimes achieved in ways I never expected. I have decided I shouldn’t let my insecurities stand in the way of this self-improvement. I must remind myself this insecurity is just another feeling my mind is distracting me with that needs to be recognized, acknowledged and let go.
So I am determined to provide a product that can help improve the player's mental health in any way they choose, whether through simple, relaxing fun or self-led therapy.
However, while I strongly believe in the benefits of meditation as a form of self-care, it's important to remember it is not a cure-all. There are times when seeking the help of a trained professional is necessary for dealing with more serious conditions or disorders. If you suspect that your struggles go beyond simply managing a busy mind, please prioritize your well-being and seek the appropriate level of care by a trained professional.
Creating Distractions - Voting for Life Ideas
Ok, the ideas for the final Life Series Distraction Pack are in and these are all really good!
Like before with the Space pack, if you don’t see your submission in here it is likely because it was either too specific to fit within the diverse nature of a core box, too similar to something already done in one of the other packs, or it didn’t meet the criteria for Life.
Below are the themes that have been collected so far. I've included an example image for each theme submitted to give an idea of what this might look like. Remember you're voting on the theme, not the example image! We'll work together on images for the winning theme next.
Now you get to vote to let me know which themes you like the best! We’ll be using ranked choice voting just like before with the Abstract themes. Click the link below to cast your ranked choice votes.
You’ll have until 3pm(PST) on Thursday, March 16th to cast your votes!
That's all for today!
-AJ
Day 13 - Notes About Noting and Ideas About Life
almost 2 years ago
– Sun, Mar 12, 2023 at 08:50:52 PM
Well, I’m back from Dice Tower West, and though it was a GREAT time, I’m exhausted, so I’ll try to keep this one short.
Campaign Status
Yep, Dice Tower West was a blast, and to all of you new backers coming to the campaign from there, Welcome!
I'm so grateful to have met so many wonderful people this weekend and have heard so many fascinating stories! To those new backers who had many really fantastic options for where to spend your hard earned money at the convention and chose to hitch your horse up to this weird, wonderful wagon, I'm beyond humbled. I'm sure you're at least as exhausted as I am though, and I promised to keep this short so...
Component Spotlight - Noting Tokens
Today’s Component Spotlight will be on the Noting Tokens. One of these double-sided tokens is assigned to each thought card in the consciousness grid and describes what kind of thought it is.
These double-sided tokens have different icons on each side. One of the tokens is Thinking/Feeling and the other is Remembering/Anticipating. When looked at in conjunction with the card, the pair more fully describe the thought/distraction the mind is throwing at you.
Some examples:
Normally, one of these tokens is drawn blind from the bag and placed next to a card in the consciousness the first time that thought is revealed by a Mind card. Alternatively, the game can also be played by choosing the token that best represents what the imagery on that thought card means to you. This style of play is more personal but could have some challenging consequences in later stages of the game.
In Stage One of Nevermind The Distraction, the Noting Tokens don’t have a mechanical use and are really only there for flavor. However, once later stages have been unlocked, the Noting Tokens have very real mechanical implications as overcoming each type of thought comes with its own unique challenges.
A normal game of Nevermind The Distraction is played with four of each type of token and would have an even distribution of the four different Noting icons. However, more tokens are provided so if a player chose that more mindful path, every possible combination of tokens is available. In later stages, this could result in combinations of different types of thoughts being in places that make the game more challenging, frustrating, even impossible to win. I only recommend this to players who feel ready to embrace the spirit of the game and approach it like a real meditation, where the point isn’t to win, it is to see what happens, do your best, and accept what comes.
Nevermind The Theory - Noting
Noting is a technique used in meditation to help us recognize patterns in the types of things that are distracting us. This is a simple additional step added in as part of the acknowledge phase.
The way this works is you are meditating, trying to focus on your breath like normal and you notice you’ve been distracted. You take the moment to acknowledge and sort of appreciate catching the mind wandering off. But before letting go of the thought and returning your attention to your breath, you just think a single word that broadly categorizes what had distracted you. This can be a thought, emotion or even a physical sensation.
Here are just a few examples:
Thinking
Feeling
Wanting
Regretting
Planning
Hearing
Anticipating
Remembering
Itching
Resisting
The most important thing when noting is not to analyze too deeply. This is a single word that lightly and very generally categorizes the distraction which can help make it easier to set aside.
The fraction of a second it takes to look at a distraction close enough to categorize it does a couple things. First, the curiosity and objectivity needed to do this helps create a little distance so the distraction doesn’t seem so personal or immediate, making it easier to stop identifying with. Second, the single word category helps collect all the nuances of the distraction and sort of reduce it and put a bow on it, making it easier to set aside; almost the mental equivalent of wadding a piece of paper into a tiny ball and tossing it into a wastebasket.
An example I personally run into quite frequently is during meditation I’ll experience these sort of mini panic attacks where sitting still for so long eventually leads to a feeling like I’m trapped in my own body and a strong urge to jump up and shake it out. When this happens I notice it and sort of observe it for a second, then in my head note it as “panic”. I can’t remember a time yet that couple seconds observing and noting it didn’t help make it go away.
These sorts of things help in the moment, but the other benefit to using noting is to start to identify patterns in our distractions it helps to be aware of outside the meditation. When we realize our focus on our breath is often stolen by past regret, future planning or a butt cramps, it gives us some insight into which direction the hangups are coming from.
Creating Distractions - Life Ideas Needed
Today we’re going to start the process of designing the last Distraction Pack for the Life Series. Hopefully you enjoyed this process for the Space pack and you’re ready to do it again! Like before, we will start by collecting ideas for the theme for this last pack.
The other Distraction packs in the Life Series Core Box are:
Cuisine (Food)
Leisure & Hobby
People
Locations
Possessions
Pets
Relationships
Theme Criteria
For the Life Series, there are a few things that need to stay consistent with the other packs, so these should be taken under consideration when thinking about themes for our new one.
As mentioned in the campaign page, the Life Packs are meant to work more directly with a bit less subjectivity. These are photos of objects or situations that could come up in real life. Unlike the Abstract Series images, these are easy to identify on first glance though they should still be neutral in emotional tone so the player can bring their own personal take to each image.
As you can probably see by looking at the other pack themes in the Life series, these represent very general concepts for things that most people engage with regularly (people, places, things, pets, etc) as well as non-material concepts (like hobbies and relationships). The final pack should have a similar very broad theme (like pets instead of dogs) and be a commonplace part of everyday… wait for it… Life. As much as possible the theme needs to be general enough to be a familiar part of life to anyone from any social standing, cultural persuasion or economic situation.
Like the Abstract Packs, it is important for the themes and imagery in these Core Series boxes to be as broad and commonplace as possible. In order to get the most out of the game/exercise it is important the player relates to what they are looking at on some subconscious level. Imagery that is too specific or themes that are completely unfamiliar are unlikely to develop that personal connection necessary for the player to identify with it as an actual “Thought”.
Most of these will come into play more when we start collecting art and imagery for the winning theme, but it helps to know what we will be looking for down the road.
Sharing your Ideas - Comment with #lifeidea
Like the Abstract one, I’d like anyone with an idea share it in the comment section in either this update or the main comment section on the campaign page. Starting your comment with #lifeidea will help me find them easier when collecting them for everyone to vote on in the next update. Some examples would be:
#lifeidea Occupations
#lifeidea Health & Wellness
#lifeidea Transportation
You’ll have until the cutoff at 9am(PST) on Tues March 14th at which time I’ll start pulling the ideas together for voting.
There is a chance some theme ideas may not make it to the voting, probably because they don’t fit the criteria outlined above but possibly for some other reason. Also, similar ideas may be combined into a single theme. It goes without saying (but I’ll say it anyway) inappropriate or offensive suggestions will be ignored.
Idea submissions are not limited to one per backer. Share as many ideas as you have, let loose!
And Now, a Non Seq-Weirder
Last year for my birthday, my fiancé took me to a weird little indy movie called Everything Everywhere All at Once, and it was nothing less than life-affirming. This is now one of my favorite movies of all time and I am beyond thrilled for the recognition it has gotten at tonight's Academy Awards.
My most heart-felt congratulations goes out to Daniels, Michelle, Ke Huy, Jamie and the entire cast and crew for their hard work on such a bizarre, beautiful, heart-felt piece of cultural art.
We walked out of the theater that day and I turned to my fiancé, still sort of mushy-eyed and said "That deserves an Oscar, but it probably doesn't stand a chance; it's too out-there for most people."
I am SO glad to be proven wrong tonight!
Maybe bizarre ideas like board games about meditation have a chance in this day and age after all!
