NYU game inspired by Buddhism teaches that not every game has a goal

The Buddhist, an arcade game co-created by Bona Kim as part of the New York University Interactive Telecommunications Program, aims to make people aware of their "goal seeking behavior," according to the game's developer.

The game shuns linear narrative and conventional video game goals by removing the hero/heroin-driven storyline and as well as instructions on how to play the game.

"The experience is for you to figure out how to play the game yourself," co-creator Bona Kim said in an interview with Engadget. "My project partner and I thought that people get so much catharsis out of linear art because people are always contemplating on ... making meaning out of their life by recontextualising past events, so through this game we're trying to alert people to their constant goal seeking behavior."

The Buddhist aims to introduce Buddhist concepts to players such as some of us are just too goal driven to be happy and the importance of living in the present.