Each of us exists within our own personal narrative. The contents of this internal world which preoccupies our attention determines how we make choices and what fill our time with. These underlying motives of our day-to-day lives can be categorized into different games that we are each playing. Life games reflect life aims. What is the purpose of a person's life? Life offers us a wide variety of things to build our self-derived rules for, yet these rule-sets which propel our actions can be categorized into nine types of games.

Low Level Games

Pleasure Game

The aim of this game is pure and simple: to acquire pleasure through the acquisition of wealth. The image of a hog shoving it's snout in a trough comes to mind. Consumed by the desire to consume, the hog will forcefully shove other hogs aside to get more of what it wants. Communist propaganda of America often reflects a pure essence of this game, though in reality it is often seen as distasteful to play this game so purely. Only caricatures of evil businessmen in movies display this one-sidedness in their greed and desire for more. Yet, there certainly exists a number of people completely absorbed by the acquisition of material things.

To the enlightened, this game is hollow. This has been known throughout the ages; “What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his soul?” The things acquired by those playing the Pleasure Game are not fulfilling in any meaningful sense. They are simply distractions that can preoccupy only the shallowest of desires. Thus, no one playing the Pleasure Game is content for long, and will perpetually seek more and more.

Ego Game

This aim of this game is fame. A person absorbed by the ego game desires nothing else but to be spoken about; to be known and reflected in the mirrors of other people's minds. Many of these people strive to be celebrities, but it usually does not matter to them what their public image is. To them, just seeing their name repeated in the papers or on the news is enough to stroke their desire to be known. In their minds, bad publicity is still publicity. To be known as nefarious is better than to not be known at all.

This game is practically forced upon people in certain professions, such as politicians and actors. A person running for office benefits tremendously by trying to get their name in as many people's heads as possible. But there are those within these professions that are not controlled by this desire; it is merely a means to an end. Those whose aim is to satisfy their ego will eventually find the struggle futile, eventually climbing to the top of the dung hill, known to everyone. Here, the person will often realize that fame is a shadow, and mostly an inconvenience.

Glory Game

This is a deadly game. This game's aim is to overcome the opposition, whatever that may be. Victory is the carrot on a stick leading a Glory Game player forward in life. Those with this game at the forefront of their mind are quick to rally against a perceived enemy, whether it be the citizens of another country or the political opposition. These people exist separated from the collective conscious, able to divide the world into a black and white “us vs them” mentality.

Other mammals will often fight within their species, but rarely do these animals fight to the death with such frequency. Players of the Glory Game have no such moderation. If simply prompted to do so, or compelled by the lure of glorified victory, they will kill, or otherwise seek to destroy, with boundless enthusiasm.

Neutral Games

No Game

This is a simple game. It exists in the aimless wanderers of the world. Those with no clear direction who exist to just get by play no game, achieving no solid outcome from their lives. Without a higher purpose, life is painted with depressing tones, leaving a person with a constant sense of unfulfillment. Yet, many of the wanderers of the world will not try to find purpose, as they have become disenfranchised by what the world has to offer.

Family Game

This game is self-evident in its aim. A person playing this game is fulfilling their innate compulsion to procreate and raise a family. It is a basic biological game that all life needs to play in order to continue to exist. Thus, it can exist simultaneously with any other game.

High Games

Art Game

The Art Game revolves around the expression of one's inner world. The aim of this game can simply be stated as “beauty,” but that definition is lacking, as the awareness of one's inner world is completely subjective. In other words, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The only bad players of the art game are those who do not have a sense of inner awareness. These people can only imitate the beauty of others. Because of this, the modern Art Game is heavily tainted by consumerism.

This has made it difficult for those who have a true passion and talent for the Art Game to shine amongst the crowd. Those that do stand out cannot be immediately said to contain this awareness, as they may simply be clever and can recognize what startles the average person. Instead, the true artists of the world, those that do not let the external world define their expression, are often hidden gems that create only according to their spirit.

Science Game

The Science Game, loosely defined by the acquisition of knowledge, has become so incredibly complex that it is difficult to pinpoint where it begins and ends in the modern world. Certainly, there are many who claim the title of “scientist,” and may even possess many high degrees, yet are not actively following the desire of understanding the inner workings of the universe. Instead, many bright minds of the world are consumed by the academic fervor that makes novel research next to impossible.

Despite this, the non-academic person can play the Science Game much easier today than was ever possible in the past. With the advent of the internet, and the plethora of books available, any person can live their life in perpetual expansion of understanding. The pursuit to seek answers is the driving force of the Science Game.

Religion Game

In the past, the Religion Game had very well-defined rules. The aim of this game was salvation, to mean the attainment of escape from the physical bounds of being. Traditionally, at least in the west, this has meant avoiding damnation in Hell while striving to achieve the bliss of Heaven in the afterlife. A life playing the Religion Game takes on the appearance of sacrificing for the betterment of the self, as defined by external rules (priests, scripture, etc).

So powerful was the clergy in these times that they had the power to openly persecute and torture those of the same culture who refused to play the specific games of that church. In the modern day, these rules have become more nebulous, as society has grown more tolerant and diverse. The Religion Game is now a personal path of indoctrinated rules to follow for some benefit, personal or otherwise.

Master Game

In the East, the Religion Game has similar elements of seeking salvation, but instead the goal has taken the form of enlightenment, or the transcendence of the rules which govern common man. This aim, which has been toted by mystics and saints in the west as well, takes on a different form than the above-defined Religion Game. Instead, the Master Game is that which is entirely inner-derived. The self, being cosmically in-tune with the nature of reality, seeks to ascend beyond the perceived limitations of being in this lifetime.

Alchemy is a tradition which started under the persecution of the aforementioned priests who made those perusing the Master Game do so in secret. The various recipes for transmutation act as a code for the seekers of transcendence for how to alter the components of the mind-body. This inner game is never-ending; it is played as a journey not a destination.

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