The Incarnation Game

PLAYER

The Incarnation Game has only one player. Multiple characters come and go once the game begins but their role is only to help, hinder, harass, or holy inspire the main player.

GOAL

The main player moves through a series of obstacles and opportunities designed to draw out core essences. There’s no winning or losing. If you play your cards right you develop deeper self-awareness of your purpose, your gifts, your ego tendencies, and how to contribute to the bigger game.

START

The game begins with the main character choosing from the Soul Essences deck. These cards give the player several qualities that come along once the game starts. You might draw the artist card, for instance, which then becomes part of your ‘voco’ or calling. The game is initiated in the spirit realm. The player rolls the dice - which determines where the individual will incarnate. The game doesn’t begin until the person rolls a Lucky Seven and gets to choose where and with whom he or she will come into the earth realm.

OBSTACLES AND OPPORTUNITIES

Each time the main player rolls the dice, the person moves forward along the winding path from birth to death. Along the way, the player will land on an O square. The player must pick up a card from the Obstacles and Opportunities deck. Sometimes the card will match up with one’s Soul Essence cards and other times not. If the player is stuck, the individual can draw from the multiple characters deck. Helpers may appear but also hinderers. Read the characteristics of the character and determine whether your interaction moves you forward or backwards.

PAUSE SQUARES

If the player lands on a P square, the individual gets to stay put for one full round. The Pause square may indicate a time of renewal, reflection, recovery, or recreation. If the player prematurely moves from this square, he or she may develop a vulnerability that could diminish one’s life force as the game proceeds.

PLAY TOKENS

The player can collect colourful play tokens or charms. These will help amplify any Soul Essence cards during tough spots (e.g., Chaos or DEATH - RENEWAL squares). Play tokens can be earned through imaginative tasks or helpful gestures along the way.

CHAOS SQUARE

There are several squares marked with a C. These are Chaos squares. They can be external circumstances or internal dilemmas. Look through the Soul Essence cards in your hand and determine whether you have a quality that can help you persevere. For example, you might have a card called Passion that pairs up with your Artist one. Different combination will enable you to get through the Chaos square.

DEATH - RENEWAL Section

There are several squares spread out over the Incarnation Game pathway marked DEATH - RENEWAL. While challenging and life changing, they are ultimately benevolent, not malevolent. The player must lose something to gain something. In the early portion of the game these may be physical components. The child identity dies in order to give way to the adolescent identity, Later in the game, DEATH - RENEWAL squares relate more to psychological and spiritual processes. The player, for example, may have accumulated wealth and power but at the cost of one’s Soul Essence cards. Each DEATH - RENEWAL section is designed to deepen purpose and awareness in the player.

MINI-QUESTS (Side Adventures)

Occasionally the player will land on a Mini-Quest square. These might entail side adventures such as volunteering in a disaster zone, visiting museums or art galleries in another country, taking up a musical instrument, or writing a book.

LOVE SQUARES

If the player lands on an L square, the person must draw from the Love deck. Read the content. It may indicate that you have fallen in Love with another person, or Love has been activated while walking in wilderness. You may have connected with a Universal Love, become a parent, or learned to Love yourself more. Scattered in the Love deck are darker coloured cards that deal with Loss. They remain part of the Love deck because they may help the player develop strengths such as compassion or empathy or tenderness.

CHANCE CARDS

If the player lands on a square marked Wink from the Universe you get to draw from the Chance deck. These cards are strange synchronicities or small miracles such as “ A butterfly lands on your shoulder. You pause and ponder what is being transformed in you or you remember the magic of wonderment.”

LIMINAL SQUARES

If the player lands on a Liminal square the game becomes fuzzy for a while. These are transitional sections where the main player traverses a betwixt and between passage. Movement may seem slower or even non-existent. If the process feels stuck, you can draw from the multiple players deck until you draw a way-shower or ally card.

FINAL THRESHOLD

When the player reaches the square marked Final Threshold, the person gets to look back at the overall game and sit with different responses such as self-forgiveness, gratitude, acknowledging missed opportunities and learnings. Some of the multiple characters will surround you at this stage and the player gets to be with them as you all say farewell. The player then flips the game over and plays the shorter Coming Home game.

We hope you enjoy playing the Incarnation Game and develop some core skills in the process. Bless you for playing.