'The Buddhist' video game knows there's more to life than collecting coins

This was certainly one of the more mysterious exhibits at today's ITP Winter Show at NYU. In fact, when we asked its co-creator Bona Kim what it was all about, she wouldn't tell us how to play her game, The Buddhist. That's not really the point, she insisted. Instead, the game is meant to adhere to the tenets of Buddhism by divorcing it of "the hero / heroine-driven linear narrative" present in so many of the games we've come to know and love. The team is hoping to unlock some awakening in its audience -- in the few minutes that we stood and watched, however, it mostly unlocked confused faces. There's a video after the break -- recording in the loud cacophony that is the ITP show.