INTRODUCTION

(Video tutorial at the end).

The EXCEPTIONAL MIND GAME is a boardgame that in itself is a complex allegory. It implicitly explains the process to become an exceptional mind. Here is going to be explicit, that is, the mechanics of the game, with its metaphors and allegories will be explained.

Because this game is an educational board game with questions cards and a philosophical book of answers, containing high philosophical concepts, at the beginning the player will experience some symptoms of “altitude-mental-sickness”. To recover, he needs to acclimatize his mind in the same way a climber does to acclimatize his body when he climbs the summit of Mount Everest. Indeed, acclimatization is necessary for an Everest climber to accustom its body to higher altitudes. Acclimatization means gradual ascending through repetition. So, in the same way Mount Everest climbers acclimatize their bodies to higher altitudes, players need to acclimatize their minds gradually to higher concepts, through repetition. This means to play the game many times and answer the same questions over and over again, many times. The good news is that, just as climbers of Mount Everest, (after a gradual acclimatization), enjoy when they arrive to the summit, players will also enjoy unparallel benefits when they arrive to the summit of the best version of themselves, but again, that cannot happen without a proper mind acclimatization process.

Also, this game allow players to build new and better habits of thought with immense benefits to their real lives. Indeed, the decisions and knowledge players gain playing the game trains them to apply it to their real lives.

QUESTION CARDS AND BOOK OF ANSWERS

The game is played in a board answering 94 fundamental question cards. The long answers are in its book of answers, called Champion’s Renaissance, a manual of objective philosophy in itself. By the way, the text of the questions and answers are part of an Open Source Project in GitHub and the King Neo New Renaissance Movement you can discover here.

GAME MECHANICS AND ALLEGORIES

As it was said, the mechanics of the game is a complex allegory in itself. The image of the game shows its board, the different types of cards, the book and the tokens, including the token that represents the player and the token that represent their Champion’s Constitutions.

Indeed, the game starts when each player, first, write down its Champion’s Constitution. In both, the electronic and physical version, the first thing the player will do is design its Champion’s Constitution. It is the constitution of the highest and greatest version of himself (It derives from the objective philosophy).

In the first part of the Champion’s Constitution, each player fills out a form. It asks what is his productive life goal, the term (In years.) and the cost (In golden eggs.) to achieve it. It also includes the amount of annual passive income (Annual rents.) that he wants to have once he reaches its productive goal. In the second part of the Champion’s Constitution, each player must choose if he wants reason to govern his emotions; reality, his reason; productivity, his self-esteem.

The board of the game is a square surrounded by a ring. The square is like a chess board with 64 little squares. It’s called The Comfort Zone. The ring is a square ring with 20 little squares and rectangles. It’s called the Champion’s Road.

The Comfort Zone represents the automatic, mechanical, blind actions of a mind enslaved to its habits at the feet of the pyramid of knowledge. Also represents an unfocused, distracted, blurry mind, derived from an undesired cultural imprinting of a compartmentalized society. It also represents an imperfect mind derived from low value concepts. The Comfort Zone is also called the Stupid Highway. Imagine it as a downhill highway of neurons full of traffic, where electrical impulses travel like speed cars, but out of control, because the person don’t know how to stop its thoughts. Mechanical thoughts out of control are stupid, because they can derive in dangerous emotions and actions, to the person itself, and for the world.

The Champions Road represents the road to become an exceptional mind using the finest concepts. It also represents the decision of a man to focus its mind in the first place. Also, represents man’s critical thinking faculty and mathematical skills. Imagine the Champions Road as a narrow road uphill, with less neurons, less traffic and less speed. There, thoughts are controlled, because man has to make an effort to think carefully, and use its critical thinking skills. They are slowly thoughts, not mechanical nor out of control. Therefore, they derive in productive successful knowledge, emotions and actions, for the benefit of the person itself, and indirectly, for the world.

The game is for two, three or four players, each represented with a different colour’s token. Tokens begin to move from one corner of the Comfort Zone, in zig zag, towards the Champions Road, in zig-zag, like mountaineers climb mountains. In their climbing’s path, they go through ten doors of knowledge.

Before moving tokens, players need to write their own Champion Constitutions, choosing a life-productive-goal and a rational factor number (the intensity of their commitment to become exceptional minds).  This factor number can be 1, 2, or 3.  It will help the player to move faster or slower to reach its goal. The bigger the factor, the faster they move, (in the board of the game, and in the real world).

The player’s Champions Constitutions are represented with a special token in the board of the game. They must put them in some place of the Champions Road. The first player that reach it, and have the resources to pay it, wins. The more the player wins in the game, the more he will win in his life.

The game is an allegory of what a man must do to unfreeze, change and refreeze, to become an exceptional mind, that is, to reach the summit of its own life time productive goal he chooses at the beginning.

The game starts when a player reads a question card with two alternative answers. Each question has a number. That number is the same number of the topics of this book.  Therefore, this book is the answer’s book to the questions of the game.

If player answer a question incorrectly, he cannot roll dice, and is next player’s turn. If he answers correctly, he can roll 2 dice. To move its token, he must subtract the lower from the higher number. For example, 5 minus 1 = 4. This means he moves 4 places in the board.

The two dice numbers represent two zones of its brain: the paleocortex (PAL) and the neocortex (NEO). The lower number, is the paleocortex; the higher number, the neocortex. The paleocortex, is the instinctive brain that conserves man’s life, but can turn against him if defends the feet of the pyramid of knowledge or Comfort Zone, and attacks the top of the pyramid of knowledge (philosophy) or the Champions Road. The neocortex, is the zone of the brain where reason happens. To become an exceptional mind, man’s neocortex must become the ruler of its brain, that is, to ride the paleocortex just like a rider rides its horse or as a king reigns his reign.

The dice subtraction (NEO minus PAL) represents the subtraction of man’s reason, minus its instincts; his volition, minus its compulsiveness. This happens to players, in the board of the game; and persons, in the real world.

The rational factor number (derived of the choice of the player when he makes its Champion Constitution) can be multiplied with the dice result, allowing the player to move faster in the board of the game (and the man in the real world). For example, if dice are 5 minus 1 = 4, the player can move four, or he may multiply four by its factor. If the factor is 3, then 3 times 4 is 12, therefore, player can move 12 places. But if the factor is 2, then 4 times 2 is 8, so he moves slower. So, commit to reason at the beginning of the game (as well in life) matters to achieve your goal quicker.

Player can roll dice again when passing over the numbers in the Comfort Zone. Each number represent a chapter of this book containing fundamental lessons. If knowledge is power, there is a gain in power, and the reward is to roll dice again.

Another metaphor is what happens when the dice subtraction is zero, for example, double 6. This means that a high rationality, does not allow man’s success, if his subconscious has the same magnitude. What happens in the board of the game happens in the real world.

When the subtraction is zero, sometimes, players must take an event card; others, quote card. Events cards, represents inevitable things that delay the achievement of goals, like earthquakes or economic inflation. Quote cards, contain famous quotes with two possible authors. When answered well, allow players to roll dice again. This represents the reward of additional knowledge to reach its goal.

When the player enters the Champions Road, everything begins to change. But they must arrive exactly to its gate, otherwise the token rebounds backwards. Anyway, they can try later again. The metaphor here is that, usually, the last step for success is the hardest, for example, when climbing the Everest.

When players arrive to the Champions Road, the first thing to do is to reach the Swan’s Nest. They have to do it exactly too. But now they can add or subtract their factor number to the dice result. For instance, if 5 minus 1 = 4, and factor is 3, if player multiplies, the result is 12; if he adds, is 7; if he subtracts, is 1. More options means is easy to arrive exactly into the Swan’s Nest. The metaphor here is that, persons who improves their minds have more options. If players don’t arrive exactly, they have to go all the way around the board to try again. The metaphor here is that, after a lost opportunity, always comes another, but takes time.

This path to the Swan’s Nest, for the first time, represents the Refreeze Stage to become an exceptional mind. When players arrive to the Swan’s Nest, they can choose to become the rulers of their minds. If they choose it, they make a solemn oath to defend reason and reality and after the coronation takes place, becoming rulers of their minds.

The rulers of their minds (Kings or Queens) are treated as such and can add or subtract the dice numbers. The metaphor here is that, as a ruler of its mind, NEO can control PAL at will, that is, NEO will be the rider riding PAL, with stylish perfection, and PAL will obey as a good horse (in the board of the game and in the real world).

As Kings or Queens, players must go around the Champions Road to arrive the Swan’s Nest again, exactly in the spot. This time they will produce a Golden Egg. The Golden Egg represents the player’s benefits derived from reaching the summit of the pyramid, its holistic happiness derived from its productive work.

Players must accumulate the quantity of golden eggs to match the quantity of golden eggs indicated in the player’s Champion Constitution.

As it was said, when a player arrives exactly where his constitution is, and has the golden eggs to pay for it, wins the game.

The swan represents logic-purity or absolute precision: A is A.

The numbers in the board of the game represents state of acclimatization, or lessons learned, or the chapters of this book (except chapter 11).

King Neo and Queen Neo represents the neocortex of a human brain who decided to focus its mind to become the ruler of its paleocortex, in other words, the conscious decision to rule our subconscious mind.