To move the soul through play is to embrace the transformative power of play in our lives. This concept, which I call Experiencemancer, draws from the rich traditions of play theory, game design, and experiential learning. It’s about crafting experiences that resonate deeply with players—evoking emotions, insights, and connections that linger long after the game ends.

It is the engineering of catharsis—a simulation of meaning. It is to design interactive architectures where players do not passively observe a character, but become them.

Be it the hero destined to save Camelot from a prophecy gone awry... A lone wanderer navigating the silence of a nuclear desert... Or a reluctant sibling rescuing a kidnapped princess from the grasp of a villain who once sought peace but was broken by betrayal and banished by the very kingdom they protected...

The Experiencemancer weaves systems that let players step into those roles, not as bystanders, but as agents of change. In these moments—when the player cries, laughs, hesitates, or defies expectations—the game transcends rules and pixels. It becomes something sacred: a mirror, a trial, a revelation.

This is not entertainment. This is not escapism. This is the design of becoming.

And how is this design of becoming crafted? We don’t write it line by line, like a screenplay. We don’t direct it frame by frame, like a film. In truth—we don’t craft it directly at all.

We build systems, we tune mechanics, and we shape interactivity. What emerges from this lattice of logic and possibility is something alive—a space where meaning is not told, but discovered. Players step into the world not to follow a script, but to co-author their own emotional journey.

This is the paradox of the Experiencemancer: we design order, and from them springs chaos. We engineer boundaries, and within them, players transform.

Few have captured this delicate art more precisely than Tynan Sylvester, who reminds us that the end goal of game design is not features, not fun, but emotion itself. To reach that goal, we must design experiences. And those experiences? They are generated—not scripted—by systems and mechanics.

Think of game design as conducting an orchestra of emotion. Mechanics are our musical instruments: they don’t matter unless they make you feel.

Danger? Use risk-reward systems, health meters.
Triumph? Use boss fights, save-your-friend moments.
Tension? Use resource scarcity or time pressure.
Awe? Use vast scale, music, environmental storytelling.

These systems form the melody, but it’s the fictional layer that brings meaning to the sound. The game’s theme, story, visuals, and sounds translate dry mechanics into something that touches the heart.

A red blinking bar means nothing—until it’s your friend’s life support failing.
A timer means nothing—until it’s a bomb ticking in your base.

This is the soul of Sylvester’s ideology—and the truth behind the Experiencemancer’s craft. We do not create experiences through control, but through possibility. We sculpt systems that ignite feeling, and in that spark, players find meaning.

You may have recalled this very same notion in our reflections on Homo Ludens, and Huizinga’s perspective of play—that play is not simply a pastime or diversion, but a sacred, voluntary act that reveals and enacts our most profound human values. Beyond narrative and beyond systems, the essence of play is to kindle these values: danger, triumph, tension, awe.

To play is to step into a magic circle—not to escape reality, but to reinterpret it. To face it. To feel it more deeply. And it is through the careful design of systems and the orchestration of mechanics that we, as Experiencemancers, create spaces where those values are not taught, but lived. It is to design the experience that makes us truly human.

And what makes us truly human? It is not merely the ability to win or lose, but to careloss, triumph, regret, or redemption in spaces we know aren’t real, yet touch us as if they were. It is the power to choose under pressure, to imagine ourselves as someone else, to create meaning inside systems, and to be changed by the journey. Play reveals us—not as perfect, but as deeply human.

Exercises

1. [🟢 Remember] Identify Emotional Mechanics
Recall a game you’ve recently played. Name at least three core mechanics. For each, identify the dominant emotion it tends to evoke (e.g., fear, triumph, tension). Which human value does it shift? (e.g., life/death, victory/defeat, trust/betrayal)

2. [🟢 Understand] Decode Emotional Framing
Choose one mechanic (e.g., health depletion, timer, inventory weight). How does the fictional layer (visuals, sound, story) give it emotional weight? Why does a “red blinking bar” feel urgent in one game, but ignorable in another?

3. [🔵 Apply] Engineer a Single Emotional Response
Design a mechanic intended to provoke a specific emotional response. For example: make the player feel regret through a one-time irreversible decision. What system and feedback structure enables this? What fiction supports it?

4. [🔵 Analyze] Break Down the Emotion Engine
Pick a meaningful moment from a narrative or systemic game (e.g., Hades, The Last of Us, Outer Wilds). Analyze how mechanics and systems (not cutscenes) led to that emotional payoff. What decisions or structures made it resonate?

5. [🟠 Evaluate] Assess Emotional Alignment
Take a game that tries to evoke a specific emotion (e.g., horror, grief, wonder). Critically assess whether its mechanics actually support that goal. Are the rewards, challenges, and systems emotionally aligned? What weakens the effect?

6. [🔴 Create] Orchestrate an Emotional System
Design a short game concept as an Experiencemancer. Choose 2–3 core emotions (e.g., awe, dread, loyalty). Outline the systems and fiction that interact to produce these emotions. What mechanics simulate the values behind each emotion?

7. [🔴 Create] Write Your Design of Becoming
Synthesize your thoughts into a short personal design philosophy. What do you believe games are for? How do you use systems to simulate meaning? What emotional truths do you want players to discover within the magic circle you design?