How do you play Mortigo?
Mortigo is both a Chatbot and a game. It is a game designed to help you ‘Memento Mori’- that is to be your life coach for the death bed game, and help you live more fully. You can read more about Mortigo in his introduction to the World.
The idea of the death bed game is not original to me. I first read about it on Buster Benson’s blog about a year ago, and alter on this post to Medium. I loved the idea of what the game could do as a guide to living a better, more fulfilling life (because we get caught up in the stuff that doesn’t really matter). But I needed a better tracking mechanism because despite my best (read half-hearted) efforts — I didn’t stick with the game.
The 3 Basic Parts of Playing Mortigo
By opening up a conversation with Mortigo, you enter into the game. Beyond learning the rules of the game, the main thing you can do is to “micro journal” the things that you do during the day that lead to a life worth living. And specifically, we are defining the a well-lived life as one with the fewest regrets at the time of your passing.
Part One
There are three levels of scoring: +1, +3 , and +10 activities, each gamified to reward you for focusing your attention in ways that will result in the fullest life experience.
For example, you would get +1 to your scorebook (the micro journal) just by stopping in your day to take 5 deep breaths, or expressing appreciation.
+3 scoring experiences are a bit more in depth, such as taking time for meditation, spending time with loved ones and friends, or doing a creative project that makes your passion come alive.
+10 scoring drives are reserved for crossing items off your bucket list, or doing something that is a bit scary — like giving a speech on stage.
Part Two
Ultimately — the goal of logging these moments with Mortigo and keeping this micro journal is that you will day by day build a life in the most rewarding way. Mortigo is meant to coach you in the WHY and the HOW to do this more frequently, and then also use the game to make it more compelling. We call this the coaching part of Mortigo.
Part Three
And lastly, the micro journal itself, and all the reporting (like how many points in the last week or if you are on a three day streak of 10 points or more) is still being developed. But one thing we know is there is HUGE value both in journaling and gratitude journals.
Right now Mortigo just includes a facsimile of what is coming. I am not a developer so I haven’t (yet) figured out the best way to do this.
In the meantime however, you can start playing Mortigo. The prompts and capturing of the points works for anyone playing today, and the coaching starts tomorrow.
I have high hopes for what Mortigo can become, both as a technology and as a pseudo life coach who could make a real difference in the lives of people. If even one person plays Mortigo and it changes the way they move thru their day because they stop to consider living, from the perspective of the end of their life — who knows what that little difference might make in the world. I will take it.
Hope you take a chance to play the game of Mortigo. I would love to hear what you think.
