Trending Now: Buddhism
Project Details
Platform: Table Top
Team: Individual
Status: Incomplete
I wish to further develop this project.
Development Period: 2 weeks
Genre: Social, Satirical, Experimental, Strategy
"Trending Now: Buddhism" is an experimental table top game. The goal is to earn as much "karma" as possible or collect all the Buddhist symbols and decorate your room. You can buy and sell these Buddhist symbols for more karma and there will be competitions to determine who has the best room!
Core Features:
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Cultural commentary card game - Satirical tabletop exploring Buddhism appropriation through collecting and commodifying sacred objects
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Dual win conditions - Collect all 23 Buddhist objects OR accumulate 100 Karma tokens through strategic play
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Economic system - Buy, sell, and own Buddhist objects with Karma as currency; balance Karmaback passive income vs. Karma Value resale
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Competitive decorating - Arrange collected objects aesthetically on design boards; win voting rounds for bonus tokens
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Chaotic event-driven gameplay - Random event cards force auctions, charity, disasters, and gambles that disrupt strategies
Game Designer
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Inspired by:
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Personal experiences and culture as a Buddhist Vietnamese woman.
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Dadaism, the Fluxus movement, and Trains, a board game by Brenda Romero in 2009.
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Created guidelines for a strategic but satirical gameplay & developed and sourced the physical components, either creating the components myself or finding used components in thrift stores or laying around in my home.
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Mechanics:
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Object collection (Figurines, Quotes, Paintings, Pendant) with varying costs and values
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Karma token economy with Karmaback (passive income per turn) and Karma Value (sell price)
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Action cards for sabotage (steal, skip turns, block, extra plays)
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Design board voting system (players rank each other's aesthetic arrangements)
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Die rolls for turn order and tie-breaking
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Event cards triggering mandatory challenges each round
Dynamics:
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Strategic tension between hoarding objects vs. selling for immediate Karma
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Social competition through design board rankings and voting manipulation
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Risk/reward in event cards (auctions, gambles, disasters that reset progress)
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Player interaction through theft, blocking, and forced donations
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Resource scarcity creating auction/bidding pressure
Gameplay Loop:
Each round: Individual turns (buy/sell → play/discard action card → collect Karmaback) → Design board voting → Event card resolution. Players balance immediate gains vs. long-term collection goals while navigating forced social interactions
Design Intentions:
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Dadaism-inspired satire using karma as literal currency to mock cultural appropriation
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Physical Buddhist objects (figurines, quotes, paintings) treated as commodities
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Uncomfortable realization paralleling Brenda Romero's Train - players engage in appropriation while playing
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Event cards create chaos and emphasize the absurdity of commodifying spirituality
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Design board mechanic forces aesthetic judgment of sacred symbols
Progress
Goal
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To visualize and bring awareness to Buddhist cultural appropriation and the materialization of significant symbols in Buddhism.
Challenges
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The biggest challenge was sourcing and creating the right pieces for this game. Every board game component shapes the game's message, so their appearance and intention matters. As an experimental and social board game, the priority wasn't to make polished components. Instead, using found objects from other media or antique stores added depth. but rather taking and sourcing pieces from other media or antique stores. Finding affordable, authentic Buddhist pieces was especially difficult.
Iteration Process
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I spent a little more than two weeks to refine this project. Appropriation is a topic that surrounds my identity and culture relentlessly, so the concept came easily. However, the implementation and mechanics took a lot more time. A week and a half was spent refining the rules, mechanics, and pieces. The last half was spent playtesting and creating or sourcing the pieces for the game. There were a total of 4 full playtests within two significant iterations, not including the final iteration and game.
