Yan Lam, a PhD student in the social sciences at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, finds the game’s non-competitive nature a needed distraction from her busy life, in which she has to take full responsibility for her schedule and deadlines. She said the focus of the game is not about winning, but about getting on with life with the realization it’s not possible to have control over every aspect of it.

“I don’t think anything is important to everyone at the end of the day. The game is very zen,” says Lam, who’s in her late 30s.

Taiwanese author Lu Chiu-yuan summed up (link in Chinese) the biggest lessons of the game: “Solitude is the nature of life. Be kind to the people around you as they can just walk away any time for no reason. And when the time of separation comes, you have to let go, otherwise, you will suffer from the pain.”

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