TELOS

A symbolic interactive experience exploring consciousness, identity, and transformation.

TELOS is an experimental game rooted in well-documented psychological "Stages" of Development. Players move through 10 Stages containing clear and distinct milestones, symbols, perspectives, and actions representing each phase of development.

The Big Picture

The long-term vision of TELOS is divided into three interconnected realms:

BODY 
The emergence of sensation, perception, and physical identity.

MIND
The development of ego, culture, and psychological complexity.

MEANING 
The search for transcendence, integration, and purpose.

---

What's in This Game?

This early alpha prototype currently explores the first realm — BODY — guiding players through:

• Stage 0: Pre-Birth
• Stage 1: Infancy
• Stage 2: Childhood (in development)

---

WHAT'S GOING ON?

There have been many people throughout time, geography, culture, and disciplines that have mapped how consciousness evolves throughout life. (See list below). 

If academic study is one Way of Knowing, TELOS attempts to capture the other Way of Knowing: direct experience. Instead of studying the various descriptions and characteristics of each Stage, TELOS tries to capture the feelings and perspectives of each Stage through symbols, metaphor, and gameplay.

TELOS is based on the work of this partial list of cartographers:

• Jean Piaget (Four Stages of Cognitive Development)
• Erik Erikson (Eight Stages of Psychosocial Development)
• Abraham Maslow (Hierarchy of Human Needs)
• Jane Loevinger (Stages of Ego Development)
• James Fowler (Six Stages of Faith Development)
• Lawrence Kohlberg (Stages of Moral Development)
• Robert Kegan (Orders of Consciousness)
• Clare W. Graves (Emergent Cyclical Levels of Existence)
• Don Beck & Chris Cowan (Spiral Dynamics)
• Jean Gebser (Structures of Human Consciousness)
• Traditional Vedic/Tantric Texts (The Seven Chakra System)
• Sri Aurobindo (The Ascent of Integral Yoga)
• Zen Buddhist Tradition (The Ten Ox-Herding Pictures)
• The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (The Eight Limbs of Yoga)
• Meher Baba (The Seven Planes of Consciousness)
• Ken Wilber (The AQAL Spectrum of Consciousness Altitude Map)