Anamnesis is the central cycle of ATET: the act of remembrance through experience, and the rediscovery of truth through narrative iteration. It is the “Actor” phase of play, where the player inhabits a single, mortal Incarnation to live a life, weave a Thread, and generate the raw material of meaning; Eidos; that will fuel the “Author” phase of the Eidolon.

To undergo Anamnesis is to live. To live is to remember. To remember is to change.

The meaning of being is to inform creation, and the meaning of creation is to enable a richer being. ⌂

Contents

• Nature of Anamnesis
• Details
  • The Essential Cycle
  • What Choices Matter Most?
  • Primary Player Verbs
  • Design Goals

• Anatomy
• Facets
• Cognition
• Conflict
• Socialization
• Crafting
• Objects
• Verbs
• Subjective Interface
• Incarnation
• Faction
• Goal
• Quest
• Ritual
• Symbolic Loci
• Living History

Nature of Anamnesis

Anamnesis is not just how the game starts; it is the ethos of the entire experience.

Each playthrough is a fragment of something larger: a life lived, a pattern glimpsed, a myth remembered through repetition. Through each Incarnation, the player uncovers meaning; sometimes deliberately, sometimes by accident. With each cycle, the veil lifts a little more. Truth is not unlocked, but unfolded.

In narrative and gameplay terms, Anamnesis is shaped by:

• From Platonic epistemology: anamnesis as the soul’s recollection of truths known before birth.
• From Reincarnation Myths: the belief that wisdom arises not from one life, but from many.
• From Interactive Narrative: stories as systems of branching memory, where repetition breeds understanding.

In ATET, Anamnesis is not an escape from death; it is what death enables.

Details

At its heart, ATET is a Social Simulation RPG with a roguelike structure and an emergent narrative focus. The player inhabits a procedurally generated Incarnation within a Tapestry, navigating personal needs, cultural tensions, and metaphysical mysteries to accumulate Eidos.

The Essential Cycle

The core game loop revolves around a cyclic story beat, formed by player actions and designed interventions.

• Awaken as a new Incarnation in a strange world, your nature defined by your unique Anatomy.
• Explore the environment to uncover its geography, cultures, and hidden truths.
• Conversation and Interpret others to learn their needs, fears, and beliefs.
• Survive by any means. This struggle is the heart of the story, requiring you to Craft tools, Negotiation pacts, Steal resources, or Attack threats.
• Engage with the world’s larger systems, joining a Faction, pursuing a Quest, or performing a Ritual.
• Shape your narrative, choosing what you pursue, preserve, or destroy.
• Die or Transcend, ending your Incarnation’s story.
• Reflect on the Eidos you’ve gathered, preparing for your return to the role of the creator.
• return, renew, or unravel

What Choices Matter Most?

Interpersonal choices. The core gameplay emerges from interacting with other entities whose:

• Needs are systemic and arise from their Anatomy.
• Beliefs derive from their innate predispositions and personal Memories.
• Memories are subjective records shaped by past events, including the player’s actions.

This creates a narrative feedback loop where an NPC’s Goals arise from their condition, player actions shape their reality, and larger structures like Factions and mythologies emerge from these local interactions.

Think of it as:

Dwarf Fortress social schema + Maxis-style personality engines + belief modeling as gameplay

Primary Player Verbs

The player’s agency is built around expressive, interpretive actions. The most critical verbs include:

• Conversation: Express ideology, persuade, deceive, empathize.
• Explore: Discover Facts, test boundaries, unearth legacies.
• Interpret: Decipher symbols, resolve narrative tension, create meaning.
• Craft: Shape the physical world, from Tools to living beings.
• Attack: Engage in physical Conflict to impose your will by force.
• Negotiation: Create new social realities through complex agreements.

In early gameplay, this may look like:

A Botanist trying to interpret alien flora to survive the aftermath of a crash.

At its most grandiose, it could become:

Unit 734 setting the foundations of a thousand Tapestries.

Design Goals

• Give social simulation the same mechanical depth usually given to combat or crafting.
• Tie all gameplay back to personal myth-making: who the player chooses to be remembered as.
• Model motivation (Goal), belief (Belief), and perception (Perceive) as systems that drive gameplay rather than simply decorate it.