Meet Corwin Bell, Chief Design Director of The Journey to Wild Divine and get his insights on the game’s creation.

“It seems to me that we've lost the inner technology — the mystical mind/body connection — that was known to the ancient sages and shamans (or yogis),” said Corwin Bell. Now, he’s created a groundbreaking game to do reconnect to that knowledge. The Journey to Wild Divine is the first in a series of “Inner-Active” multi-media computer journeys from The Wild Divine Project, Boulder Colorado, which both entertain and promote mind/body mastery.

“I thought about taking images and ideas from universal archetypes and translating them into a myth that works for our time,” said Bell. “What’s more, I wanted to do this using technology that would allow people to experience, in a metaphoric way, the opportunities and challenges they encounter in everyday life, as they seek to broaden their perceptions and expand their consciousness.”

Bell envisioned combining a computer game with biofeedback, so that players could not only see how their thoughts and emotions impact their ability to play the game, but hopefully access their innate power of visualization. That vision became The Journey to Wild Divine.

“Here, a player can actually experience mythological images and states of being in such a way that they can feel authentically empowered to influence positively the world around them,” said Bell. “The game is cast in a way that it looks and feels like magic, but it’s all working within the psyche. It’s designed to bypass the rational mind, which would rather analyze and debate than experience.”

Bell’s Background

Many of the images and ideas in the game came to Bell over the years in dreams and visions. “But I knew that they couldn’t be described in a painting,” he said. “They needed movement and crispness.”

At one point, while studying at Evergreen College in Olympia, Washington and working on experimental mythological films, Bell realized that computer animation was the format for manifesting his ideas and images. “Since then, I’ve done a lot of computer animation in general,” he said.

After receiving a Masters degree in Communications, Bell moved on to work in the movie industry. “I did set design, and cinematography,” he said. “I was working with very creative people, but the projects, such as a car commercial, weren’t very meaningful to me.” So Bell turned to working on children’s games, including Pagemaster for Turner Interactive and Super Safe Kids, a CD tool that teaches awareness of abduction issues in a fun, cartoon-like environment. He also became an instructor at the Art Institute of Colorado.

The Game Begins

Then, he went rock climbing with Kurt Smith, one of his neighbors in El Dorado Canyon, near Boulder, Colorado—and life hasn’t been the same since. When Bell told Smith, an entrepreneur, Ph.D. scientist and founder of The Wild Divine Project, about his game idea, Smith said “Go for it,” and provided funding.

“Kurt, who has a unique fearlessness about things, gave me the chance to form a team who could work together to create an open pallet on which to paint and explore,” said Bell. “Kurt’s given me a level of freedom to create has helped the game turn into the kind of product it is.” Bell began work on The Journey to Wild Divine in his own home, but eventually moved to what is now known as the “Game Studio” on Smith’s land. “The whole canyon area is not only beautiful but supportive of our need to be in a receptive state,” said Bell, who has brought on a production staff. “And we certainly needed to be in a subtly aware state as much as possible while waiting for the next idea to come down the pike.” Bell does a lot to help himself be in that receptive state, too. His regular morning regimen involves getting up at 3:30am, jumping into a cold nearby river, doing yoga, and then meditating. “This is usually when I get most of the ideas and images—which just seem to come out from hiding,” he said. “I always have a pen and paper with me so I can write them down.”

Allies Partner with The Journey

As The Journey to Wild Divine developed, new allies came on board: Liana Mattulich, M.D. and biofeedback specialist; Nawang Khechog, a former Buddhist monk and one of Tibet’s foremost world musicians and composers; and Dr. Jean Houston, world renowned researcher in the development of human capacities. “I had done neurofeedback training with Liana,” said Bell. “She encouraged me to develop my game concept all along. After she became involved with the project, I would give her my vision of certain areas, and little snippets of what I felt needed to be said. She would then write half a page of great stuff, and we would extract the juiciest parts.”

In addition to being a consultant to The Wild Divine Project, Khechog was instrumental in the creation of several exercises and events. “He made sure each detail came from a balanced, harmonious, non-egotistical place. Nawang also appears in the game as one of the mentors who helps guide players through events. Some of his music is in it, too,” said Bell.

Jean Houston, in addition to acting as consultant and writing some key dialogue, has contributed various visualization exercises for the game. These exercises, Bell explains, take the game to a whole new level. “In a typical computer game everything is laid out and structured,” he said. “What you do changes your outcomes, but everything you sense comes from the game, its artwork, and its music. In The Journey, Jean’s visualization exercises increase people’s ability to go into a quiet place and allow their own inner images to instruct them.”

According to Bell, the game becomes more potent because you actually use your own images to experience the game. “Indeed, half the game can exist in one’s own personal experience and imagination—if you’re willing to go there,” he said. And this is very powerful, because the game becomes truly interactive instead of pretty much pre-determined, like other games.”

Biofeedback Adds Dimension

The biofeedback portion of the voyage adds new dimension, too, by mirroring back what is actually going on inside you. “As you take The Journey, your thought creates emotion,” said Bell. “The body, which never lies, takes this emotion on and starts to amplify it. The emotion now gives a little more juice and creates a reaction in the autonomic nervous system. And you see this on the screen. The game gives you a reflection of where you are in your consciousness at any particular time, and helps you to move on. For example, if you have to lower a feather from the sky, you must be, or eventually get to be, in a smooth, relaxed energy space. Trying to force the feather down with your mind won’t work.”

The biofeedback portion of the game has a well-proven scientific basis. “We consult with some of the best biofeedback, biological, and medical experts in the country—in particular, those who are into optimal performance, such as M.D., Dr. Bob Whitehouse and Sunny Turner,” said Bell. “We’ve tested many players and have gotten very affirmative scientific research based on our results and expert consultations. “What the research comes down to is that the game increases people’s understanding and awareness of how their thoughts, emotions, and breathing affect events in The Journey. There is no good way or a bad way to play the game, though you do get rewarded for achieving a particular energetic state.”

The Journey of Self-Exploration

The Journey to the Wild Divine works on many levels, according to Bell. “At one level, it’s just plain fun, if not inspiring, to play,” he said. “However, the game also has the potential to work on a psychological level and might help reduce stress, expand one’s consciousness, and perhaps even give some players a transformational experience of self discovery. The first CD of the game is meant to be the journey of compassion. It’s laid out in a mythological, symbolic way so that players can move through challenges and events and get to have an experience, at least to some degree, of compassion and heart-opening. Hopefully, they’ll also feel an expanded love for the planet and for their fellow human beings.”

The Journey to Wild Divine appeals to people of all ages. “It’s not just for children or for adults. In test marketing it, people ranging in age from 10 to 80 loved playing it,” said Bell. “Any person who feels that there’s something more—a bigger picture—than what’s going on in their own lives, and who wants to explore and experience this, will enjoy it. In any case, I can assure you that if you spend time playing this game, you’ll have an experience unlike any you’ve had with other games.”

The Wild Divine Project is a small, privately owned company that produces multimedia experiences that facilitate healing and transformation. We are personally committed to creating and conducting business using cooperative, caring and sustainable practices.