​So much of our time with others is spent reliving the past or projecting into the future. In fact, it’s surprisingly rare to really be with someone in the moment, even when we're right there with them.

But what if we had a way to fully meet one another, right in the Here & Now?

When stories about the past and plans for the future fall away, what’s left in their wake is just empty space, ready for a new kind of social experience to occur. This is the space we step into when we play The Present Moment Game.

The Game is an hour-long social meditation practice that offers a simple yet powerful technique to help people drop into presence. We call it a game, but it’s really just a framework to deepen present-moment consciousness with like-minded individuals looking to cultivate this awareness together, in community. ​

Intrigued? Come play and see what it's like to experience a full hour of RIGHT NOW.

• What you’re thinking in the present moment - perceptions, curiosities about others, philosophical musings, etc.

• What you’re feeling, at present - whatever is coming up for you, fully detached from past stories

• Anything else that everyone can experience at the same time

• “It wasn’t easy to get here on time, but glad I did.” Bump. (“Was not” - past tense)

• “I feel good right now, but unsure if I’ll always feel this way.” Bump. (“I will” - future tense)

• “I thought what you said right there was really poignant.” Bump. (“Was” - past tense. But even just a slight rephrase to “I am experiencing your words as really poignant.” stays present, and avoids the Bump.)

While leaning back and just witnessing others can be entertaining, the deepest, most interesting parts of the game happen within your own speaking. And anyway, being bumped is an opportunity to become even more present, so don’t hold back!

It can be! But locking yourself into the present moment with other curious and engaged people can also feel intimate, comforting, and nothing short of transformative.

Patience and active participation are key to see what will unfold as you co-author the experience with other players. A boring first 15 minutes can lead to an amazing last 45 minutes. Even a full hour of “boring” promises to yield something worthwhile.

No worries. Someone will just say ‘Bump’.

Even when we very consciously put limitations on the past and future, it’s practically inevitable that we’ll forget, and talk about that thing that happened that one time. Don’t make too much meaning out of the idea of doing it ‘right’ or ‘wrong’. Instead, jsut receive your Bump simply, reorient yourself back in the present moment, and begin again. 

The game should take around 1 hour and 45 minutes of your time - about 10-20 minutes for intros and to review the rules, 60 minutes for the game itself, and about 10-20 minutes after the game for a short debrief of everyone’s experience.

The game is best played with a minimum of 4 and a maximum of 12 people so that everyone has an opportunity to engage.

In-person games are currently being held a couple of times a month in Berkeley, Oakland, and San Francisco. You can get more information and purchase tickets to events under the ‘Upcoming Games’ section up above.

If you’re local to the Bay Area and want to be proactively notified of all upcoming in-person games, there’s a WhatsApp group for that here.

You may also want to follow our Luma calendar here (though not all events are hosted on Luma).

If you’re not local to the Bay Area but want to play, make sure to sign up to the Newsletter at the bottom of this page to be notified when Online Games go live again later in 2026.

Make sure to follow The Game’s Instagram account (@thepresentmomementgame) too!

The Present Moment Game can express itself in many different ways. It can feel light-hearted or serious, self-reflective or social, easy or surprisingly hard—and, chances are, it’ll feel like many of these things, even within a single session. Each individual game is as unique as its participants who co-author the experience. And each has something of value to offer those who are both present, and patient enough, for it to emerge.

While your very first game is mostly about learning the shape and limits of the container of the game itself, all subsequent games allow you to drop in far more easily, once you know the lay of the land.

You’ll see that each time you play the experience is vastly different, given that each game is co-created with different participants. You’ll also see the benefits of working to strengthen your present moment muscle regularly, and how doing so impacts social encounters in the rest of your life.

Like how people go to yoga weekly, or sit for individual meditation daily, we see the game as another regular wellness/mindfulness practice. As such, we welcome you at as many games as you’d like attend!

Nope! T-Group and Circling are wonderful practices to deepen relational intelligence. They use the present moment as the context to explore a variety of interpersonal dynamics. In this game, however, the present moment is the entire subject of our inquiry, not what we think or feel about the others around us, necessarily.

Good question. The game is not intended for learning how to give or receive feedback, to level up communication skills, or for any other, explicit aim.

Its purpose, simply, is to create an opportunity for people to simply BE with one another in human communion. Which feels deeply nourishing and important, especially in times like these. ♥️

Shoot an email to thepresentmomentgame@gmail.com or send quick DM on Instagram (@thepresentmomentgame) and we’ll take it from there!