Birthing a new tea game

• Steve is increasingly excited by the realisation that Dao of Now, Dao of Tea, conversation, philosophy, community, and play all feel like parts of a single project rather than separate ideas. The appeal is not just making tea content but creating an entire ecosystem. • While asynchronous content has value, Steve still believes the real gold lies in live interaction. The heart of the project is the flow of conversation, the unexpected discoveries, the slight wonkiness, and the shared sensory experience that emerges when two people explore tea together. • A key insight is that this is fundamentally a game rather than a review show, competition, or educational programme. The comparison of three related teas creates a playful structure that encourages curiosity, attention, and discovery. • Inclusivity becomes one of the project’s most important values. Existing tea content can sometimes feel exclusionary because viewers cannot participate directly. Steve imagines livestreams where people are invited to bring whatever tea they have available. The goal is not exact matching but shared participation in a category of experience. • Steve increasingly feels they may be creating something genuinely original. Rather than inventing from scratch, they are combining ingredients from different tea traditions and content styles into a new format. • Drawing on C. Thi Nguyen’s ideas about games, Steve sees Dao of Tea as a new sub-game within the wider gongfu tea tradition. Just as tabletop roleplaying evolved into collaborative storytelling, Dao of Tea could evolve tea drinking into a more playful, communal, and exploratory activity. • The comparison format appeals because it uses the comparative mind constructively. Drinking three related teas side by side reveals differences that would otherwise remain invisible. The game teaches people what they genuinely enjoy rather than what they think they should enjoy. • Steve suggests using the upcoming visit to film a pilot or dress rehearsal episode. The imperfections would actually be part of the appeal because viewers would see the format emerging organically for the first time. • Tea collecting starts to resemble collecting cards for future games. Every tea potentially becomes part of a future three-way comparison. The growing collection becomes a library of playable combinations. • He is particularly drawn to comparisons built around meaningful relationships: three versions of the same tea from different vendors, three vintages from different years, or three examples of the same style from different sources. • The database idea excites him because it transforms a chaotic collection into a playable catalogue. AI could help organise teas by the handful of characteristics that actually matter for the game, making it easier to spot future combinations. • Steve realises that Dao of Tea fits naturally alongside his therapy and tea work. The tea and therapy side represents the gentler, more contemplative aspect of his creative life, while other projects can house the more provocative material. • He begins imagining deeper integration with his Tea With Steve website. Rather than being a separate project, Dao of Tea could become part of a larger ecosystem connecting tea, therapy, community, and conversation. • Naming becomes a surprisingly rich topic. Although “Dao” is technically accurate, Steve sees the practical appeal of “Tao of Tea” for English-speaking audiences. GPT unexpectedly preferred “Tots” over “Dots” as a community nickname, leading to playful speculation about what participants might be called. • Pol’s enthusiasm for audio quality also rekindles Steve’s interest in improving the technical side of production. Good audio increasingly feels like one area where striving for excellence genuinely matters.