by Chris Wade,Sounds True New Products Team

I’m Chris Wade,official product tester for Sounds True,here to tell you about Wisdom Quest,the software "sequel" to last year’s highly successful The Journey to Wild Divine: The Passage. Many of you experienced this sophisticated biofeedback meditation tool,cleverly disguised as a “computer game.” And you may be wondering,is the new game worth it? Does it improve on the original?

I had the opportunity to test this new software myself,and I am happy to report that Wisdom Quest more than lives up to the promise of the first Wild Divine journey—in fact,it surpasses the original in almost every way.

The Basics: Getting Started with Wisdom Quest

First off,you should know that you do need to own the original game to play this one—the "Lightstone" biofeedback hardware that comes with The Passage is essential,and is not sold separately (more about the first game). Wisdom Quest is the next “novel” in The Journey to Wild Divine cycle,and like any good story,you do need to read the first chapter to know what’s going on.

Basic navigation from the first journey is the same—simple to use. If you haven’t played in a while,though,don’t worry. Wisdom Quest takes you through a review of the basic techniques before you move on to the more advanced ones.

If you’re not keen on manuals … then you’re like me! Wisdom Quest comes with a fine illustrated manual,but you don’t need it. The in-game instructions are more than enough to see you through.

What’s Different about Wisdom Quest?

From my tech-geek perspective,the whole graphical world is a BIG improvement. Wisdom Quest has a vastly improved interface that lets you look all around with 360 degree scrolling to enjoy the beautiful scenery. Someone put a lot of work into this. It really makes the experience much more immersive.

But you get much more than a fresh coat of paint in Wisdom Quest. The focus of the game tends to be on achieving a much greater mastery of your energy levels than the original Wild Divine ever allowed. This is both challenging and enthralling—I found myself staying up till 4 in the morning with the game,having spent the entire day meditating and focusing on playing through each activity.

In order to master some of the more advanced exercises,you have to do more than focus on your breathing or even your heart rate. The game very effectively helped me build my skills until I could really feel the movement of qi energy in my body.

In this way,Wisdom Quest goes far beyond what The Passage teaches you. With the heart rate monitor,skin conductivity sensor,and a variety of immersive activities,this is a tool that will give you instant,positive insight into how relaxed you are and how you’re maintaining focus.

Is It Just for Fun,or Is It Really a "Meditation Practice?"

Because it entertains you as a game,you might be surprised to find how useful Wisdom Quest can be for enhancing and accelerating your mind-body awareness and control.

Here’s an example: I knew I had a stressful day ahead of me and deadlines were coming up. Before I dove into work,I fired up Wisdom Quest and entered an exercise that let me control the rotation of a moving ball with my breathing.

On my own,I have trouble getting my mind to quiet,and even an hour of meditation sometimes doesn’t do the trick. In just a few minutes with the Wisdom Quest exercise,I was able to achieve a state of calm serenity that carried me through my whole work day.

You might not call Wisdom Quest a "practice" by itself in the same way as a Zen master or a yogini practices,but it’s definitely more than just a game.

And it is fun—more so even than the first one. The fact that you can move directly to any exercise in Guided Activity mode gives Wisdom Quest a kind of playground feeling. The structure is more free-form and less linear than the first,making the whole experience much more delightful and less restrictive.

Finally,there are a lot of little touches that make Wisdom Quest stand out. In addition to several exercises designed to let you enjoy your newfound skills,there are some bits that are just there for pure inspiration. Moments like passages of poetry read by Deepak Chopra really enrich your experience.