Cosmology Of Kyoto

The game is controlled by clicking hotspots and text options when appropriate. The user also types in sentences, upon occasion. At the start, the player is born and must take the clothes off a nearby corpse. During the game the player will often die after being attacked by evil demons or robbers, and will then go to one of the realms of reincarnation, depending upon the player's conduct in that life. Once the player escape hell and are reborn, the player must take the clothes from his or her last body to continue.

As the player progresses through the city, new abilities and items are revealed that protect the player from death. The progress through the city effects a journey through history, with an online guide provided to ancient (and modern) Kyoto at various points through the game. Many of the characters in the game are based on real-life characters from the city and their appearances in the game are often loosely based on tales from the Konjaku Monogatarishū. The game deals with religion, philosophy, myth and legend.