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Have you ever imagined an online game
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with no grinding, no battle passes, no
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PvP, no gear, no power levels, and not
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It sounds like a game that’s been
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abandoned by its developer and is about
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to shut down. But no, this bizarre game
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is becoming a viral phenomenon across
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social media in Asia, racking up over a
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million visits just days after launch,
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even crashing the servers.
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While game developers are struggling to
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find ways to keep players hooked with
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hundreds of quests, events, and daily
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login rewards. A young Korean man
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decided to create a game just for people
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to log in and tap a wooden fish. And the
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funniest part is, despite having no
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battlefields or resource-stealing
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systems, players still fight over every
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available spot. The most precious
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resource here isn't gold, diamonds, or
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legendary gear—it’s a meditation cushion
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to sit on. So, what makes this game
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special, and why are so many young
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people flocking to it just to do
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absolutely nothing? Today, Vietnam Game
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World will explore this online
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temple-visiting phenomenon that’s taking
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First, we have to talk about Sansa, or "
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Mountain Temple," an online temple that
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appeared in South Korea in late October
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2024. It was created by Park Jin-won, a
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26-year-old English literature graduate
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who was currently job hunting.
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Interestingly, he is not a professional
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Because he was exhausted with life and
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wanted to visit a temple to rest, but
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had neither the time nor the energy to
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go. Park decided to create a temple on
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the internet for himself. Thanks to
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AI-assisted programming, he was able to
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build the initial prototype in just
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about 30 minutes. A product born from
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the author's own need for rest, yet in
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just 3 days, it attracted about 600,000
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visits and later surpassed the 1 million
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mark. Hearing this, many game developers
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are probably ready to sit down and
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reflect on their own lives.
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So, what will you actually do when you
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enter Sansa? It’s very simple: no app
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downloads, no complex account
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registration—just open your browser,
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visit the website, and you instantly
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become a cartoon novice monk with a
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random name. After that, you can stroll
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around the temple courtyard, find a
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cushion to sit on, clasp your hands in
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prayer, chant, listen to sutras, or
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simply sit and enjoy the scenery. There
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are no world bosses spawning at noon, no
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guild activities at 8:00 PM, and no
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quests requiring you to defeat 50
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monsters to earn 100 diamonds. Sit if
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you like, stand if you want, and log out
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whenever you feel like it—no one will
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Yet, while you might think an online
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temple would be free of competition,
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players actually face their first
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challenge just trying to find a seat. At
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first, the main hall only had about 20
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cushions, but as thousands of people
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kept pouring in, the number of seats
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quickly became insufficient. Those who
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arrived late had to find another room or
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The developers even had to scale up to
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10,000 seats, yet the system still gets
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overloaded at times. Do you see now?
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Hunting for concert tickets in real life
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is hard enough, but hunting for a
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cushion in this game is no walk in the
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park either. Sometimes you just want to
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find some peace at home, only to end up
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scrambling for a seat just like fighting
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The most unique feature of Sansa isn't
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the chanting or praying, but the fact
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that it doesn't allow players to talk.
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That’s right, this is a crowded online
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space, but it has no standard chat
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system. You can still see other novice
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monks walking around, meditating, or
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clasping their hands to greet each other
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, but no one can send messages to ask
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about levels, guilds, or invite others
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to boss raids. Sounds absurd, right?
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Online games were originally created to
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connect communities, so why
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intentionally remove communication? In
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reality, this might actually be what
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makes Sansa so appealing.
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Because it’s not that people always want
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to be alone, but they don't always have
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the energy to talk to others either.
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During the day, you have to meet clients
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, reply to emails, attend meetings, and
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handle work tasks. Coming home to play a
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game, you face toxic bosses, teammates
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demanding you use your mic, and
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strangers mocking your team comp.
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Ultimately, even your leisure time turns
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into a second job. Meanwhile, Sansa
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brings a completely different feeling.
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You can sit among dozens of people, but
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no one asks you to talk, judges your
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skill, or cares about your combat power
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Humorously speaking, this is probably
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one of the few online games where you
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can AFK from the moment you log in
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without anyone complaining.
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Looking at the bigger picture, this
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phenomenon reflects an interesting issue
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in the modern gaming industry.
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Nowadays, many games are designed to
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keep players coming back with daily and
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weekly quests, battle passes,
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time-limited events, leaderboards, and
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rewards for logging in consistently.
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These mechanics provide the game with
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goals and motivation for character
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progression. But for some, they also
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create a fear of missing out.
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Don't play today and you miss a reward;
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don't log in tomorrow and you drop in
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rank. Take a few days off and you return
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to find your power level falling behind
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the whole server. As a result, players
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sometimes log in not because they really
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want to play, but out of fear of being
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Sensa goes in the completely opposite
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direction: no need to be the strongest,
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no need to win, and no need to prove
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The only goal is to find a quiet corner
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However, that doesn't mean everyone
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accessing Sensa is stressed or seeking
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Some are surely just curious because the
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game is so strange. Others join for fun
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, to take photos, or to create memes for
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social media. It is the combination of a
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unique idea, simple gameplay, and
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hilarious situations that helped Sensa
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Notably, this trend also quickly
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appeared in Vietnam with games like
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online Buddha chanting. But unlike Sansa
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, the version in Vietnam carries more
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features familiar to RPGs. Players can
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complete daily and weekly tasks, receive
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lotus flowers, accumulate merit points,
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develop their characters, and there’s
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even a leaderboard. Sounds familiar,
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doesn't it? I thought I’d visit the
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temple to escape the daily grind, only
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to discover that the temple has daily
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tasks too. Counting corporate KPIs in
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the morning, counting game tasks at
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night, and even when practicing online,
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you still have to worry about daily
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check-ins for rewards. At this rate, who
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knows if there will eventually be a
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system to upgrade your meditation
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cushion from one to ten stars, or
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cross-server arenas to compete for the
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title of "Master Bell Striker."
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Of course, that's just a joke. Merit
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points in the game are just an
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entertainment mechanism; they don’t
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represent actual spiritual practice or
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merit in real life. Overall, what I find
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most interesting about the online temple
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phenomenon is its contrast with current
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game development trends.
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While many games try to pack in as many
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activities as possible so players don't
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get bored, Sansa proves that sometimes
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simplicity is what makes people curious
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Even so, over 1 million visits doesn't
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mean the game will retain millions of
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people over the long term. Is this a new
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entertainment trend or just a passing
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fad? We still need more time to verify
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But at the very least, this phenomenon
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has raised a thought-provoking question
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. Are today’s online games so demanding
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that a game where you don't have to do
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anything has become exactly what people
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What about you guys? After a long day of
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working or exhausting gaming, would you
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want to step into an online temple and
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tap a wooden fish for a few minutes of
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peace? Or does seeing a merit
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leaderboard immediately ignite your
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competitive spirit, making you
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determined to become the number one
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player on the server? Share your
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thoughts in the comment section below.
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Thank you for following The Gioi Game
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Viet. See you again in the next videos.
