Cosmology of Kyoto is a rare little oddity, a truly intriguing way to integrate education about ancient Japan and its mysticism into a point and click adventure. It's quite simple and short but weaves incredibly engaging tales that will have the player clicking around for a few hours to know more about the dark land of Heiankyo.

Starting as a nude loner outside the city, you make your way into the city walls to the market walls to the palace walls and further in. There's a very straightforward progression and a lot of content can be missed for a straight run (as long as you keep in mind a single item that's not totally obvious to find). The point and click interface is a bit clunky and the text parser reads about three entries but they get the job done. A little reference page is also included that contains a staggering amount of facts about Japanese culture, religion, the structure of Heiankyo, etc.

As for the rest of the game, the point and click elements often involve clicking around to experience deliciously creepy ghost stories around every turn. Ghastly faces behind fans, demons in abandoned buildings, the guiding hand of virtuous monks, and bandits with sharp blades. Even dying is a journey through many realms as a hungry ghost, heavenly being, or a dog, and soon restarts the player instead of handing over a frustrating game over. There is an endgame but a lot of the world rewards meandering and just bumping into whatever horrors lie beyond (though the end has a significant amount of traumatic scenery that must be seen to be believed).

Cosmology of Kyoto puts together such ancient characters as Abe no Seimei and Watanabe no Tsuna into a strange and deadly version of ancient Japan where nothing is to be trusted and death is a matter of fact in life. As a gameplay piece it's very light (imagine Bad Day on the Midway) but rewards poking and prodding to understand its weird world and moving toward the light.