Whether or not the world is a simulation, it keeps score. Learn how, and play to win.
In 2003 a philosopher showed that we may well be living inside a simulation. Nobody can prove it either way, and this book doesn't try. It does something more useful: it treats the world as what it plainly behaves like, a very large, very well-designed game, and shows you the rules that never change, the scoreboard you were handed without being asked, and the handful of moves that decide how a run goes. Money, health, people, risk, attention, leverage. Most players never read the manual. This is the manual.
- The full playbook (about 45 pages, phone or laptop), written by Manthan Bhendkar, founder of Asendify
- The simulation argument told honestly: what Bostrom actually said, what physics does and doesn't show, and why the question matters more than the answer
- The seven rules of the game: compounding, probability, incentives, the twenty per cent, feedback loops, free maps and defining the win
- The Scoreboard exercise: choose what you are playing for instead of inheriting it
- Risk without ruin, levelling instead of grinding, the three circles of people, environment design, attention, leverage, boss fights and buffers
- A 30-day plan, thirteen worksheets and a post-mortem template you will use for years
What's inside
The argument, told honestly
Bostrom's three doors, what physicists actually say about pixels, information and testability, and why learning how the world keeps score matters more than knowing what it is made of.
The player's stance
Characters are played; players play. The five controls you actually hold, the three NPC mistakes, and why agency is a muscle rather than a trait.
Reading the rules
Seven rules that hold whatever reality is made of: compounding, decisions versus outcomes, incentives, the twenty per cent, feedback loops, distrusting free maps, and defining the win.
The scoreboard
Inherited scoreboards and chosen ones. The one-hour exercise that shows the gap between what you say you want and what your calendar says you want.
Respawn mechanics: risk and ruin
The only risk that matters, the two questions before any bet, asymmetric bets, and why failure is a readout rather than a verdict.
Grinding and levelling
Why most practice does nothing, the skill stack that makes you rare, and the five-step levelling loop with feedback in minutes rather than months.
NPCs, players and allies
The three circles, reading other players by their incentives, how real alliances form one deposit at a time, and boundaries as the walls of the level.
The map and the attention economy
Rebuilding the level instead of relying on willpower, friction as a tool, side quests, the attention merchants and the honest focus-hour count.
Glitches and exploits: leverage
Labour, capital, code and media. The two permissionless levers, exploits honestly defined, and specific knowledge.
Boss fights and save points
The five-step method for big decisions, the four rules for crises, and the five buffers (money, health, relationships, skills, reputation) that make boldness affordable.
Difficulty settings and status games
Starting position and the four kinds of luck, three of which you can manufacture. Status games versus wealth games, and why status players attack builders.
The 30-day plan and the worksheets
Four weeks from reading about the game to playing it on purpose, with thirteen worksheets and a post-mortem template.
Is it for you?
Who it's for
- People who feel they are working hard inside a game whose rules nobody explained, and who suspect the rules exist.
- Founders, creators, students and professionals who want a strategy for the whole of life, not a productivity hack for Tuesday.
- Anyone who has had the thought "this all feels like a game" and wants to turn it into an advantage instead of a late-night rabbit hole.
- Readers who like their philosophy honest and their advice specific.
Not for you if
- You want proof that we live in a simulation. Nobody has it, and the book says so on page one.
- You want to be told that nothing matters because it's all fake. The book argues the opposite: in a game, your moves are the only thing that is yours.
- You're looking for a promise of money. The book makes none; it gives you rules and a plan.
Who's behind this
We Are in a Simulation is written by Manthan Bhendkar, founder of Asendify. Asendify is a YouTube growth agency whose retention-editing work is behind OverSimplified's growth from 10K to 9M subscribers in 14 months, and it now runs cold outreach, content, software and publishing with systems rather than headcount.
The method in the book is the one he used to build it: a chosen scoreboard, bets with no ruin in them, skills that stack, a small circle of real allies, an environment designed on purpose, and the two permissionless levers, code and media, pointed at repeated work. The simulation is the frame. The rules are the point.
Questions
Does the book claim we are definitely in a simulation?
No. Part 1 sets out Nick Bostrom's argument fairly, including what physicists say and what remains untestable, and concludes that the question is unresolved. The rest of the book shows why the question changes how you play even without an answer.
Is this philosophy or self-help?
Both, in that order. The first part is an honest tour of the argument. The remaining fifteen parts are a strategy manual: rules, scoreboard, risk, skill, people, environment, attention, leverage, decisions, buffers, luck and status, then a 30-day plan.
I've read Atomic Habits and Naval. Will this repeat them?
You'll recognise some sources; they're credited in the endnotes. What's different is the frame: everything is organised as the mechanics of one game, in an order you can actually act on, with worksheets that tie them together.
What do I actually do in the 30 days?
Week one proves the controls work with tiny deliberate moves. Week two removes ruin risks, places asymmetric bets and makes deposits with people. Week three builds a skill and a piece of leverage. Week four makes the decision you've been avoiding and sets up the long game.
Is it safe to read if thinking about reality makes me anxious?
The book is clear on this in its opening pages: it treats the simulation as a way of seeing, not a diagnosis. If you have ever experienced a frightening sense that the world or your body isn't real, that's a recognised and treatable experience, and the right tool is a doctor, not this book.
How does the Double Money-Back Guarantee work?
Apply the 30-day plan in the book. If you don't see results within the first month, email montybhendkar@gmail.com with your licence ID and we refund you double what you paid.
How do I get it?
Right after you pay, a download button appears on this page, and the link is emailed to you. The link works for 30 days and up to 10 downloads.
Why is my name on the PDF?
Each copy is licensed to one person. Your name and a unique licence ID are printed in it, which stops copies being passed around and resold.
How do I know a payment request is really from you?
We only take payment through this checkout or an invoice emailed from an @asendify.co address. Our only official WhatsApp is +91 90960 82894. We never ask you to pay a personal account, UPI ID, crypto wallet or gift card. If anyone does, don't pay, and email montybhendkar@gmail.com.
Get the book
The rules the world runs on, the scoreboard you get to choose, and a 30-day plan to start playing on purpose.
🛡 Double Money-Back Guarantee. Apply the 30-day plan in the book. If you don't see results within the first month, email us and we refund you double what you paid.