4D Death Simulator Lets You Feel What It's like to Die

I’ve read that the fear of death is a popular phobia. I’ve wondered what it would be like to die. Dying of natural causes would probably feel like walking into a house you’ve never been in before, but what about drowning or burning to death? I shiver to think about it. Now you can experience what it feels like to burn to death (without actually catching on fire) in this 4D death simulator.

This “cremation ride” is called the “Samadhi – 4D Experience of Death.” It’s an amusement park game that just opened in Shenzhen. In the game, you eventually burn to death, or at least it feels like it.

In the game, you try to stay alive of course. If you lose, you have to lay in a coffin (funeral style) which gets pushed into the incinerator (cremation style). That’s when you get to experience the end. If you are the winner of the game, you also have to die. So, just like in real life, death is inevitable even in this 4D death simulator.

As I’m writing this, it sounds kind of funny, but apparently it’s a very real sensation. Huang Wei-ping, one of the creators of this death simulator, was very meticulous about designing this game. He wanted to be sure the person inside the coffin feels like he or she is really going to die. Everything from the elaborate light projections to the hot, uncomfortable temperature (which is the 4D part) works together to create a death and dying feeling.

What happens after you die in this faux cremation process? Just like you might expect, you will be reborn (in the simulator), which is supposed to represent the afterlife. Your body is then put into a soft, round, cozy, safe womb-like capsule.

If you want to experience this 4D death simulator for yourself, it won’t be cheap. Each ride is about $40. As much as I want to know what it will feel like to die, I don’t want to experience burning to death, even if it is all fake. Although, I can imagine that if it really does feel like you’re about to die, you might change some priorities when you get off the ride (which for some people is the point).

I don’t know if it would truly be possible for a game to offer a life-altering experience, but I’m keeping an open mind. I think if I wanted to experience death, I would attend the Coffin Academy in South Korea instead.