A player announcing her loss of The Game. |
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| Designer(s) | Unknown |
|---|---|
| Setup time | None (or as long as it takes to explain the rules) |
| Playing time | Ongoing since its creation. |
| Random chance | Partially |
| Skill(s) required | Thought suppression, Strategy |
The Game is a mental game where the objective is to avoid thinking about The Game itself. Thinking about The Game constitutes a loss, which, according to the rules of The Game, must be announced each time it occurs. It is impossible to win most versions of The Game; players can only attempt to avoid losing for as long as they possibly can. The Game has been variously described as pointless and infuriating, or as challenging and fun to play.[1] As of 2010, The Game is played by millions worldwide.[1][2][3][4][5]
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There are three commonly reported rules to The Game:[1][2][6][7]
The common rules do not define a point at which The Game ends. However, one reported variation states that The Game ends when the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom announces on television that "The Game is up."[6] After you have announced your loss, some variants allow for a grace period, during which you cannot lose the game, which varies in time.
Some players have developed strategies for making other people lose, such as saying "The Game" out loud, by associating it with common items or phrases, or writing about The Game on a hidden note, in graffiti in public places, or on banknotes.[4][5]
The Game is an example of ironic processing (also known as the "White Bear Principle"), in which attempts to avoid certain thoughts make those thoughts more persistent.[8]
The origins of The Game are uncertain. One theory is that when two men missed their last train and had to spend the whole night on a platform, they tried not to think about their situation and whoever did first, lost.[2] Another is that it was invented in London in 1996 "to annoy people".[1] The reported earliest known reference on the Internet is from 2002.[1] The idea behind The Game is similar to Douglas Hofstadter's number P, the number of minutes per month a person thinks about the number P.[9]