The Game

**Calvin** · 09-20-2010

There was some confusion earlier about what the game was so here is how you play...

The Game
There are three rules to The Game:]

1.Everyone in the world is playing The Game. (Sometimes narrowed to: "Everybody in the world who knows about The Game is playing The Game", or alternatively, "You are always playing The Game.") You cannot not play The Game; it does not require consent to play and you can never stop playing.

2.Whenever one thinks about The Game, one loses.

3.Losses must be announced to at least one person(either by using a statement such as "I Lost The Game" or by alternative means).

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."

Strategies
Some players have developed strategies for making other people lose, such as saying "The Game" out loud, or writing about The Game on a hidden note, in graffiti in public places, or on banknotes.

Self-reference
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.

Origin
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. Another is that it was invented in London in 1996 "to annoy people". The reported earliest known reference on the Internet is from 2002. The idea behind The Game is similar to Douglas Hofstadter's number P, the number of minutes per month a person thinks about the letter P.

Sited:The Game Wiki