The Game is an ongoing mind game, the objective of which is to avoid thinking about The Game itself. Thinking about The Game constitutes a loss, which, according to the rules of The Game, must then be announced. The Game is continuous, and once a player stops thinking about The Game, the player stops losing. However, while (at any given time) one can be winning The Game (by not thinking about it), one can never actually win The Game (subject to certain variations of the rules being used - see below).^{[citation needed]}

As of 2008, The Game is played by millions worldwide.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

Rules

There are three main rules to The Game: ^{[1][2][6][7][8]}

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,"^[4] or alternatively, "You are always playing The Game.")
2. Whenever one thinks about The Game, one loses.
3. Losses must be announced (a statement such as "I lost The Game" is often used).

Variations of The Game exist. For instance, some players allow a grace period after they have lost once, during which a player cannot lose The Game again or is not obligated to announce a loss. This can range from just a few seconds to half an hour.^[2] Another variation played by some people is that the Game ends when the British Prime Minister has said that he has lost on national television.^[5]. No established sanctions exist for players breaking the rules of the game.

Strategies

Some players have developed strategies for making other people lose, such as writing about The Game on hidden notes, as graffiti, and on banknotes.^[4][5] The Game has been described both as pointless and infuriating, and as a challenging game that is fun to play.^[2] The origins of The Game are unknown, although there are earlier examples of similar "games", such as the White Bear Phenomenon.

References