The Game (mind game): Difference between revisions

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The Game (rapper)

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-<!--
-Adding "clever" messages such as "you just lost the game" may result in the loss of your ability to edit Wikipedia.
--->
-{{Infobox game
-| title         = The Game
-| image_link    = [[File:I lost the game.jpg|200px]]
-| image_caption = A player announcing her loss of The Game
-| designer      = Unknown
-| players       = Everyone
-| setup_time    = None (or as long as it takes to explain the rules)
-| playing_time  = Ongoing since its creation
-| random_chance = Chance encounters with others losing The Game or with text or audio mentioning the word "game" increase one's chances of loss
-| skills        = [[Thought suppression]], [[Strategy]]
-| footnotes  = Theoretically, The Game is always in progress, everybody in the world is a player, and the rules only provide conditions for losing.
-}}
-'''The Game''' is an ongoing 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 be announced each time it occurs. How to win The Game is not defined in the rules; players can only attempt to avoid losing for as long as possible. The Game has been described alternately as pointless and infuriating, or as a challenging game that is fun to play.<ref name="canpress"/> As of 2009, The Game is acknowledged by millions worldwide.<ref name="metro">{{cite news|url=http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?If_you_read_this_youve_lost_The_Game&in_article_id=430703&in_page_id=34|title=If you read this you have lost the game|work=The Metro|date=2008-12-05}}</ref><ref name="canpress" /><ref name="nebraskan">{{cite news|url=http://media.www.dailynebraskan.com/media/storage/paper857/news/2007/03/19/ArtsEntertainment/Mind-Game.Enlivens.Students.Across.U.s-2779474.shtml|title=Mind game enlivens students across U.S.|work=The Daily Nebraskan|first=Andy|last=Boyle|date=2007-03-19}}</ref><ref name="demorgen" /><ref name="depers" />
-== Gameplay ==
-=== Rules ===
-There are three rules to The Game:<ref name="metro">{{cite news|url=http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?If_you_read_this_youve_lost_The_Game&in_article_id=430703&in_page_id=34|title=If you read this you have lost the game|work=The Metro|date=2008-12-05}}</ref><ref name=canpress>{{cite news|url=http://ca.lifestyle.yahoo.com/health-fitness/articles/fitness/cp/home_family-teens_around_the_world_are_playing_the_game_-_if_you_think_about_it_you_lose|url=http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080117/thegame_youlose_080117|title=Teens around the world are playing 'the game'|work=[[The Canadian Press]]|date=2008-01-17|first=Shannon|last=Montgomery}}</ref><ref name="The Rules">{{cite news|url=http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?Three_rules_of_The_Game&in_article_id=430704&in_page_id=34|title=The three rules of the game|work=The Metro|date=2008-12-05}}</ref><ref name=rutland>{{cite news|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=MCNP&p_multi=RHDB&p_theme=mcnp&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=11C0ED30E5F12A50&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|title=Don't think about the game|work=[[Rutland Herald]]|date=2007-10-03|format=Subscription required}}</ref><ref name=dailyglobe>{{cite news|url=http://www.dglobe.com/articles/index.cfm?id=12028&section=Opinion&freebie_check&CFID=44302018&CFTOKEN=70154493&jsessionid=8830ec90e35e58254a5e|title=Playing 'The Game' with the other kids|work=[[Daily Globe (Worthington)]]|first=Justine|last=Wettschreck|date=2008-05-31|format=Subscription required}}</ref>
-# Everyone in the world is playing The Game. (''Sometimes narrowed to:'' "Everybody in the world who knows about The Game is playing The Game",<ref name="demorgen">{{cite news|url=http://www.demorgen.be/archief/artikel.html?i=ODM5Nw==|title=The Game, het eenvoudigste spel ter wereld|work=[[De Morgen]]|first=Jeroen|last=Verelst|date=2007-03-15|page=2|language=Dutch|format=Subscription required}}</ref> or alternatively, "You are always playing The Game.")
-# Whenever one thinks about The Game, one loses.
-# Losses must be announced to at least one person<ref name="The Rules"/> (either by using a statement such as "I lost The Game" or by alternative means).
-Some players allow a grace period of up to half an hour after someone has lost, during which a player cannot lose The Game again, or is not obliged to announce a loss.<ref name="canpress"/> The common rules do not contain a win condition, nor do they define a point at which The Game ends. However, one reported variation states that The Game ends when the British Prime Minister "announces The Game is up" on television.<ref name="The Rules"/>
-=== Strategies ===
-Some players have developed strategies for making other people lose, such as writing about The Game on hidden notes, or saying "The Game" out loud, as graffiti in public places, and on banknotes.<ref name="demorgen" /><ref name="depers">{{cite news|url=http://www.depers.nl/entertainment/269673/Nederland-gaat-nu-ook-verliezen.html|title=Nederland gaat nu ook verliezen|work=De Pers|date=2008-12-15|first=Sanne|last=Rooseboom}}</ref>
-== 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.<ref name=metro/> Another is that it was invented in London in 1996 "to annoy people".<ref name="canpress"/> The reported earliest known reference on the Internet is from 2002.<ref name=canpress/> The Game is an example of [[Ironic process theory|ironic processing]], also known as the White Bear Phenomenon, in which attempts to avoid certain thoughts make those thoughts more persistent.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.laloyolan.com/entertainment/you-just-lost-the-game-1.1589859|title=You just lost the Game|last=Kaniewski|first=Katie|date=1 March 2009|work=Los Angeles Loyolan|accessdate=2009-03-27}}</ref> A classic example of ironic processing is [[Dostoevsky]]'s quote: “Try to pose for yourself this task: not to think of a polar bear, and you will see that the cursed thing will come to mind every minute.”
-== See also ==
-*[[Jonty Haywood]]
-* [[In-joke|Inside joke]]
-* [[Meme]]
-* [[Mornington Crescent (game)|Mornington Crescent]]
-* [[Nomic]]
-== References ==
-{{reflist}}
-== External links ==
-{{commonscat|The Game (mind game)}}
-{{wikinews|Wikinews interviews manager of site 'Lose The Game'}}
-*[http://losethegame.com/index.htm Losethegame.com]
-{{DEFAULTSORT:Game, the}}
-[[Category:Cognition]]
-[[Category:Games of mental skill]]
-[[Category:Internet memes]]
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-[[fr:Le Jeu (mind game)]]
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-[[fi:The Game (ajatuspeli)]]
-[[sv:The Game (tankespel)]]
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-[[zh:The Game]]