Kaicie Boeglin
Opinions Editor
For at least the last 12 years, many have wondered the origin of 'The Game'. The Game is an abstract concept to most people, and many need a lesson in what The Game is. It involves no tangible objects, nor is it played on any physical medium. It is a ploy that exists in the minds of those who play it. However, it never ends. Although it is debatable, no individual can ever win this game.
In order to lose, an individual has to think about the game. So does that mean in order to win we just don't think about it? Upon thinking about the game, the individual is at a loss, and must announce that they have lost. This forced others within close vicinity to lose the game, and therefore spreads the game to new people.
Reading this, you are now playing The Game. You will soon forget about this definition. But then sometime soon be reminded of it, thereby losing The Game.
The word game gives PTSD to those who were high school kids in the 2008 era. The Game was at a peak in the years of 2008-2014. A family from the Coventry/West Warwick area had even spray painted "THE GAME" across a half pipe which sat in front of their house. The family prefers to remain anonymous, however, they would like it mentioned that this was done to "keep the game going in the hearts of us all." This half pipe remained in front of the family home until December 2019.
Thinking about The Game constitutes a loss, which must be announced each time it occurs. Therefore, it is impossible to win most versions of The Game. Depending on the variation being played, the whole world, or all those aware of the game, are playing at all times. Tactics have been developed to increase the number of people aware of The Game, thereby increasing the number of losses.
The origins of this mind trickery remain uncertain. In a 2008 news article, Justine Wettschreck wrote that The Game has probably been around since the early 1990s. She also says it may have originated in Australia or England. There is one theory that The Game was invented in London in 1996, when two British engineers, Dennis Begley and Gavin McDowall, missed their last train. The two had to spend the evening on the platform, and as they attempted to avoid thinking about their situation, whoever thought about it first lost. Another theory traces The Game to London in 1996 also, but says it was created by Jamie Miller to simply annoy people. A journalist named Mic Wright, with The Next Web, recalled playing The Game at school in the late 1990s.
In recent years more research and theories on the game have surfaced. Apparently, The Game may have been created in 1977 by members of the Cambridge University Science Fiction Society. In an attempt to create a game that did not fit in with game theory, the members of CUSFS could have concocted the most infamous mind trick. A 2002 blog post by Paul Taylor, made in August of 2002, described that Taylor "found out about [the game] online about 6 months ago". This blog post by Taylor is the earliest known reference of The Game on the internet. Today, The Game is most commonly spread through the word of mouth or the internet.
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