The Game

[Instant Sunrise]

The Game is an abstract self-referential game with the goal being to not think about The Game. It is a memetic form of doublethink.

The rules of The Game are pretty simple:

1. To know about The Game is to play The Game. As soon as you are told what it is, you are forever playing the game.
2. To think about The Game is to lose The Game.
3. When you lose the game, you must announce this fact to everyone present. Announcing a loss is usually done using a short sentence such as "I've just lost The Game" or "I've just lost", both to create intrigue in others as to what the loser is talking about and as an in-joke to other game players.
4. The object in the The Game is to not think about it.

Have fun.

[LongVin]

so by the very rules everyone loses at the beginning or after they read the first "losers" post when the game is mentioned thus forcing them to think about the game for only a split second to figure out the meaning of the game thus losing themselves. This then causes a domino effect as more and more people lose.

It will probably also cause Philosphers heads to explode in confusion as they attempt to figure out the truth of the game.

[Raxmei]

You skipped an important detail. There is a 30 minute grace period following an announcement of losing the game. You can think of the game all you want during that period.

[Temjin]

Won't you lose automatically if you were to read the G&C forum? You click on the forum, and you see this thread, which causes to think about The Game and lose. If you never check the G&C forum, you are only doing because of this thread, which also causes you to think about The Game and lose.

So I'm just going to throw in the towel and say "I lose" right now.

[Sharpshooter]

You've been playing Ultima: The Black Gate, haven't you?

[DesertFly]

Unfortunately for you mortals, I have discovered the secret to win The Game. You will soon all kneel abjectly before my insanity!

[Dooey Jo]

The Game lacks an element of gameplay. Something that lacks gameplay cannot be called a game. If it isn't a game, it cannot be played as such. If you don't play, you cannot lose. If you cannot lose, you win by default. Therefore I won the Game

[Bounty]

The Game lacks an element of gameplay. Something that lacks gameplay cannot be called a game. If it isn't a game, it cannot be played as such. If you don't play, you cannot lose. If you cannot lose, you win by default. Therefore I won the Game

If it isn't a game and cannot be played as such, you cannot win either.

[Lagmonster]

[Sam the American Bald Eagle]You are all...wierdos.[/Sam the American Bald Eagle]

[Surlethe]

The Game lacks an element of gameplay. Something that lacks gameplay cannot be called a game. If it isn't a game, it cannot be played as such. If you don't play, you cannot lose. If you cannot lose, you win by default. Therefore I won The Game

If you cannot lose, then you win by default if it's a game; but since you've established it's not a game, this is a bifurcation.

[Bounty]

The Game lacks an element of gameplay. Something that lacks gameplay cannot be called a game. If it isn't a game, it cannot be played as such. If you don't play, you cannot lose. If you cannot lose, you win by default. Therefore I won The Game

If you cannot lose, then you win by default if it's a game; but since you've established it's not a game, this is a bifurcation.

Are you just repeating me with a more expensive vocabulary

At least now I know what bifurcation is

[Dooey Jo]

The Game lacks an element of gameplay. Something that lacks gameplay cannot be called a game. If it isn't a game, it cannot be played as such. If you don't play, you cannot lose. If you cannot lose, you win by default. Therefore I won The Game

If you cannot lose, then you win by default if it's a game; but since you've established it's not a game, this is a bifurcation.

Therefore the default state of the universe in respect to the Game seems to be undefined. But, if we imagine a theoretical version that has a theoretical element of gameplay, and if we decrease that element towards nothing, we can examine which condition, victory of defeat, that will become dominant. The losing condition, which comes directly from playing the game, will decrease as the playability of the game decreases. The victory condition on the other hand, not losing ever, will instead increase, as the playability decreases. When the playability is zero, losing will not be possible, and it will also be impossible to do anything but win. Thus, I still win the Game even without having to actually having to play it. So rule number one should be: To know about the Game is to win the Game

[Spanky The Dolphin]

God damn it!!

[Adrian Laguna]

If there is no afterlife, we all get to win The Game when we die.

[Vendetta]

Come now, if you can't waffle about something without actually thinking about that thing, what business do you have on the internet?

[Ford Prefect]

I just lost - it was in the freaking newspaper dammit!

[Invictus ChiKen]

THERE IS NO GAME!!!

[Manus Celer Dei]

This is the most bizzare thread I've seen on SDN in quite some time.

[Nieztchean Uber-Amoeba]

I win. I skipped a few words of the rules, so theoretically I don't know what it is, therefore I win!