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pegkerrThe girls and I went to the church soup supper tonight. I sat down at the long table across from Fiona with my plate and started eating.
"I lost the Game," she said pensively, staring out into space.
"What game is this?" I asked.
"It's the Game."
"How did you lose it?"
"By thinking of it."
My eyebrows went up. She smiled. "See, the point of the Game is to get as many people playing it as possible."
"How do you win it?"
"You don't. There is no way to win the Game. You can only lose the Game. Whenever you think of it, you say aloud, 'I've lost the Game.' And that reminds everyone around you of the Game, and then they've lost the Game, too. And then everyone has a half hour in which they try to forget all about. And that's it--until the next time you remember it." She smiled at me.
I thought this over and laughed a little. "Teenagers."
"Yeah. All my friends are playing it now."
"But now that you've told me about it . . ." I said slowly.
She smiled even more broadly. "Yeah, exactly. You're playing the Game now, too."
I started to laugh. I laughed harder and harder. "And since I've thought of it, now I've lost the Game."
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choralgirl sat down next to me. "Lost what game?" she asked.
Fiona and I looked at her. And smiled. "Well, you see," I said to her, "the point of the Game is to get as many people playing it as possible . . . "
(You do realize what this means, friends list? Yes. You are now all playing the Game.)
"I lost the Game," she said pensively, staring out into space.
"What game is this?" I asked.
"It's the Game."
"How did you lose it?"
"By thinking of it."
My eyebrows went up. She smiled. "See, the point of the Game is to get as many people playing it as possible."
"How do you win it?"
"You don't. There is no way to win the Game. You can only lose the Game. Whenever you think of it, you say aloud, 'I've lost the Game.' And that reminds everyone around you of the Game, and then they've lost the Game, too. And then everyone has a half hour in which they try to forget all about. And that's it--until the next time you remember it." She smiled at me.
I thought this over and laughed a little. "Teenagers."
"Yeah. All my friends are playing it now."
"But now that you've told me about it . . ." I said slowly.
She smiled even more broadly. "Yeah, exactly. You're playing the Game now, too."
I started to laugh. I laughed harder and harder. "And since I've thought of it, now I've lost the Game."
choralgirl sat down next to me. "Lost what game?" she asked.Fiona and I looked at her. And smiled. "Well, you see," I said to her, "the point of the Game is to get as many people playing it as possible . . . "
(You do realize what this means, friends list? Yes. You are now all playing the Game.)
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(no subject)
Date: 2008-02-15 06:09 am (UTC)I don't know why I haven't heard about this one before. Thanks for mentioning it. PS: I lose.
My further thoughts on The Game are bloggified at http://gameshelf.jmac.org/2008/02/i-lose.html .
(The other *non*-popular minimal game I know is Mind Chess: players alternate saying "check" or "mate". The first player to say "mate" is the winner. But only if he says "mate" *right before the other player was going to.* It's a cute idea, but hard to play without cheating.)
I suppose Nomic is another well-known minimal game, if you scrap the classical two-tier voting setup and just start with "All players must agree on any change to the rules."