I've gone and lost The Game

February 19, 2005 4:55 AM

The Game is a harsh mistress. I really suck at The Game. It never leaves my mind. So I've decided to share our little game with all of you. You now have a half hour to try to forget about The Game. If it crosses your mind outside of the thirty minute grace period, you lose the game. It is important to note that is impossible to win the game
posted by blasdelf (62 comments total)

Honk if you already knew about the game!
posted by blasdelf at 4:56 AM on February 19, 2005

Hey, that's really wicked, man. And... uh, what were we talking about? Say, we're out of chocolate chip cookies, bummer.
posted by jfuller at 5:01 AM on February 19, 2005

You bet your sweet ass I am!

(Oh wait, sorry, wrong game. Never mind.)
posted by Mike D at 5:08 AM on February 19, 2005

I suffer from CRS and therefore have no trouble winning whatever this thing is we were talking about. Therefore I'm a much bigger fan of Mornington Crescent.
posted by sninky-chan at 5:17 AM on February 19, 2005

This makes the Sandwich Club seem playful and innocent. I think my brain's about to explode.
posted by neckro23 at 6:05 AM on February 19, 2005

Damn. I lost the game already.
posted by edverb at 6:10 AM on February 19, 2005

I'll just put "Think of Game" on my to-do list, thereby ensuring certain victory since I never, ever look at my to-do list.
posted by taz at 6:20 AM on February 19, 2005

You can in fact win the Game, but not if you are obsessed with "winning." The Game is subversive to people with a must-win mentality because it twists any attempt to win into an automatic loss. The irony of the game is that most people do win -- but they do not enjoy their victory, because they achieve it by not caring about the Game at all. So it's not that it is impossible to win; it is only impossible to enjoy winning. You can, however, make yourself indefinitely miserable about losing :-)
posted by localroger at 6:20 AM on February 19, 2005

The Game.
posted by kenko at 6:38 AM on February 19, 2005

My life has just been ruined. I have about 26 minutes left to ruin the lives of every other game-playing friend I have.

Gah. Great link.
posted by andreaazure at 6:49 AM on February 19, 2005

The catatonic stupor after downing a bottle of tequila is your best equipment for winning "The Game". I see a set of commercials Sauza Tequila sort of like the Nike ads but with more drunken vomiting and waking up to your wallet gone after a memorable romp with a bar fly.
posted by substrate at 6:53 AM on February 19, 2005

To everyone out there who is reading this but still silightly confused about 'The Game', understand that simply understanding what the Game is will enter you into the Game. So if you are still confused and don't necessarily want to be in the Game then stop reading now before you end up understanding the Game!

Oh, and blasdelf - thanks for entering me into the Game!
posted by Jase_B at 6:55 AM on February 19, 2005

Aha, so THAT's what that was. I once had a group of acquaintances who were playing it and I refused to embarrass myself by asking what the hell they were doing. All hail Wikipedia.
posted by TheWash at 6:57 AM on February 19, 2005

The game is fun, but does four links to a single Wikipedia article a good FPP make?
posted by Plutor at 7:05 AM on February 19, 2005

Damn. I lost the game already.


What game?
posted by Quartermass at 7:07 AM on February 19, 2005

The game is fun, but does four links to a single Wikipedia article a good FPP make?

Yes it does Mr. Wet Blanket
posted by Quartermass at 7:09 AM on February 19, 2005

I'll see you in metatalk asshole.
posted by kenko at 7:12 AM on February 19, 2005

That's it man...game over, man...game over!
posted by googly at 7:28 AM on February 19, 2005

I hate you now.




[this is good]
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 7:36 AM on February 19, 2005

It's worth pointing out that this entire post could simply be a ploy by blasdelf to advance his position in The Game. By raising the Mefi community's awareness of the game and then going on a five-day drinking binge, blasdelf can significantly advance his position in The Game.
posted by ThusSpakeZarathustra at 7:41 AM on February 19, 2005

damn it ... i'm still trying to figure out what one hand clapping sounds like, still trying to figure out if god can make a rock so big he can't lift it, and still trying to figure out why hot dogs come in packages of 10 and hot dog buns come in packages of 8

and now i've got this to deal with too ... thanks ... thanks a lot, blasdelf ... grrrrrrr
posted by pyramid termite at 8:03 AM on February 19, 2005

The sound of the game
Is that of one stick slapping
no ice, and no puck.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 8:12 AM on February 19, 2005

I've been like, totally kicking The Game's ass my entire life...until today...when I found out what The Game is.
posted by sexymofo at 8:25 AM on February 19, 2005

My life was like that scene in The Game when Michael Douglas jumps off the building and right before he crashes through the glass and lands on the inflatable pad. That split second was how I lived my life until I read this post.
posted by Arch Stanton at 8:36 AM on February 19, 2005

I'm still winning the game. My secret? I'm a Mac user. I just told myself that it was Windows-only. Now I have no need to think of it ever again.
posted by papercake at 8:39 AM on February 19, 2005

The Ring
posted by jaronson at 8:45 AM on February 19, 2005

It's boring. The rules don't change with every turn...
posted by kika at 8:47 AM on February 19, 2005

The only way to win The Game is not to play.
posted by SPrintF at 9:20 AM on February 19, 2005

I had a very cunning friend who would introduce the game to people at critical times in their lives. He used a trick whereby the moment people would start to spin out and say to themselves "I can never escape" he would start to implant catch phrases or 'reverse mnemonics' [sorry can't think] and start saying "friends, cookies, drinks, beer, 'one beer please', how much does that cost' and so on. I guess he was just desperate to be less of a loser...
posted by labyrinthinedreams at 9:28 AM on February 19, 2005

I've been playing this with my six year old brother for about a year now. He loses about once a day, on average.
posted by ohio at 9:29 AM on February 19, 2005

I suffer from CRS and therefore have no trouble winning whatever this thing is we were talking about. Therefore I'm a much bigger fan of Mornington Crescent.

Ahh, thank the great lord for BBC listen again.
posted by 13twelve at 9:29 AM on February 19, 2005

The first part of the game is easy, but the end boss is hard.
posted by The Cardinal at 9:42 AM on February 19, 2005

holy shit this is annoying. great post!

ohio: but you lost now, right?
posted by mr.marx at 9:50 AM on February 19, 2005

Man, I've been wanting to get a game of nomic going for ages. It's hard to convince people to get in on that, though.
posted by vernondalhart at 10:03 AM on February 19, 2005

Vernondalhart: I'll play. Can we set it up as an lj or something simple?
posted by Baby_Balrog at 10:33 AM on February 19, 2005

If there is one thing I thought I would never, ever, nerver, nevenen, neverino show up on MeFi. This made my day and now will be harrassing my friends who also play, and will soon lose, The Game.
posted by tittergrrl at 10:46 AM on February 19, 2005

I heard about the game while waiting at ... Ealing Broadway... so of course my choices in The Real Game were then limited. I took advantage of the 1902 rules defining transfers while learning rules to other games, but that still forced me to play...

Kings Cross
posted by bonaldi at 10:55 AM on February 19, 2005

Man, I've been wanting to get a game of nomic going for ages. It's hard to convince people to get in on that, though.

Strangely, I have the same problem with Calvinball, which sounds at least equally as fun...
posted by UbuRoivas at 11:01 AM on February 19, 2005

I win since I didn't click the link and have no clue what you all are talking about.
posted by dabitch at 11:02 AM on February 19, 2005

So, I lost. I checked Metafilter again, as I usually do, and I scroll down.... and see this news post again.

ARGH.
posted by andreaazure at 11:04 AM on February 19, 2005

Used to play a game called spleenball in school hallways using binders as raquets and any sort of bouncy ball you could find.
posted by The Cardinal at 11:04 AM on February 19, 2005

Strangely enough, we just held a class-wide game of nomic the other day. I really love my game mechanics class. We play board games for 2 hours, and then talk about it.
posted by JZig at 11:13 AM on February 19, 2005

So, I lost. I checked Metafilter again, as I usually do, and I scroll down.... and see this news post again.

Yep-- that's what got me, too. One moment of recognition-- 'oh, right! The Game!'-- and it's all over.

On the plus side, I broke even playing Texas Hold 'Em last night.
posted by Fuzzy Monster at 11:19 AM on February 19, 2005

Anyone know if The Game plays?
posted by runkelfinker at 11:26 AM on February 19, 2005

You insidious evil evil man, you.

I'm going to be losing for days now-- you just had to post this on weeked, huh? Nice use of your grace period.

Note to self: unsubsribe from the MeFi feed.
posted by cedar at 11:30 AM on February 19, 2005

I've been so busy at work lately I don't even think about my email, let alone something like MeFi - now I'll win The Game sixteen to eighteen times a day!
posted by mwhybark at 12:17 PM on February 19, 2005

We're all losing the game. I lose so constantly, my freinds and cohorts never get a chance to lose. I felt bad, so I decided it would be a good idea to give 20,000+ people a chance to lose, and lose miserably!

Oh, and some people play so that if you see or hear a mention of the game in context, you don't lose. The person who wrote it is considered to have lost, and announced it.

The other day a game-playing friend of mine said the words 'the game' about thirty times over the course of a minute or two. He did not think about the game until I screamed out THE GAME!

I envy his abilty to forget...
posted by blasdelf at 12:19 PM on February 19, 2005

I prefer playing 'Mornington Crescent' thanks!
posted by kenchie at 12:36 PM on February 19, 2005

Holy crap! The Game! I rock at this! My friends started playing it last year and are continually, um, "impressed" by my incredible ability to forget the thing exists. One will say "I lose", everyone else will follow with "Oh crap, I lose too", and I'll stand there asking what everybody lost and if I can help find it.

Finally, something that rewards those of us with terrible memory and five-second attention spans.
posted by Anonymous at 1:38 PM on February 19, 2005

Oh man, I just realized I've started to play the Game.
posted by nyterrant at 2:13 PM on February 19, 2005

Oh man, this is really annoying. I refuse to play this (and that's the best way to win, I think).

The psychologist Dan Wegner has written a really excellent book, White Bears and Other Unwanted Thoughts, that explores the phenomenon of being unable to forget something when you try to forget about it. (The title comes from a Russian game that must be the ancestor of this one: "Stop thinking about a white bear!"). I strongly recommend this book. Willed suppression never really works that well. Wegner's written a few papers relating this idea to insomnia: the more you think about trying to get to sleep, the less likely you'll be able to sleep (he calls it "the ironic theory of insomnia"). I experience this phenomenon almost every night.
posted by painquale at 2:22 PM on February 19, 2005

This game had to have been invented by stoners.
posted by mkultra at 2:24 PM on February 19, 2005

Maybe if I drink enough Crantini's it will help me forget the. . .
posted by Quartermass at 3:08 PM on February 19, 2005

I assert that it is possible to win The Game, it's just not possible to win The Game and to simultaneously know that you've won The Game. No?
posted by kcds at 3:32 PM on February 19, 2005

I just lost. Note to self: Never read this thread again.
posted by rxreed at 4:13 PM on February 19, 2005

Losing the game is my favorite!
posted by jessicool at 6:24 PM on February 19, 2005

I won.
posted by Eideteker at 6:56 PM on February 19, 2005

Pretty easy to win if you can't be bothered to give a shit about it.

Presuming I live to 75 I should have a good 15,000 day or so winning streak.

Beat that, Ken Jennings.
posted by Ynoxas at 11:09 PM on February 19, 2005

Now Snaps - THAT'S a game.
posted by Summer at 3:03 AM on February 21, 2005

Played the game on my own this last weekend and noticed that every time I remembered the game it was because of reading (newspaper, comic) or hearing (radio) about someone who had trouble remembering something.
posted by Berend at 4:24 AM on February 21, 2005

damn it ... i'm still trying to figure out... ...why hot dogs come in packages of 10 and hot dog buns come in packages of 8

Uncle Sloppy has the answer.
posted by Mr Bismarck at 6:04 AM on February 21, 2005

I have a research paper due tuesday afternoon. due to the overwhelmed nature of my cognition, I'm going to have to change my topic to THE GAME...
posted by blasdelf at 12:55 PM on February 21, 2005