The Game

The Game. It's the game that everyone is playing. It's the game that if you think about the game you lose. It's the game with several variations.

Rules at Lancaster

1. If you think about the game, you lose, and must loudly declare that you lose, by saying "I lose." After losing, if anyone asks about the game, you must immediately induct everyone in the area into the game by telling them these rules.
2. After losing, you get a thirty minute grace period in which you cannot lose.
3. If you die within this grace period, you lose forever.
4. If you die outside of this grace period, you get a patch, but you do not win. The only person known to be eligible for a patch at the current time is Phil Gunn.
5. TO KNOW THE GAME IS TO PLAY THE GAME (this should be said in a deep, ominous voice).

NOTE: Allegedly, if you die on your birthday, you win. Which conveniently would make Shakespeare a winner, but otherwise is not particularly interesting. At least a bunch of the LAN.06.2 Alcovians believe this rule to be false.

In reference to an event of staggering embarrassment for a young couple from LAN.05.2, the phrase "I lose" is often accompanied at Lancaster with a 'fingerjob' (using the first three fingers of the left hand to stroke the extended index finger of the right hand).

Technically, the above is actually a completely different game that is only lost when one thinks about the explicit details describing said event. Also, many people do not stroke the said finger; rather, they clamp all left-hand fingers (minus pinky) onto the right index finger repeatedly.

Apparently, a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, the game was actually played such that only one person could lose every half hour; nobody who heard that person lose could lose for another half hour. The RAs of that era are always telling students that they are playing "the wrong game." In addition, there was a t-shirt that a few RAs wore which said "You Just Lost" on the back.

Note: It has been suggested that if someone asks "What's a patch?" or a similar question after the explanation of Rule 4, the line"We're working on the patch" become a standard answer, because a) it's true, and b) it mimics the response of software developers to the pointing out of a bug in the software, i.e. "We're working on a patch for that."

The Post-Game

A small number of students at LAN 07.1 began playing "The Post-Game" which worked in a very similar manner to The Game. All rules of The Game applied, except that one could only lose The Post-Game after losing The Game. After the traditional "I lose!" announcement upon losing The Game, Post-Game players would add, "I also lose The Post-Game." Despite efforts to popularize this new game, The Post-Game failed to become a success; it's future at CTY remains in doubt.

Rules at Carlisle

The Game was a game played primarily by the Cult of Godzilla; however, it quickly spread throughout campus in 06.2. Of course, everyone is playing The Game, but all members of the Cult were definitively cognizant of that fact.

The Game was in existence at Carlisle 05.2, at least in The Sixties, so it predates the Cult of Godzilla.

RA Ian, who has been declared medically dead five times, is reported to have more points than anyone in history.

General Rules

There are slight differences between the Cult and the General rules, mainly in that the general rules are less comprehensive.

1. You are always playing the game.
2. Every time you think about the game, you lose for half an hour.
3. Dying gives you one point.

Cult of Godzilla Rules

The rules of the version of The Game that the Cult played are as follows:

1. You are playing The Game.
2. If you remember you are playing the game, you lose the game.
3. All losses of the game must be announced.
4. After losing the game, there is a 30 minute grace period, in which you cannot lose the game.
5. If you die within this period, you lose forever.
6. If you die outside of this period, you get a point. RA Ian is winning The Game, with 5 points, as he's been pronounced clinically dead 5 times. (Unfortunately, the definition of "clinically dead" has changed since he died, from a stopped heart to a blank brainscan.)
7. If you die within the period, and then inexplicably come back to life as a zombie, you are NOT allowed to play, as you have lost forever (and forever is a loooooooong time).

Also, if you haven't by now, you lose the game.

In Ancient Greek (CAR.06.01), of which many members of the Cult were a part of, the Game became a source of major class disruptance, with one half of the class attempting to make the other half lose the Game. This resulted in "total and utter bannination" of the game in the classroom. This rule was not greatly enforced, as both the instructor and the TA both secretly enjoyed the Game.

(Future) Rules at Los Angeles

As of 2006 The game wasn't played at LMU, but I and a few others are planning to teach it to everyone in 2007. Help would be appreciated from anyone else going to LMU in 2007. The rules should be pretty much the same as everywhere else, except with a 42 minute grace period instead of just 30 minutes. This is important because of the clock tower at LMU, which rings every 15 minutes. This would probably cause everyone to lose exactly every half hour when they heard the bell, and The game would be boring. 42 minutes should allow for much more random game-losing, and anyway, we like 42.

• The Game was indeed played in 07.2 LMU. The rules that I'd heard were a 30-minute grace period...

ECPI College of Technology rules

At the various ECPI campuses across the east coast, there are a few variations to the rules:

• 1. If you think about the game, you lose.
• 2. To know the game is to play the game.
• 3. Knowing and not playing is living in denial, rule 2 is unbreakable.
• 4. When you lose, announce your loss. There is no grace period, and by effect everyone within hearing distance loses. This is unavoidable.
• 5. The only way to win is to forget, and to know you won is to lose. To win, you can't know you won.
• 6. Tom Cruise is permanently banned from ever winning. Even if he doesn't know about the game, he loses.
• 7. Chuck Norris ALWAYS WINS, even if he thinks about the game. If you've beaten Chuck Norris at the game, it's obvious you don't know the rules.
• 8. If you die while thinking about the game, you lose forever.
• 9. If you die without thinking about the game, you win. However, in the afterlife, you keep playing, so you lose if you remember.
• 10. There is no rule 10.
• 11. If someone asks about the game, you must explain the game, and that the individual has now lost the game, as well as everyone within earshot.
• 12. The point of the game is to get more people to play the game. Winning and losing is not important, but finding new and creative ways to make people lose the game is.

The game has been played at the Virginia Beach campus since at least 2005. Any other campuses may have played it; if you are from another campus, please list yourself here.

Elsewhere (External Links)

The Game is, in fact, not CTY-specific, as proven by this Wikipedia article as well as this site about The Game. Read them for more info.

Wikipedia Debate on The Game

However, the Wikipedia article is currently in a perpetual state of deletion and re-creation, as there is a fierce debate over whether or not The Game fits with Wikipedia standards. (Apparently whoever originally wrote the article was too lazy to find multiple sources.) All CTYers should feel obligated to go onto the page's Talk section and support the pro-gamers!

Game Losing Boxers

Extremely relevantly, there are game-losing boxers, which everybody absolutely needs to have for BLT.

See Also

The Really Game