the Game meme has a biphasic lifecycle; it oscillates between a long dormant period in which it functions as an antimeme, and a short active period in which it attempts to spread. there tends to be a correlation between the length of dormancy and the subsequent transmission power
immediately after initial infection, or the conclusion of an active period, the meme attempts to avoid attention, burrowing into the subconscious; upon the perception of its trigger phrase, it activates, causing psychological distress which drives transmission to other hosts
this event tends to trigger activation cascades, which, in a dense-enough memetic environment can cause the spontaneous emergence of a reinforcement loop, as hosts share their distress, bonding in the process, prolonging the active period & hence the depth of memetic implantation
there have been attempts to halt the spread of this egregore thru memetic warfare, namely the astroturfing of a competitive meme undermining the Game's authority, declaring the Game to have been Won. ultimately the choice is each hosts; antidote availability alone is insufficient
many have probed into the origins of the Game, without much success; the epistemic consequences of the dormancy period's antimemetic nature make this mystery unlikely to ever be satisfactorily resolved
as with many games of this sort, the only winning move is not to play
this distress, while not linearly related to dormancy length, is motivated by the desire to Win the Game, which paradoxically is impossible, and not in the meme's interests. elapsed time between active periods comprises the host's Game Score, which they are motivated to announce