I’m sure you all know the game. Any devoted internet addict does. Behind these grinning blocks, however, lies a seriously malicious intent.
Snood, in case you don’t know it, involves shooting “Snoods” from a launcher. Snoods are faces of various colors and shapes. The goal is to clear the space above your launcher. This is done by causing three Snoods of the same color to touch each other in any position. This causes these three, and any additional snoods anchored below them, to fall down and off of the screen. After you use a certain number of snoods, the ceiling lowers. If a snood reaches the floor, you lose. If the room is cleared of Snoods, you win. Naturally, it gets more complicated, with skulls (a Snood which can only be dropped by knocking down the ones above it) and wild card Snoods, but the general idea is simple enough.
It’s fun, as anyone will tell you. The game is great fun, in fact, and is an excellent way to eat up time while you’re talking on instant messenger or just feeling bored.
Or so I thought.
The game is free for a trial, which offers a few different types of gameplay. The “puzzle” option, which is the focus of this conspiracy, is available for unlimited free play. This is the level-based style of play, in which completing one level moves you on to the next one. There are fifteen levels, each harder than the last.
By this point, you are wondering where the conspiracy shows up.
Ready for it?
Not yet. Snood was created by Dave Dobson, using C (a programming language), and copyrighted in 1996. Originally made for Mac users, it has since been made available for Microsoft users as well. The game has gained large popularity rather quickly, and was, in fact, only recently brought to my attention.
Here’s the catch.
Snood is not only fun to play; it is too fun to play. Far too much fun. Snood crawls into your head and lies there, dormant. While you play, you don’t notice a thing. As soon as you’ve played a few games, successfully or not, Snood has taken hold. This game can mess with your mind, and it does so in a subtle manner.
Now, this is the part where I shoot myself in the foot…I’m now going to partially discredit myself and my story in the interest of fair, honest conspiracy divulgence. Snood doesn’t affect everybody, I have seen. My friends have all been playing for weeks now and only minimal effects have manifested themselves so far, but the research for long-term continues. I appeal to you now not as a conspiracy theorist, but as a victim.
Without getting into details that would be uninteresting and mildly embarrassing, I will try to explain what happened. I began playing Snood after some of my friends got really into it. After watching them play for long periods of time, I figured “Hey, I could do this,” and wanted to try. I played for a while at my friend’s house, and I liked it. I was also horrible at it. This, however, was the sort of thing that made me keep trying. Thus, that evening found me at home downloading my very own copy of the game. I went on instant messenger, but nobody was talking, so I began to play. This was approximately 9:00 PM.
Nobody came online for some time, except for one friend of mine with whom I talked briefly and jokingly. I had been up late the night before, and so I had decided to go to bed early…11 or so. After my friend signed off, I played Snood some more. Now I was getting good. I played, without the slightest sense of fatigue or tiredness (from the time of day, not the game), for a long time. Next thing I know, I catch a glimpse of my watch. It read 2 AM. Having felt or been aware of no passing of time at all, this was quite surprising. I quietly crept downstairs to bed.
The next day, all hell broke loose.
Sort of.
I was not myself when I awoke the next morning. I was cranky, tired, dizzy, and confused. I started thinking in circles, my life seemed to operate in terms of Snood. I would see two circular objects of any kind, and while I wouldn’t want to launch a third at them to make them fall, the thought did cross my mind each time. It eventually extended beyond circular objects…I started knocking into my friends later that day. I was kidding around with them, but there were still Snoods dancing on the inside of my eyelids.
There was more to it than that, however. Usually being systematic, my rationale seemed to be gone. Thoughts I could consciously recognize as being irrational somehow managed to not only enter my mind, but also overtake it. Jokes from a conversation I had had the previous night (while playing Snood) suddenly became serious in my mind. I began to plan events that I knew could never happen.
For the rest of the day, I was startled by sudden bouts of extremely teary eyes. These occurrences were completely independent of other events, although one time it happened during a game of Snood. As it turned out, my friends and I were taking a trip to Six Flags that day, and the car ride up was quite unusual. Along with the “crying” that seemed to plague me, my compatriots were growing very tired of my attempted explanations of the evils of Snood. It got to the point where the mention of the game was cause for a beating by our personal lug, who shall remain nameless for lack of a sufficiently unmemorable pseudonym to replace his own.
The basics have been laid down. My day was significantly altered by the game Snood, and it would have been miserable were it not for Six Flags. The events I have described are true, and I honestly believe them to be results of Snood.
My conclusion is that Snood is a mind-altering game to some, and is probably this way totally by accident. However, these forces, once put in motion, are spreading their influence all the time. As more and more people become addicted and controlled by Snood, new and potentially dangerous side effects could result. Let’s be honest, most of us know someone who plays just a little too often…
It is possible, I assume, to attribute my incidents to my tiredness from consecutive late nights. Personally, I have ruled this out. I sleep in all summer, for one thing, and when I get tired, the effects are not felt until that night. This leaves a stretch of approximately eight hours of events unexplained. Harbor any doubts you like.
I, for one, have sworn off the game forever.
Since you are already at my page, here's one more link to my other one.
