Classification: FH/0.0/AB/A2/X
Description: Artifact #1 is a cardboard box labeled "Bobog'tch! The Variable-State Sensorium Game For Children". This box was acquired from an estate sale in northern Mexica for 6400 Chiliguayan guaraní. The box contains the following items:
- one (1) eight-by-eight game board, square with rounded edges, with indented squares and covered in dark teal felt
- one (1) small wooden box containing sixty-four (64) identical glass googly eyes
- one (1) instruction manual
A brief perusal of the manual reveals an unusually complex number and layout of rules. In the briefest possible summation, the game is played by two players; each takes turns placing one of the googly eye pieces on a board square, attempting with each move to make the eyes watch those of ones opponent. Extreme care as to the position of the inner "pupil" is vital; a slight misalignment of the angle and/or proximity to the edge of the piece will open up moves for the other side.
If both players are not careful to keep their eyes on the board at all times, their pieces may go through "artificial mitosis", in which one googly-eye will spontaneously separate into two to four smaller eyes of approximately one-quarter the size. The method by which this separation occurs is not know, as it only happens when neither player is observing it. Tests run with kinematographs recording the gaming session resulted in a retaining of the original eyes, functionally equivalent to a stalemate in game terms.
At the point where multiple smaller eyes from opposite players have begun to inhabit the board, these eyes will begin to "eat" each other. The game at this stage partially plays itself, based on a Turing-like automatic process set up by the initial moves, but again only when the players are not looking. Game play is over when one player's googly eyes are consumed. At this point the losing player's own eyes are "eaten" as well, leaving only blackened sockets in their face; however, they do not lose their sight, and tests on losing players indicate that they retain the same grade of vision as they had with eyeballs present.
After the completion of the game, the remaining played eyes are to be returned to the wooden box and the entire game returned to its original packaging. Opening the cardboard box again after this reveals the original sixty-four large-scale eyes.
The manual also helpfully informs that the game's name is pronounced "bow-bahg-chuh," with an accent on the second syllable. It also strongly advises, with a notably more severe tone than the rest of the instructions, against swallowing any game pieces.
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