Item#: 7339

Containment Class: esoteric

Secondary Class: thaumiel

Disruption Class: ekhi

Risk Class: caution

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-7339's current guidelines, along with archived versions of past variants, are kept in the long-term data storage facilities of Site-823. To apply for access to a copy of SCP-7339's guidelines, contact any member of Site-823's Applied Ludology Research Team (ALRT-823). SCP-7339 guidelines should only be accessed by members of ALRT-823 for the purpose of research, or staff members for the purpose of personal training. Any staff member found to be Group-O should be referred to Site-823 for treatment. [Refer to ALRT-823 Project Leopard Hunt]

The risk of independent discovery of SCP-7339 by civilians is considered negligible, so surveillance of game development spaces is no longer a priority. However, copies of the SCP-7339 guidelines outside of Site-823 should be kept secure at the level of an active cognitohazard, and destroyed when no longer in use. [Refer to ALRT-823 Project Leopard Hunt]

Description: SCP-7339 is a set of rules for a game involving elements of storytelling, abstract strategy and risk-reward analysis. SCP-7339 can be played by a single individual, or by any prime number of players in direct communication. No physical materials are required for a game regardless of the number of players. Although there are no truly random elements within the rules, SCP-7339 involves many chaotic pseudo-random elements which make unintentionally repeated games extremely rare. The complexity of each game of SCP-7339 can be increased or decreased by a player to account for their current level of attentiveness and cognition.

The sole anomalous property of SCP-7339 is that its effectiveness as a source of entertainment or distraction does not significantly change after any number of games, even when played continuously over a long period of time. Individuals may have preferences for different styles or variants of play, including different numbers of players, and those preferences appear to be as stable over time as SCP-7339's efficacy. The longest-known period of time spent playing SCP-7339 continuously was approximately 12100 days1, for a total of an estimated 730000 consecutive games, with the player reporting no change in their enjoyment of the game.

SCP-7339 was developed by members of ALRT-823 to enhance the psychological resiliency of Foundation staff, especially those who may experience long periods of social, sensory or chronological isolation. Individuals are categorized into three groups based on their response to SCP-7339:

Group-U (Unsusceptible) individuals cannot gain any benefit from SCP-7339. This may be because of some severe mental impairment preventing them from playing, but more frequently it is a result of the individual personally not finding the game to be effective under any circumstances. An estimated 18% of the population is in this group.

Group-E (Effective) individuals can benefit from SCP-7339 as intended. The level of efficacy under different external conditions may vary between different Group-E individuals. An estimated 78% of the human population is in this group.

Group-O (Overeffective) individuals have an extreme response to SCP-7339, to the point where they will continue to play it in a way which significantly interferes with their day to day life and responsibilities. Group-O individuals may be recategorized as Group-E following psychological counseling and training, but otherwise should be treated via amnestics [Refer to ALRT-823 Project Leopard Hunt]. An estimated 4% of the human population is in this group.

The current version of SCP-7339 is the forty-ninth distinct iteration developed by ALRT-823. Previous versions still have some anomalous properties, but have much larger proportions of unsusceptible individuals.

+ ALRT-823 Project Leopard Hunt +

- ALRT-823 Project Leopard Hunt -

Project Leopard Hunt is an emergency initiative led by ALRT-823 to distribute SCP-7339 to the human population of Earth as rapidly and thoroughly as possible prior to the upcoming ZMK-Class "Lack of Escape" Scenario.

The following tasks are at maximum priority for ALRT-823 before Project Leopard Hunt's activation:

Translation of SCP-7339 guidelines to all primary human languages, including spoken interpreters when needed

Increase of SCP-7339 effectiveness for Group-E and Group-O individuals

Preparation of distribution and training networks to maximize exposure and reduce any resulting social disorder prior to the ZMK-Class Scenario

Reduction of the proportion of Group-U individuals, preferably through improvement of SCP-7339

Because the possibility of avoiding or delaying the ZMK-Class Scenario is still theorized by some members of the Foundation, Project Leopard Hunt will not be activated until 100 days before the Scenario's estimated date.

Project Leopard Hunt is currently planned to activate in 197 days.

Footnotes

1. Played by Dr. L. Conn, following a reversible temporal incident in Site-189