[Pic via Ars Technica]

There’s really only one rule to Brainball: Don’t think about Brainball - or anything else, for that matter.

On display at Wired NextFest this week, a game of Brainball is fueled by the brain activity of the two players. Each player dons a headband with contacts set to detect alpha and theta brainwaves, which spike with thought or concentration. One player sits on each side of the table, with a ball in the center. The ball will move away from whichever player is the most relaxed, with the objective of the game being to get the ball to your opponent’s end. In other words, the most relaxed player wins.

That’s the official way to play it, at least. Reddit user kasutori_Jack shares memories of a time when he and his friends switched the rules around, playing to see who could “lose” first by cranking their brains harder than their opponent. Jack eventually found one of his friends to be a formidable opponent; while Jack brandished math equations to amp his brain, the stalwart champion revealed that he had been conjuring up incredibly detailed sexual fantasies.

Whichever version of the game you’d rather play, anybody around the Chicago area can check out Brainball at the free Wired NextFest until they close up shop on October 12, 2008.

[Via ArsTechnica]