The origins of The Game are uncertain. In a 2008 news article, Justine Wettschreck says The Game has probably been around since the early 1990s, and may have originated in Australia or England.[10] One theory is that it was invented in London in 1996 when two British engineers, Dennis Begley and Gavin McDowall, missed their last train and had to spend the night on the platform; they attempted to avoid thinking about their situation and whoever thought about it first lost.[6][8] Another theory also traces The Game to London in 1996, when it was created by Jamie Miller "to annoy people".[5] Journalist Mic Wright of The Next Web recalled playing The Game at school in the late 1990s.[11]