This thread is so random and full of overanalysis of the smallest things; I feel like I am back in my English class discussing why Kathy saying "I left" is a subtle reference to the title of
Never Let Me Go and how that shows Ishiguro's ideas on blah blah blah.

Actually, I could probably take a paragraph from the (rough draft) of my term paper for English and swap the word 'Camus' for 'Dave', 'absurdist' and 'existentialist' for 'water game,' 'L'Hote' for 'the game,' 'Daru' for 'the hint,' and 'the Arab' for 'FIRSTers' (plus a few other swaps) and have it make sense in this thread.
Joking aside, here's my thoughts:
All of the game hints share the general concept of determining information about the state of something from a distance without being physically there/connected to it. (IR remote detector, long/lat & google earth). So, I think this means that, while a robot makes its own path through the field, the course of a robot's motions are set at a distance (unconnected to the robot), which stands in opposition to the ideas of water games (ie radios don't work well under water).
In a central idea of the game hint discussion, FIRSTers are left with a choice: to follow the path to the unlikely, and a water game; or to continue with carpet, and face the truth of an incomprehensible hint. This choice acts as a sort of divining rod; every moment Dave presents us with with hints (jello, kites, bad jokes, etc), and, while a person's decisions may be influenced by outside forces (desires, other hints, fear), the choice of what to do is ultimately their's, and thus, the hints reveal the inner souls and desires of FIRSTers worldwide.
Hey, it worked!
