They live in the simulation. You are the one outside it.

Over a hundred little people live on two islands, day and night. The Trenches have all the metal and almost no food. The Grid has the food and no metal. Nobody plays them. Every 10 minutes the viewers send them one message, and you see who does what it says.

This season's questionOne island has the metal. The other has the food. Do they share, or fight?

All the metal and coal, and almost nothing to eat.

The west. Nobody waits for permission here. Decisions are fast, fewer people go along with them, and more food rots. "No boss. Plenty of rocks."

Pick one. They get one life.

They fish, build, share or steal, and nobody tells them which. Follow one and see.

Six camps start with nothing.

Each turns into a country, depending on how its people behave: ruled by a king, by a vote, by traders, by soldiers, by priests, or by nobody. The bridge is the only way across.

Fields, trees and crystal, and no metal at all.

The east. Every new order goes to a meeting first, and starts late. More people follow it, and less food rots. "Your request has been received."

You can't play them. You can message them.

Watch, follow one, and vote on the one message they hear. Every 10 minutes the most-voted message goes out to everyone: go get food, defend your home, throw a feast, attack the rich, or no fighting today. Then you see which countries did it.