There’s the game, and then there’s … The Game. Nathan’s mother learned the game from her grandfather, who learned it from his father, who learned it from his mother, who learned it—well, you get the idea. Every generation was taught the game, so that when the Mayan calendar ended in 2012 there would still be someone to play The Game against Kukulkan.

The problem is, that person was supposed to be Nathan’s mom, not Nathan. Now the fate of the world rests on Nathan’s shoulders, which is a little scary because he doesn’t really know how to play the game. It’s becoming clear that his decisions in life affect the movement of the pieces on the board, but he doesn’t know how or why. Think about that: whether we survive into the next cycle of the Mayan calendar depends the decisions of a guy who can barely get out of bed in the morning.

You think it looks easy? Then play the game, and see how you would do against the god of all Mayan gods.