The choking game is a challenge that aims to cause unconsciousness by lowering the supply of oxygen to the brain. When becoming conscious again ("waking up"), people often have a euphoric feeling, or a good dream. Most of the time, adolescents try this game. One of the reasons is that they want to experiment with other states of consciousness. If they do it as a group, peer pressure often plays a role. The practice seems to have started in France, in the early 20th century. After the second world war (late 1940s, to early 1950s), several authors described it.