The Three-Body Problem

The Three Body game is a video game developed by the ETO in association with the Trisolarans. Wang enters the game, eventually learning that the premise of the game represents the plight of the Trisolarans. Characters in the game must solve the eponymous three-body problem, and their growing understanding of the problem allows them to progress to the next level. The association between understanding this problem and linear progression in the game symbolizes the complexity of the issue at hand. Only by understanding the three-body problem and empathizing with the plight of the people involved can a person advance in any meaningful sense. The number of civilizations that rise and fall during the course of the game symbolizes the complexity of the titular three-body problem. To Wang, the civilizations are tied to relics of human history. The mishmash of the past cultures seems absurd to him at first but eventually allows him to comprehend just how many cultures have risen up over the course of millions of years, only to be destroyed by a certain alignment of stars that they couldn’t predict. To the early civilizations, the waves of destruction are essentially supernatural. They try to hypnotize whatever higher power is inflicting these destructive moments on them.