Humans claim sentience, but our actions say otherwise. How else do we explain the ever-tightening spiral into destruction that the species embraces? For a species that prides itself on thinking, neither foresight nor hindsight-or even insight-seem possible now.

A work of absurdity and grunge philosophy, The Game (War) of Illusions offers some understanding of humanity's significance as a role model to the universe. On a planet not unlike our own, a species of ant displays distinctly humanlike behavior, while back on Earth, humans insist on acting like ants. In both worlds,...