There exist in the world a number of games which you really shouldn’t play. You probably already know one of the most famous ones – Bloody Mary – but here, in “The Most Dangerous Games,” I’ll be chronicling as many of these kinds of games as I can find. Like, for example, The Three Kings, which comes to us from a Redditor with an… interesting past.
Three Kings is, at its core, a meditation ritual more than anything else… or at least, that’s how it seems to me. Exactly what it is might depend on your own perspective; it could be different things for different people: Meditation practice, conduit to the unknown, invitation to the supernatural… it’s perhaps whatever you need it to be.
Originally posted to NoSleep in 2012, this ritual is the one that led to the creation of the r/ThreeKings subreddit. Just, y’know… in case you didn’t know that that’s where it came from.
[Like what you read? Check out Dangerous Games To Play In The Dark, available from Chronicle Books now!]
At the original poster’s behest: Please don’t actually try this.
Players:
- One principal
- One partner
Note: Both principal and partner should both be mentally, emotionally, and spiritually stable. Do NOT attempt if either of you are having serious issues in your life. Do NOT attempt if either of you have consumed drugs or alcohol within the last three to five days.
Requirements:
- One large, quiet, empty room. A basement or cellar is ideal.
- A pack of candles
- A lighter
- A bucket of water
- A mug or cup
- An electric fan
- Two large mirrors
- Three chairs
- An alarm clock
- Fully charged mobile phones for both principal and partner.
- A place to sleep. Your bedroom is ideal, if playing inside your own home.
- A small object of sentimental value
Instructions:
The Prelude:
- Begin at 11pm. Do NOT begin if your partner is not present and/or has not been briefed on his or her role. Your partner should remain in your home for the entire duration of the game. If your designated room has windows, cover or block them as completely as possible prior to beginning.
- Place one chair facing north in the center of your designated dark room. This chair will be your throne. Place the other two chairs on either side of your throne, facing it, an arm’s length away. These will be your queen’s chair and your fool’s chair.
- Place one of your two mirrors on the queen’s chair and the other on the fool’s. The mirrors should be perpendicular to the chairs’ seats and facing both each other and you. You should be able to see your own reflection in each mirror from your peripheral vision while seated in your throne. You should not have to turn your head or move your eyes to do so.
- Place the bucket of water and the mug in front of you just out of reach.
- Place the fan behind your throne. Set it to medium or low – never high – and turn it on. Make sure it is stationary, not oscillating.
- Leave the room, but keep the door open.
- Go to your chosen sleeping spot. Set the candles, lighter, alarm clock, and cell phone next to your bed. Make sure your phone is charging and set your alarm clock for 3:30am.
- Turn the lights off, hold your object of sentimental value (your “power object”), climb into bed, and sleep.
The Main Event:
- Wake up at 3:30am when your alarm clock goes off. Turn off the alarm, but do not turn on the light. Keep a hold of your power object, pick up your mobile phone, light one candle, and return to the dark room. You must be seated in your throne by 3:33am.
- Do NOT proceed if any of the following occur:
- Your cell phone did not charge.
- Your alarm did not go off precisely at 3:30am.
- You approach the dark room and find the door closed.
- You approach the dark room and find the fan turned off.
- You are not seated in your throne by 3:33am.
- Should any of these incidents ensue, take your partner and any other occupants and leave your home. Do not return until after 6am.
- If you do not encounter any red flags, proceed. Take your throne, but do not look directly at either of the mirrors, and do not let the candle go out. Use your body to protect the candle from the fan.
- Keep your eyes focused at the darkness in front of you. Again, do not look at the mirrors and do not look at the candle. Should you have any questions you wish to ask, you may ask them now. You may or may not receive a response; if you do, your response will come from the direction of one of the mirrors. Do NOT turn to look at the mirrors. Any answers received should be taken with the proverbial grain of salt; one of the mirrors is the queen and one is the fool, but it may not be clear which is which. Also note that to whatever may settle in the mirrors, you yourself are either the queen or the fool.
- Remain in your throne until 4:34am.
The Ending:
- At 4:34am, your partner should call out your name to end the game.
- Should this fail, your partner should call your cell phone.
- Should this fail, your partner should enter the room and, without touching you, use the bucket of water and mug.
Concerning Failsafes:
If your body is suddenly moved, the fan will blow out the candle, ending the game.
Should you become lost or disoriented, your power object will guide your way back.
Do NOT ignore any of the previously noted red flags prior to seating yourself in your throne.
Do NOT attempt to stay in your home should these red flags appear.
Do NOT attempt if you do not completely and totally trust your partner.
Good luck.
***
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I didn’t understand… My aunt played this game but in that she didn’t use mug, fan, nor water in it… But still succeed in it… How come?
Well, I guess it’s because those things aren’t really necessary. The fan is only there if you need to end the ritual early, and the mug and water is there for a failsafe. It’s possible that she never got to the point where she needed to use those things, but still, it’s really dangerous if you don’t.
What would happen, do you think, if you sang “We Three Kings” during the ritual?
To be honest I’m scared but I also can’t stop thinking about the fact of how adventurous it may be what should I do???
What do we mean when we say drugs. Technically all medicine is a drug, as well as caffeine. Probably some more common food stuffs as well. Are we counting these things as well?
Mentally balanced thrill seeker? Is that even possible?
what would happen if one of the mirrors breaks?
If I convince someone to attempt this with me as their partner and then I leave their home as soon as they go to the dark room at 3.30 am, thus leaving them on their own, how screwed will they be?
depends on how mentally or intellectually powerful they are. let’s say they have a very logical mind – they understand that their biggest concern here is overthinking and they beside to err of the (somewhat) safe side and say nothing at all. they might not be screwed at all. but if you’re partner is like me and tends to freeze when scared and overthink things constantly then they’re probably screwed.
I’d say it depends on whether or not they end up falling into a trance. Thus, they are very, very screwed.
Does this really work?
No offense guys. You’re all entitled to believe what you want to believe, of course. The only thing that manifests either visually or mentally within this ritual is your own expectation. Some of this is fuelled by the implied seriousness of the instructions, some inferred from folklore and legend and the rest is simply to do with the way in which the eye and the brain function. Put all three of those factors into the same ‘ritual’ and you’ll come up with all sorts of visually frightening and intellectually horrifying results. The results vary because individual expectation and belief varies. The same thing occurs in each instance however. What differs is your experience and rationalization of the experience.
If your partner had to come into the room to end the ritual, should they also avoid looking into the mirrors?
you know i wondered the exact same thing. i’d assume since they’re not the “king” so to speak they shouldn’t worry too much, but just to be safe i’d avoid looking directly at the mirrors.
What would happen if you purposely broke the mirrors? Say combined this ritual with the dark reflection ritual?
What happens if the candle goes out in the middle of the entity answering your question?
Then you just cut them off. Since blowing the candle out in any way, shape, or form ends the game (I think).