The Most Dangerous Games: Escalator To Another World, Or, The Escalator Game

Previously: Summoning Chizuko/the Attic Game.

Note: Please don’t copy/paste, republish, or narrate this post on other websites, video platforms, etc. without permission.

Like both the Staircase To Another World and Bathroom To Another World games, I’ve only ever encountered the ritual game I think of as, alternately, How To Go To Another World Using An Escalator, Escalator To Another World, and simply the Escalator Game, in Korean. This, of course, doesn’t necessarily mean it doesn’t exist elsewhere (I may just not have figured out the correct search terms, or the languages in which searching for those terms might work), but does suggest to me that it might be Korean in origin.

In any event, the oldest version of this game I’ve found dates back to August of 2010, when it appeared in a post on Korean social media site Naver among a list of other methods for traveling to other worlds — including the original Elevator Game, the salt water variation of the Elevator Game, the Staircase Game, and the Bathroom To Another World game. (These kinds of games tend to run in packs.) It also has a few similarities with some of those other games: You might, for instance, run into someone or something on the escalator your journey reminiscent of the woman on the fifth floor in the Elevator Game — something that looks like a person, but isn’t actually a person at all. It’s also slightly unclear whether the function of this game really is to deposit you in another world, or whether it’s to facilitate a meeting between you and the not-a-person, similarly to the way the Salt Water Elevator Game is meant more to allow you to see a loved one who has passed than as an actual travel method.

[Like what you read? Check out Dangerous Games To Play In The Dark, available from Chronicle Books now!]

There is, at least, a documented way to return from wherever the Escalator Game takes you. But there’s no guarantee it’ll work — so, as always:

Play at your own risk.

Players:

• One principal.

Requirements:

• A building with at least one escalator inside that goes up between floors — not down. The longer the escalator, the better.
• A timekeeping device (optional, but highly recommended).

Instructions:

Venturing Out:

1. Begin at any time.
2. Enter your chosen building and approach the escalator.
3. Step on the escalator’s first step.
4. Ride the escalator to the top.
5. When you reach the top, do not step off. Instead, walk backwards down the escalator four steps, then stop. Do not turn around.
6. Ride the escalator to the top.
7. When you reach the top, do not step off. Instead, walk backwards down the escalator eight steps, then stop. Do not turn around.
8. Ride the escalator to the top.
9. When you reach the top, do not step off. Instead, walk backwards down the escalator 12 steps, then stop. Do not turn around.
10. Ride the escalator to the top.
11. Continue in this fashion, riding the escalator to the top, remaining aboard, walking backwards down its steps in multiples of four, then riding it to the top again, until you are moving downward faster than the escalator is moving upward. (See: Additional Notes.)

The Arrival:

1. If performed correctly, these actions will eventually deposit you back at the very bottom of the escalator. When this occurs, do not ride the escalator to the top. Instead, step backwards off of the escalator onto flat ground.  
2. When you step off the escalator, look around. What do you see?
   • If you see others around you: The ritual may have failed, although it has not necessarily failed. Further observation is required:
     • If there are two or more people, creatures, or beings present: The ritual has failed. Exit the building and return home. You may try again another time.
     • If there is a single, solitary person present: The ritual has succeeded, but PROCEED WITH CAUTION. (See: The Arrival, Step 3.)
   • If you find yourself totally alone: Congratulations! You have arrived. You may safely explore this new world, although do not be surprised or alarmed if it looks somewhat similar to your original world. You may find small details to be different — the color of a chair, the shape of a table, the words on a sign — and it is these, these, which will reveal to you where you truly are.
     • Note: It is NOT recommended that you leave the building in which you are located. It is not recommended that you even leave the specific floor of the building on which you are located. Should you choose to leave either the floor or the building, there is no guaranteeing you will be able to find your way back again.
3. If, at any point, you see a single, solitary person present in the absence of any others, do NOT approach them. Keep as much distance between yourself and them as possible. (See: Regarding The… “Person.”)

The Return Trip:

1. To make the return trip, wait until at least two o’clock in the morning, but not later than three o’clock in the morning. Consult your timekeeping device at regular intervals to ensure that you have not missed this crucial window.
2. When the appropriate time has arrived, return to the escalator by which you arrived
3. Step on the escalator’s first step.
4. Ride the escalator to the top.
5. When you reach the top, do not step off. Instead, walk backwards down the escalator three steps, then stop. Do not turn around.
6. Ride the escalator to the top.
7. When you reach the top, do not step off. Instead, walk backwards down the escalator six steps, then stop. Do not turn around.
8. Ride the escalator to the top.
9. When you reach the top, do not step off. Instead, walk backwards down the escalator nine steps, then stop. Do not turn around.
10. Ride the escalator to the top.
11. Continue in this fashion, riding the escalator to the top, remaining aboard, walking backwards down its steps in multiples of three, then riding it to the top again, until you are moving downward faster than the escalator is moving upward. (See: Additional Notes.)
12. If performed correctly, these actions will eventually deposit you back at the very bottom of the escalator. When this occurs, do not ride the escalator to the top. Instead, step backwards off of the escalator onto flat ground.
13. When you step off the escalator, look around. What do you see?
    • If you see your original world — with all of its details correct and accounted for — congratulations; you have safely returned.
    • If you do not: You may try again in the chance that you may this time succeed.
      • But prepare yourself for the possibility that you will not succeed.
      • Prepare yourself for the possibility that you may be spending more time in this other world than you ever intended.

Additional Notes:

SAFETY NOTE: Walking down an escalator backwards is extremely dangerous. As such, this game should not be attempted unless you are willing to assume the health and safety risks inherent in performing this action. We bear no responsibility for any accidents that may befall players attempting this game.

Although this ritual does not require there to be no other people on the escalator while the game is in progress, it is best performed at times when there are no other people on the escalator. Attempting to play this game while others are trying to use the escalator for its intended purpose will cause difficulty for the player and annoyance for the bystanders. As such, it is not recommended you play this game unless there are no other people present who wish to use the escalator.

Traveling downwards in multiples of four may be understood as follows: During Venturing Out, Steps 4 through 10, players first walk backwards four steps, then eight, then 12 — that is, four times one steps, four times two steps, and four times three steps. If more repetitions of these steps are required for the player to reach the bottom of the escalator, as noted in Step 11, the next circuit would see them walking backwards 16 steps, or four times four steps; the circuit after that, 20 steps, or four times five steps; the circuit after that, 24 steps, or four times six steps; and so on and so forth.

Traveling downwards in multiples of three may be understood as follows: During The Return Trip, Steps 4 through 10, players first walk backwards three steps, then six, then nine — that is, three times one steps, three times two steps, and three times three steps. If more repetitions of these steps are required for the player reach the bottom of the escalator, as noted in Step 11, the next circuit would see them walking backwards 12 steps, or three times four steps; the circuit after that, 15 steps, or three times five steps; the circuit after that, 18 steps, or three times six steps, and so on and so forth.

Regarding The Return Trip:

There exists an alternative method for making the return trip. For this alternative method to be possible, the game must be played in a building in which there are at least two escalators moving between three floors — one going up from thefloor on which you have chosen as your beginning location, and one going down from this floor to another floor beneath it. It is recommended that the three floors be the ground level of the building, the next level above the ground floor, and a sub-level below the ground floor — that is, the floors will be positioned such that you will depart from and return to the ground floor both when Venturing Out and when making the Return Trip.

If your chosen building satisfies this condition, the alternative return method may be enacted as follows:

Between two and three o’clock in the morning, do NOT return to the “up” escalator on which you arrived in this other world. Instead, locate and approach the “down” escalator.

Step on the escalator’s first step and ride the escalator to the bottom. When you reach the bottom, do not step off. Instead, walk backwards up the escalator three steps, then stop. Do not turn around. Ride the escalator back down to the bottom, but again, do not step off. Instead, walk backwards up the escalator six steps, then stop. Continue in this fashion as described in The Return Trip, Steps 4 through 11 (see: Additional Notes), making the adjustments necessary to perform the actions on the down escalator, rather than the up escalator, until a) you are moving upward faster than the escalator is moving downward, and b) you have been deposited back on your original floor. When this occurs, do not ride the escalator down to the bottom. Instead, step backwards off of the escalator and onto flat ground.

Regarding The… “Person”:

If encountered, do NOT approach the single, solitary person.

This “person” is not a person.

This “person” is… something else.

Something not to be trifled with.

Something which does not like being alone.

Something which may not be keen on letting you return home…

***

Please don’t copy, republish, or narrate this post on other sites without permission (TikTokkers, that includes you). Linking to it or sharing the URL is fine (and encouraged!), as is writing your own unique version of the game based on your own research, but copying and pasting, republishing, or otherwise reproducing the text of this piece in its entirety or near-entirety on other websites without permission, or summarizing it without credit and passing off the work and research as your own, isn’t. 

***

Follow The Ghost In My Machine on Twitter @GhostMachine13 and on Facebook @TheGhostInMyMachine. And for more games, don’t forget to check out Dangerous Games To Play In The Dark, available now from Chronicle Books!

[Photo via Dreamside/Pixabay]