The Most Dangerous Games: The Paper Ring Game

Previously: The Four Spoons Game.

Ritual games that instruct players on how to go to another world are rife throughout the world of internet folklore. Many of them, however, are more difficult to play than they might at first seem: They require players to find a particular kind of location, to acquire weird or difficult-to-find supplies, or to perform actions that are straight-up dangerous. Not so, however, with the Japanese ritual game I’ve come to think of as the Paper Ring Game: All you need to play it is a sheet of paper, a pen, and some glue or tape.

Then again, it also requires a lack of a sense of self-preservation: There does not appear to be a return method associated with this game. So when I say it’s not quite as dangerous as some other ritual games that purport to transport players to another world… the term is relative.

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

One of the things I find the most interesting about the Paper Ring Game is that, unlike a lot of Japanese ritual games — particularly ones that originated on 2ch — it has evolved somewhat over time. There are quite a few different versions of it floating around; the oldest one I’ve located was posted in 2014, and there seems to have been a renaissance of sorts for it around 2021, but it appears fairly consistently on blogs and message boards spanning the past 10 years.

Each of the different versions are pretty short — brevity is the soul of wit and all that — but despite their truncated length, the alterations of key details of entirely change the end result of playing.

For instance, some versions of the Paper Ring Game specify that it transports you to a “2D world” — a term I’ve understood to mean a fictional world represented in anime, manga, video games, and other such media — while in others, the other world you’re said to visit is spoken of in much vaguer terms. Additionally, many versions stipulate that the pen you use to play should be red, while others state that you’ll have differing results corresponding to a veritable rainbow of colors. Some versions even position this game as a wish-granting or fulfilment game to be played over the course of three nights, rather than a straight-up how-to-visit-another-world game played in a single night.

Here, I’ve attempted to pull everything together into a rule set for the Paper Ring Game that will let you choose your own adventure, so to speak. I can’t promise it’ll work, of course — but whether you want to visit your favorite fictional world, or whether you’re in search of wish-fulfillment, here are some… options.

As always: Play at your own risk.

Players:

• One principal.

Requirements:

• A piece of white paper.
• A pen — red, traditionally, although other colors may be used for alternative results. (See: Achieving Desired Results.)
• Tape or glue.
• Scissors.

Instructions:

Choosing Your Destination:

1. Begin at any time.
2. Using the pen, write the name of the world you would like to visit on the piece of paper. If the world does not have a name, describe it briefly with a few words instead.
3. Using the scissors, cut the portion the paper with your writing on it from the rest of the page.
4. Roll or fold the paper with your writing into a stick or band.
5. Bend the rolled or folded-up paper into a ring shape. Fasten it shut using the tape or glue.
6. If using glue, allow it dry completely before proceeding.

Making The Journey:

1. Continue about your day as usual, until it is your regular bedtime.
2. Before you go to bed, place the paper ring on the middle finger of your right hand.
3. Now: Sleep. Do not open your eyes until morning. Do not get out of bed until morning. And do not, under any circumstances, remove the paper ring from your finger until morning.

Arriving At Your Port Of Entry:

1. When you wake up, take stock of your surroundings. Pay attention to what you see, what you hear, and what you feel.
   • If you notice nothing out of the ordinary: The ritual has failed. You may try again another time, if you wish.
   • If the air feels… different, somehow: Congratulations — you’ve arrived.
2. If the ritual was successful: I hope you’re happy here.
3. If you’re not… well. I suppose you can always try playing again, right?

Additional Notes:

There is no specific size or set of dimensions to which you must cut the portion of the paper with your writing on it; however, it must be large enough to be fashioned into a ring that will fit on your finger. The ring should neither be so tight you cannot wear it, nor so loose that it falls off when you slip it on. Plan accordingly.

Tape is recommended over glue, due to its slightly more reliable nature and the lack of necessary drying time. However, if glue is what you have, it will suffice.

There are no reports of what effect using a pencil for the writing portion(s) of this game may have on the end results. As such, it is not recommended that you use pencil.

Achieving Desired Results:

This game may be played in a number of different ways to achieve a number of different results. Below are the three most commonly sought-after result, and what adjustments to make in order to achieve them:

If you seek simply to go to another world:

• Play the game as written.

If you seek to go to a specific world depicted in media:

• Write the title of the media on the piece of paper in Choosing Your Destination: Step 2.
• You may also choose to write details about how you wish to appear in this world, such as your desired name, age, physical appearance, social position, etc.
• Your choice of pen color may also be used to specify aspects of your desired results — namely, your role within the world. The following colors correspond to the specified roles:
  • Red: Using a red pen indicates a desire for a deep friendship with someone already existing within the world.
  • Blue: Using a blue pen indicates a desire to exist in the world as a “mob character,” or in the position of a minor or background character or a person without a name or established identity.
  • Yellow: Using a yellow pen indicates a desire to exist in the world independent of those who may already be found within it — that is, you will have no relationship to or with anyone else already existing within the world.
  • Pink: Using a pink pen indicates a desire to develop a romantic relationship with someone already existing within the world.
  • White: Using a white pen indicates a desire to occupy the position of a supporting role to others already existing within the world.
  • Purple: Using a purple pen indicates possessing feelings of self-loathing.
  • Green: Using a green pen indicates a desire for someone already existing within the world to feel reliance upon you.
  • Black: Using a black pen indicates a desire for someone already existing within the world to… cease to exist.
  • Other colors may also be used, although their corresponding roles are unknown and therefore may produce unpredictable results.
• After making these adjustments, play the game as written.

If you seek to have a wish granted:

• Instead of writing or describing the world you desire to visit on the piece of paper in Choosing Your Destination: Step 2, write down your wish.
• Then, play the game as written through Making The Journey: Step 3.
• However, after waking the next day, repeat Choosing Your Destination: Step 1 through Making The Journey: Step 3 again — writing your wish down, making the paper in a ring, wearing the paper ring while you sleep, and rising in the morning — for two more nights. You will perform Choosing Your Destination: Step 1 through Making The Journey: Step 3 three times in total.
• After waking on the third morning, your wish will come true… or it will not. Either way, you will know. If you are not granted your wish, you may try again another time.

Regarding The Return Trip:

There is no known way to make a return trip.

Should you choose to play this game — whether to go to another world, or to make a wish, or for any other reason — be certain that you are willing to accept the results, whatever they may be.

There is no way to reverse them.

You may change them, if you’re willing to play again…

…and again…

…and again.

But there are limits as to how much manipulation is wise.

After all, everything breaks after a while, if you mess with it too much.

You wouldn’t want to break your reality, now, would you?

The Paper Ring Game: FAQ.

***

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[Photo via Brida_staright/Pixabay, remixed by Lucia Peters]