Previously: How To Meet Yourself In A Parallel World.
The ritual game known as El Juego de la Ventana — or, in English, the Window Game — is one of those games that’s deceptively simple to play: All you really have to do is close the curtains in your room before you go to bed, and then stay up all night while pretending to be asleep.
But just because the actions are simple doesn’t mean the game is simple. Those actions, you see, are said to summon an… entity of some sort. One that will knock on your window all night long. As long as you don’t open your eyes, look, or get out of bed, you win. But resisting the temptation to do so? That’s easier said than done.
[Like what you read? Check out Dangerous Games To Play In The Dark, available from Chronicle Books now!]
The Spanish language rules for El Juego de la Ventana seem to have begun circulating the internet sometime around 2013; interestingly, many of these early versions were passed around specifically on Facebook, as seen in this post from October 2013 and this one from December of that same year. However, it wasn’t until 2014 that it really took off, making its way across the internet, blog by blog and social network by social network in fairly quick order.
These days, you’re more likely to encounter el Juego de la Ventana in video form than in written form; it’s still frequently performed by YouTubers, and it’s all over TikTok, as well. It’s even started appearing in mainstream media: In 2018, the long-running Uruguayan paranormal television series Voces Anónimas (Anonymous Voices) featured it in an episode, and in 2021, Argentinian filmmaker Ariel Luque released a short film based on the game.
The Window Game seems to have been somewhat less popular in English; I’ve only seen it adapted a few times — once on Reddit in 2020, with another mention and link to a Spanish language source in April of 2024, and a short stub of a post published in 2023 to a Wiki that… doesn’t really have a ton of other content on it. Why the lack of popularity with English speakers? I’m not really sure; I’ve considered the fact that it’s so simple and bare bones as a possible factor, but then again, lots of other bare bones rituals have taken off in English, so who’s to say, really?
Regardless, here’s how to play the Window Game. As always, though: Play at your own risk.
Players:
- One principal.
Requirements:
- A dark, quiet room in which to sleep.
- In the dark, quiet room, at least one window.
- On the windows, curtains, blinds, or similar.
- A calendar.
Instructions:
Preparing For Bed:
- First, determine when you will play. Consult your calendar, and choose the final day of any month. Mark your calendar, set a reminder, and/or make any other preparations you require.
- Wait until your chosen date.
- When that date finally arrives, go about your day as usual.
- Sometime during the day, open both the curtains and the window inside the room in which you intend to play.
- Wait until night falls.
- When it is well and truly dark out, and when it is almost your bedtime, go to your dark, quiet room.
- Enter the room, and close the door behind you.
- Approach the window.
- NOTE: If the window is NOT open, DO NOT PROCEED.
- Close the window. However, do not simply pull it shut. Close it carefully, the way you would if you were suspicious of something or someone that might be lurking outside of it, just out of sight. Close it as if you were waiting for something — as if the presence of the open window itself were suspicious.
- Close the curtains in the same manner.
- If the lights are on, turn them off.
- Get into bed.
- Close your eyes.
- But do not — DO NOT — fall asleep.
Going To Sleep:
- Now: Pretend to be asleep. Make your ruse as realistic-looking and believable as possible.
- Do not open your eyes.
- Do not get out of bed.
- Do not actually fall asleep.
- Wait.
- Keep pretending.
- Wait.
- Even if you hear nothing but silence, wait.
- Keep pretending. Do not open your eyes. Do not get out of bed. Do not actually fall asleep.
- If you begin to hear a slight… tapping sound — a tap-tap-tapping at your window — stay calm. Do not open your eyes. Do not get out of bed. Keep pretending to be asleep.
- The tapping sound may continue.
- Do not open your eyes. Do not get out of bed. Keep pretending.
- The tapping may get louder. It may turn into a rapping. It may turn into a thumping. It may become so loud, it sounds as if your window is about to shatter from the force of the blow.
- Keep pretending to be asleep. Do not open your eyes. Do not get out of bed.
- The din may cease. It may do so gradually, or it may do so suddenly. But do not be fooled. Do not be trapped. The game is not over.
- Do not open your eyes.
- Do not get out of bed.
- Do not fall asleep.
- Keep pretending.
- Keep pretending until dawn arrives.
- But remember: Do not open your eyes.
Waking Up:
- How will you know the sun has risen, if you do not open your eyes? You must pay attention. Even with the curtains drawn, you should be able to sense a change in the light from behind your closed eyelids.
- When the sun has risen, and the noise has ceased once and for all, you may open your eyes.
- Congratulations: You have won the game.
- There is no prize for winning — no gift given or wish granted. You have simply… survived.
- Was it worth it?
- Was it worth the risk?
Additional Notes:
Most players choose to perform this ritual in their own bedrooms. However, it is not necessary to do so; you may choose any room, so long as it satisfies the window and curtain requirements, and so long as you may believably pretend to sleep in it.
It is NOT recommended that players utilize an alarm clock to assist with ascertaining when sunrise has occurred. It’s… perhaps not cheating, exactly, but not in the spirit of the game. It eliminates part of the challenge, and, well… what’s the point without it?
The game MUST be played on the last night of the month. Do NOT attempt to play it at any other time during the month. At best, it will fail. At worst, you will lose. (See: Regarding Your Guest.)
Some sources state that the game must be played not only on the last night of the month, but at precisely midnight, as well — that is, just as the calendar ticks over from the final day of the previous month to the first day of the next month. Should the ritual fail to achieve success when performed as written — that is, without a specific hour at which it is recommended to begin — you may choose to try again at a later date utilizing midnight as the start time, if you wish. Perhaps you may achieve better results; then again, perhaps you will not. Your mileage, as it is sometimes said, may vary.
It is not common for this ritual to succeed on the first attempt, or even the second, or third. Typically, players who achieve success do so somewhere between their sixth and 10th attempts. Should you hear nothing at all over the course of the night, it may be assumed that the attempt did not achieve success. You may try again, and again, and again, until you achieve success, or until you are no longer interested in trying.
When or if you do finally achieve success, it is possible that you may feel adverse side effects, including but not limited to: Dizziness; nausea; and/or a general sense of unease. These side effects may begin at the time the tapping at the window begins. Should you begin to experience them, remain calm, remember to breathe, and above all, DO NOT open your eyes or get out of bed.
Do not call for anyone to help you.
No one will.
Regarding Your Guest:
It is not known who — or what — might be waiting for you at the window.
No one has ever seen it, you see.
Or at least, no one who has ever seen it has survived to report back.
Those who have seen it made the mistake of opening their eyes before the game was over.
Of getting out of bed before the game was over.
Of falling asleep before the game was over.
And those who opened their eyes, who got out of bed, who fell asleep — they have not been heard from since.
Now: Do you really want to play?
Do you really think it’s worth it?
Think long and hard about it. Remember, there is no prize for winning, and the cost for losing is step.
Are you willing to risk it?
***
Follow The Ghost In My Machine on Bluesky @GhostMachine13.bsky.social, Twitter @GhostMachine13, and Facebook @TheGhostInMyMachine. And for more games, don’t forget to check out Dangerous Games To Play In The Dark, available now from Chronicle Books!
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