The Most Dangerous Games: Yeongan Ticket, Or The Spirit Ticket Game

Previously: Polish Christmas Ritual.

Feeling brave? Like you might want to try to look at your world through a set of slightly more spiritually-attuned eyes than usual? Like you might want to try to see some ghosts? Here’s something to try: The Yeongan Ticket ritual game, or as I tend to think of it, the Spirit Ticket Game.

In the original Korean, this ritual’s title is rendered as 영안티켓 — but the key part of the phrase here is “영안.” This pair of characters is often translated phonetically as “Yeongan” — which, it turns out, is a Korean rendering of a Chinese phrase: “Yin-yang eyes” (阴阳眼), or eyes that can see ghosts or spirits. Indeed, one source I found for the game itself defines “영안” specifically as “귀신을 보는 눈,” or “eyes that see ghosts.”

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

Rendered less literally, we can take these various phrases — yeongan eyes, yin-yang eyes, eyes that see ghosts — to mean more broadly “the ability to see ghosts.” Combine that with “티켓,” or “ticket,” and bam — we can get ourselves from “Yeongan Ticket” to “ticket to the ability to see ghosts,” and then from there to the slightly snappier Spirit Ticket Game.

I first spotted the Spirit Ticket Game (as Yeongan Ticket) on Namu Wiki, where it was originally posted in 2017; however, it seems to have been making the rounds for some time. It looks to have been particularly popular in 2015,  judging by the volume of Naver posts I found containing it from that year — but the earliest source I found is actually dated 2010. This source is a thread from the version of Thredic that’s no longer accessible in its original form; luckily, though, it’s been preserved on (where else?) Naver. This makes the Spirit Ticket Game a contemporary of How To Experience Your Inner World, which also had its early days on Thredic circa 2010.

Here’s the thing with the Spirit Ticket Game, though: In order for one person to gain eyes that can see ghosts… at least one other needs to disappear. Maybe more than one. And you won’t have any say over which of you wins the prize and which disappear.

Are you willing to take that gamble? And even if you’re the one who survives… are you willing to pay that price?

I wouldn’t.

As always, play at your own risk.

Players:

• Five participants.

Requirements:

•  A large, quiet room. (See: Additional Notes.)
• A blackboard.
• A piece of chalk.
• A blackboard eraser.
• Nine chairs and/or desks.
• A candle.
• Matches or a lighter.
• A fire extinguisher.
• A random number generator. (Optional, but recommended.)
• A time-keeping device. (Optional, but recommended.)

Instructions:

Making The Preparations:

1. Before you begin: Assemble the five participants; gather the required materials; and, most importantly, determine when and where you will play this game.
   • NOTE: The game MUST be played between the hours of 7pm and 3am.
2. On the day you have chosen to play, bring all participants and requirements to the chosen location. Do not arrive before sunset.
3. When you arrive, make sure there are no other people within a 50-meter radius of the room in which you intend to play. Additionally, make sure that the room itself has no drafts or breezes blowing in the space.

4. Close all the doors and windows to the room.
5. Set the blackboard up at the front of the room, if it is not already present and positioned as such. Place the chalk and eraser nearby.
6. In front of the blackboard, arrange the chairs or desks in a square formation made up of three rows of three chairs each.
7. Place the candle on the chair or desk that is precisely in the middle of this square of chairs. Place the matches or lighter on the chair or desk next to the candle. Place the fire extinguisher within easy reach.
8. Now: Check the time. Is it at least 7pm?
   • If not: Wait. Do not proceed until it is at least 7pm.
   • If yes: Good. You may proceed.
9. Turn out the lights.
10. Let’s begin.

Making The Bargain:

1. Using the chalk, write the number 5 on the blackboard.
2. Using the matches or lighter, light the candle.
3. Now: Have each of the five participants sit in one chair or at one desk, as indicated by the diagram below. Make sure ALL participants are sitting facing outward, with their backs to the candle. Do NOT sit facing the candle. Do NOT sit facing each other.

4. Now: Wait. Wait at least a few seconds, or up to several minutes. Then check the candle.
   • If the candle remains lit: The ritual has failed; do not proceed. Clean up the space and vacate the premises. You may try again another time if you wish.
   • If the candle has gone out: You may proceed.
5. When you have confirmed that the candle has extinguished itself, examine the area surrounding it carefully.
   • If you see anything that has CHANGED since you lit the candle, including but not limited to:
     • The presence of objects that were NOT present when you began;
     • One or more of the chairs or desks no longer being aligned in the way you positioned them to be;
     • Any other objects or items having moved from where you placed them before you began;
     • Etc.
       • DO NOT PROCEED. Vacate the premises IMMEDIATELY. Do not return. Do not attempt to play this game again. Ever.
   • If nothing has changed: You may proceed.

Receiving The Gift:

1. Go to the blackboard and, using the eraser, erase the number 5 you previously wrote on it.
2. Now, choose a random number between 1 and 4. It is recommended that you use a random number generator, a four-sided die, or another similar tool to choose this number to ensure that it is, in fact, randomly chosen.
3. Write this number on the blackboard. Write it, and know that this is the number of participants who will not be leaving this room again. Write it, and hope that you will not be one of them.
4. Using the matches or lighter, light the candle a second time.
5. Have all participants sit back down in their chair or desk as before. Face outward, backs to the candle. Do not face the candle. Do not face each other.

6. Now: Wait, again. Wait at least a few seconds, or up to several minutes. Wait, and hope that
7. When the candle goes out, the ritual is complete.
8. Those of you who remain: Congratulations; you have now received the gift of the spirit eye.
9. But look around. Look, and see who is no longer present.
10. Look, and know that they will never be seen again.
11. I hope it was worth it.
12. Their loss is on you.

Additional Notes:

Due to the use of candles and open flames, this game should be considered a FIRE HAZARD. Take common sense fire safety precautions before playing, including but not limited to removing all flammable objects or items from the vicinity of the flame, keeping a functional fire extinguisher on hand during the course of the game, etc. We are not responsible for anything that may befall you as a result of playing this game.

Due to the requirements the room in which you play must meet — large, equipped with a blackboard and chairs or desks, and, crucially, empty of any other people within a 50-meter radius — the ideal playing space for this game is a classroom within an abandoned school building.

It may be permissible to use a whiteboard, dry erase markers, and a whiteboard eraser in place of the blackboard, chalk, and blackboard eraser; however, these materials have not been tested, and therefore success using them cannot be guaranteed. If you attempt to perform the ritual with these materials and do not achieve satisfactory results, you may wish to try again another time using the blackboard, chalk, and blackboard eraser as written.

Do NOT play this game if there are ANY other people within a 50-meter radius of your chosen room.

Do NOT play this game outside the hours of 7pm and 3am.

A Note On Survival:

Do you wish to play this game, but do not wish to undertake the risk required to earn the reward? You may do so using the following method:

1. Gather a sticky note and a red pen.
2. Using the red pen, write the names of the four other participants besides yourself on the sticky note.
3. Turn the sticky note over. On the back, use the red pen to write the word “TICKET” in large letters.
4. Before you begin the ritual, make sure you are carrying this sticky note on your person somewhere it makes contact with your own skin. Keep it on your person, touching your skin, for the duration of the ritual.

Note, though, that if you do not take the risk, you also will not earn the reward: Should you make the sticky note for yourself, and should you play the game with it in hand, you will NOT be granted spirit eyes. Using the one cancels out the other.

Additionally, should you utilize this method, you may experience pins and needles, slight paralysis, or other physical symptoms up to four to five times per month for an indeterminate amount of time following the ritual.

Should you choose to utilize this survival method, it is also worth asking yourself why you would even bother to attempt the ritual in the first place. Although, by using it, you will not disappear, you also will not experience the ritual in its fullness: You will not be able to receive the gift of spirit eyes, as you will have rendered yourself ineligible; nor will anyone else be able to win their spirit eyes, as you will have rendered yourself unable to be… donated to the cause, as it were.

Without the whole goal of the game being in play… what is the point?

Nothing ventured, nothing gained, after all.

It is not known what might happen should all five participants utilize this method.

If The Final Number Is 4…

…Then you may expect four of the five participants to disappear.

This is, obviously, a very high price to pay.

But the prize? It is also much greater than it is should only one, two, or three participants disappear.

Should four participants disappear, the fifth participant — the last person standing — will receive not just the gift of the spirit eye, but three additional gifts, as well. Precisely which gifts may vary, depending on the person — but you will receive four gifts total: One for each of your vanished friends.

Was it worth it?

Truly?

Only you can answer that for yourself.

But whatever that answer is, you’d best get comfortable with what you’ve done.

Because once you have made a bargain like this…

…You cannot undo 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!

[Photos via IDanielWaleczek, Bertsz, Mykola128, Pezibear, congerdesign (remixed by Lucia Peters)/Pixabay; Lucia Peters/The Ghost In My Machine]