Parenting

The Elevator Game — What To Know And Why You Shouldn't Play

Updated: November 23, 2021

Originally Published: May 11, 2020

Daan Stevens/Unsplash

Why do people love to scare themselves? Everyone loves an adrenaline rush. The currently trendy (but certainly not new) way people are getting their hearts racing outside of Halloween is with a game called “The Elevator Game” or “Elevator To Another World.” The game seems to have originated in Korea and seems creepy as hell. If you think you’re the only one searching for this, uhh, you’re not. According to the latest search data available, the Elevator Game is searched for 33,100 times a month. A MONTH! If you follow the rules carefully, a couple of things may happen. You might meet a woman (who will enter the elevator and who you should apparently ignore at all costs) and, if you get off on the 10th floor, you might enter another world.

Listen: Elevators are relatively safe inventions. They’re meant to go up and down in all kinds of orders with numerous stops. Playing this game probably isn’t putting any extraordinary stress on the elevator. That said, you’ll be in the elevator for an extended period of time, and that always comes with greater risk — what if there’s a fire or the power goes out? An elevator is the last place you’ll want to be.

Plus, honestly, playing this game just creates a nuisance for people who actually need to use the elevator to go about their business. Also, on the off chance this crap is real, why on Earth do you want to summon ghosts or enter creepy other worlds? We don’t advise playing. However, if you’re curious, these are the rules according to multiple sources and creepy game sites, but with special attention to The Ghost In My Machine (because they didn’t include any creepy pictures).

Interested in more games? Check out our imagination games, free memory games, road trip games, Halloween party games, and more.

Needed to Play:

One player. (There are conflicting reports on if this can be played with others. One set of instructions we found says that you can, but to keep in mind that if anyone quits mid-ride, you have to start from the beginning.)
A 10 story building with at least one elevator.

How to Play the Elevator Game

Getting to the Other World

1. Enter the elevator alone. (Or with your friends, but no one else.) Do not get out on any of the floors. If any outsiders get on the elevator, you’ll need to start over.

2. Proceed to the fourth floor. 3. Descend to the second floor. 4. Proceed to the sixth floor. 5. Return to the second floor. 6. Ascend to the tenth floor. 7. Return to the fifth floor. When you reach the fifth floor, it’s then that people report encountering a young woman. You’re instructed not to look at or interact with her. She may or may not try talking to you, asking for help, or antagonizing you. 8. Press the button for the first floor. Two things might happen. – If the elevator descends to the first floor, exit immediately and do not look back or speak. – If the elevator starts to go up, you’ve been allowed into the Other World. When you reach the tenth floor, things might look slightly different. No one else will be there. The power might be out. Some players claim to look out windows and see only a red cross in the distance. If you choose to exit the elevator, you should ignore the woman’s attempts to question or stop you.

What happens if you talk to the woman in the elevator game?

If you’ve heard one thing about the Elevator Game from friends or well-meaning strangers on the internet, it’s probably not to acknowledge the woman in the elevator under any circumstances. There’s a lot of lore surrounding this part of the game. Some say the woman appears to them as someone they know. Some people swear that even just looking at this woman led to damning consequences (this writer suggests the woman “followed” them home). Is any of this true? You could test the theory to find out — but we sure don’t recommend it.

Returning From the Other World

If you choose to stay in the elevator and not explore, just press the button for the first floor and return home. You might have to keep pressing the button to get it to work.

If you choose to get off the elevator and explore, there are a few rules to follow in order to properly return to your home world.

You must use the same elevator you used to arrive.
Follow steps 2 to 7, finishing on the fifth floor. (Floor sequence 4-2-6-2-10-5.)
When you reach the fifth floor, press the button to return to the first floor. The elevator will attempt to return to the 10th floor, instead. Begin pressing other floor numbers to stop the elevator before you reach the tenth floor. Proceed to the first floor, again.
Upon reaching the first floor, check your surroundings. If anything seems off, even the smallest detail, do not get off the elevator. Repeat step 2 until things look normal. Once you’re confident you’ve returned to the “real world,” exit the elevator.

If you go ahead with the game and want to find out more about it, here are some “first-hand” accounts on Reddit you can read. And another one. If you believe in the paranormal, just reading about the Elevator Game and its aftermath will send chills down your spine. The concept of this game is so scary it inspired a Korean horror flick not too long ago. It also inspired this short film which you can watch on YouTube… if you dare.

Elevator Game Tips

This game requires playing on a machine that isn’t really supposed to be a toy. However, there are other dangers to keep an eye out for.

When messing with the paranormal, your phones and electronic devices may not work. So, make sure someone knows where you are.
You may become disoriented or forget which elevator you arrived in. Try to stay focused. It’s the only way out.
If you pass out or faint, you might wake up at home. But make sure you’re really at home. It could be the spirit world in disguise.
Again, say nothing to the strange woman you see. Don’t even look at her.

Other Games

Now that you know just how effed up and terrifying The Elevator Game is, can we offer a couple of other suggestions? We have a whole list of scary games, but these are our favorites.

Sara Sarita

For this one, you need two coins and a pal. Sit facing your friend with each of you holding a coin and ask, “Sara Sarita, may we join your game?” If you both get heads, that means she answered, “yes,” and you can follow through by asking her any question you want. Two tails are a hard no, and one of each means, “Maybe.” Does Sara Sarita know all the answers?

Devil Face

An unsurprising number of haunted games require that you play them at midnight. For Devil Face, you should wait until almost midnight, go into your bathroom, face the mirror and close your eyes. When the clock strikes midnight, you should open your eyes and see the devil in your mirror. Yikes!

Ouija Board

This supernatural parlor activity originated as a novelty item in the 1890s and quickly became the stuff of myth and legend. The game immediately took off, especially since some very convincing and opportunistic charlatans took advantage of unsuspecting victims. Can you use the board to commune with the dead? Meh, depends on how much of a believer you are. But guess that depends on how the game goes for you and your group.

Light As a Feather, Stiff As a Board

This game will make you believe in magic. Levitation has not been proven to be real, but you can create the illusion. Get a group of friends and have one person lay down on the floor. Each person places two fingers on each hand under the person’s body. Everyone chants “Light as a feather, stiff as a board” as they lift the person into the air. It may not work the first time, but when everyone lifts together, it’ll feel like picking up a balloon. Some say it’s a simple physics trick — when a person’s body mass is distributed amongst five people, it’s easier to lift them. But… it could be magic.

Concentrate

If done right, this divination game will reportedly reveal how a person dies. So, you know, if that’s your jam… here’s what you’ll need to do. Sit in front of another person, with your back to the person and your eyes closed. The person sitting behind you should lightly pound on your back while chanting a very specific “Concentrate” chant (you can find it here). Once the chanting is complete, the person behind you will ask you what color you saw. The color supposedly determines the nature of your death:

Red: stabbed
Blue: drowned
Yellow: poisoned
Orange: burned
Green: fall from a great height onto grass
Purple: suffocation
Brown: buried alive
Grey: disease
Black: old age and goes to hell
White: old age and goes to heaven

Movies About Elevators

Elevators do more than save us from taking the stairs. Thanks to the elevator game, there are also creepy movies about the isolatedness and eeriness of these metal contraptions. So if you’re not in the mood to play, queue up one of these films for an equally terrifying time.