Some horror stays on the screen. These do not. Every entry in this series is a ritual that people actually attempt, usually after midnight, usually because somebody dared them. Below is every game we have covered, what each one asks of you, and the rules exactly as the legend states them.
Read them. Do not play them. Every article explains precisely why, and in most cases the reason has nothing to do with ghosts.
New in the series
The Elevator Game
A button sequence, a stranger’s building after midnight, and a woman who may step in on the fifth floor. The only game here that asks you to build nothing at all.
The Cat Scratch Game
Two stories told word for word, a hand on someone’s back, and three scratches that are not supposed to be there when it ends. The most played game in the series.
Red Door, Yellow Door
Also called Doors of the Mind. One person goes under, one person guides them through a corridor of coloured doors, and the guide is the only one who can pull them back out.
The Three Kings Ritual
Two mirrors, one chair, a narrow window in the middle of the night, and a rule set you are told to follow exactly. The most sinister of the sleepover-era games.
The 11 Mile Game
The one you play from behind the wheel, tied to New Jersey’s Clinton Road. Eleven miles, something waiting at each one, and a drive that gets harder to abandon the further in you go.
One-Man Hide-and-Seek
A doll stuffed with rice, a bathtub, salt water, and a game played alone in a dark house at three in the morning. The most extreme entry in the series.
A Note on Actually Playing These
We cover these games because the folklore is genuinely interesting and because people go looking for the rules whether or not anybody responsible writes them down. That is the whole argument for doing it properly.
But the real hazards in these rituals are boringly physical. Knives handled while frightened. Dark stairs. Driving at night on a road with a reputation. Trespassing in a building at two in the morning. Sleep deprivation, isolation, and panic. You do not need anything supernatural in the room to get badly hurt, and every article in this series says so plainly rather than pretending otherwise.
If you are going to play one anyway, every game here has an exit built into the legend, and the exit is the part people forget. Read the whole guide first, including how it ends. Play the two-person games with a friend who has agreed in advance to stop the moment you say stop. Skip anything that puts you behind the wheel, in a building you do not have permission to be in, or alone with an open flame at four in the morning.
The Games at a Glance
Not sure where to start? Here is what each one asks for, from the easiest sleepover game to the one we most strongly suggest you leave on the page.
- The Cat Scratch Game. Two or more players. A pillow and a quiet room. Risk: low. A Storyteller, a Victim, a short story about a cat, and a check for three scratches when it is over. Five minutes, nothing to set up, the easiest place to start.
- Red Door, Yellow Door. Two players plus an audience. Nothing but a dark room. Risk: low, with one hard rule. A guided trance through a hallway of doors, a list of things you must not do inside (no red doors, no man in a suit, no clock room), and a Guide who wakes the Player the moment they get upset.
- The Three Kings Ritual. One player with a friend on standby. Three chairs, two mirrors, a candle, a fan, a bucket of water, a cup, an alarm. Risk: moderate. Open flame, no sleep, and a candle lit at exactly 3:33 a.m. The rules run long and the legend says you follow every one of them.
- The Elevator Game. One player. A building with at least ten floors and an elevator nobody else is using. Risk: moderate, for ordinary reasons. A fixed floor sequence from a 2008 Japanese message board, a woman who may step in on the fifth floor, and a tenth floor that opens somewhere else.
- One-Man Hide-and-Seek. One player, alone. A stuffed animal, rice, red thread, a knife, salt water, a bathtub. Risk: moderate. Hitori Kakurenbo, played in the dark with a blade and a doll that has your name. The full guide covers the part everyone skips: how you end it.
- The 11 Mile Game. One driver, alone. A car and a long empty road at night. Risk: high, and not because of ghosts. The rules involve unfamiliar roads in the dark and, at one point, turning the headlights off. Read it for the folklore.
Paranormal Games, Answered
Are paranormal games real?
They are real in the sense that people play them and report results. Most of the games in this series trace back to internet forums from the 2000s and 2010s rather than anything older, and the effects people describe (scratches, trance states, feeling watched) have ordinary explanations that each guide walks through. That does not make them less fun at a sleepover. It means the legend is doing the work.
Which paranormal game is the easiest to play?
The Cat Scratch Game. It needs two people and a pillow, it takes about five minutes, and there is nothing to set up. Red Door, Yellow Door is the next step up.
Which paranormal game is the most dangerous?
Within the legends, The Three Kings Ritual carries the most warnings and the most rules. In the real world, The 11 Mile Game is the one to worry about, because its rules involve driving a dark road with the headlights off. Treat that one as a story.
Which game is next?
We add a new one whenever a guide is finished, and this page is updated the same day. If there is a game you want covered, tell us on Facebook or X. And if you would rather be scared from the couch, our picks for the best horror on Netflix, Shudder and Hulu are updated every month.