Waiting on the Ghost Platform

For one second the lights go out, and 1939 comes through.

September 15, the last train. The lights in the car go out for a single second, and beyond the window you see an old platform, lit. On the seat beside you lies an old ticket dated 1939. A telegram arrives on your phone: TAKE FIRST TRAIN FROM ASAKUSA TOMORROW.

The next morning you ride the first train, 19 stations from Asakusa to Shibuya. Led by telegrams that arrive in the dark of the tunnels and by a child's whisper at your ear, you follow a treasure hunt that was laid out more than eighty years ago.

PUZZLES THAT BELONG TO A SUBWAY

• One second of darkness: the screen goes dark, and only then a clue can be seen
• Mirror writing: read it in a window or a hand mirror
• Afterimages: stare at a figure for ten seconds and answer by what stays in your eyes
• A whisper at your ear: hold the phone to your ear to hear a quiet sound
• Then and now: compare the same station in 1939 and today

AT HOME, ON THE TRAIN'S TIME

• Home Ride: the stations come one after another at the pace of the real line, from Asakusa to Shibuya. You can skip ahead
• Every puzzle can be solved without going there. The app asks for no permissions, such as your location

SIDE STORY: EIGHT MONTHS AT THE TICKET WINDOW (one purchase) Eight months of Haru Manabe, ticket clerk at Shimbashi in 1939: how the riddle cards, the name tag, the secret code, the box and the letter came to be. Eight episodes, 17 puzzles. For those who know how the main story ends.

PRICE

• The prologue and the first four stations (about 60 minutes) are free
• The story pass (one purchase) opens the other 15 stations and the finale, removes ads and opens hints at once
• The free version shows ads that are not personalized. They never appear in the middle of the story or a puzzle

BEFORE YOU PLAY

• The screen goes dark for one second at a time. It never flashes
• There are dark scenes and quiet voices. Choose Gentle, Normal or Scary. There is no blood and no scene of death
• The whole story can be played by captions alone. The ear and afterimage puzzles have another way to solve them
• Do not use the phone while walking

LANGUAGES Japanese, English

This is a work of fiction and has no connection with any real railway operator. All characters, their families and the staff are fictional.