Dinner at the Asylum

The echo of an ancestral wail rises in the middle of an ordinary banquet. It is La Llorona —the Weeping Woman, Mexico's most famous ghost, who wanders the rivers crying for her children. An icy breath from the river has snuffed out every candle in the church. The darkness is absolute. Outside, the current carries a spirit that finds no rest; inside, the spirit has crossed the threshold.

In the gloom, a medium who knows that urban legends are real warnings tries to stop the creature from wreaking havoc. Meanwhile, a skeptical priest, clinging to reason, refuses to accept that his sanctuary has been desecrated. But the wailing demands an offering from the guests, and if its conditions are not met, no one may make it home.

Tonight, survival depends on your sense of taste. Your table will be served a series of deceptively sweet, comforting bites. But every round hides a trap: one of those bites holds the very essence of a tear.

If fate chooses you to receive this offering and you fail to recognize it, you will turn to stone. To face it, your mission is to swallow the tear and absorb La Llorona's agony without making a single sound or face. If your expression cracks, if instinct betrays you and you let out one moan, the spirit will know exactly where you are. The weeping will fall upon your table and the darkness will claim you forever. Do you have the physical and mental strength to swallow the pain before she finds you?

What was once a fairground game has become a trap. Lotería —Mexico's beloved picture-card bingo, with its iconic figures— has been shuffled by the Devil himself, and tonight you have been swallowed by it.

From the shadows steps El Catrín, the dandy, inviting you to bet your own soul without you noticing. Beside him comes La Bandera, the flag, who has spent centuries trying to win her ticket out. Both know the only rule of this underworld: the house always wins, unless you can read the cards in the dark.

To break the spell and return to the world of the living, you must play the game blindfolded. The traditional call of the cantor —the caller who announces each card— is dead; now the deck reveals itself only through your palate. A procession of dark bites, designed to trick your mind and challenge your memory, will arrive at the center of your table. You must taste the very essence of each figure and solve the riddle.

Dive into the textures and write down the name of each card. If your palate is right, you will win a hand against the Devil. But if instinct betrays you and you call out the wrong figure, your souls will be printed on the board forever, condemned to become the newest attraction of this eternal Lotería.

The dark, thick waters of the Xochimilco canals have swallowed your trajinera —the colorful boats of Mexico City's floating gardens— on the darkest night of the year. It has capsized at one of Xochimilco's most sinister places: the Island of the Dolls, where hundreds of old dolls hang from the trees.

Guarding this plastic purgatory rises the spirit of Don Julián, who welcomes you with a banquet. He knows the rules for surviving the island, but its true owner has already noticed you: from the fog, the drowned girl demands an immediate tribute. She wants new toys for her collection.

Your only salvation is the offering. If you want to see the dawn and not end up hanging by the neck from the branches of the chinampa, you must calm her fury. In absolute darkness, you will reach beneath your seat and feel blindly for the small remains of a toy. Your mission is to put it together in the gloom.

Get it right and she will spare your life. Fail, let instinct betray you and offer the wrong toy, and her cry will shatter the silence, flood the room and drag your table to the bottom of the canal.