The Ansolina Apartments on Manhattan's Upper West Side is probably a reference to the Ansonia Apartments at 253 W 73rd St. This building has a distinctive Queen Anne exterior that some have described as creepy or grotesque. It was originally built as a hotel in 1927 by a group of the Freemasons known as the Levelers. The exterior of the building is covered in Masonic symbols. The Level Club within the building has the only true to size rendering of King Solomon's temple in the world.
The Elevator Game spread on the world-wide web in the show is limited to specific directions dictated by the simple function of an elevator. There is, reportedly, a real Internet game, called Blue Whale or the Blue Whale Challenge, that is much broader. It supposedly follows the standard structure of grooming, or duping, of victims, in that over a period of time victims are steadily and progressively persuaded to take escalating actions that start innocuously but culminate in a final action that they would most likely not do without the build-up. Blue Whale is allegedly responsible for the self-harming and even death of a number of players, mostly teens world-wide.