I haven't gotten especially far into the game, maybe an hour or two played in total, but it's an okay time-waster.
Essentially, you're a newly dead ghost who's managed to score a haunted house, and you have to scare people to gather the energy needed to keep you from passing on. The game starts with a basic tutorial and gives you an "easy" night to learn the ropes, then presumably, the difficulty ramps up over successive nights.
The graphics are simplistic and cutsey. Not gratingly so, but there's a definite feel that it was targeted at a younger audience, or maybe that was the aesthetic the game was pitched with, who knows? the isometric view was handled in a way that doesn't grate on my nerves.
The sound is inoffensive and pretty forgettable. It's well done for what it is, but nothing special either.
Gameplay wise, it feels like a cross between the sims and plants vs zombies, with your ghost navigating around an isometric "world" (really the haunted house and a huge plot of land around it), scaring the daylights out of anyone who ventures into his/her domain either manually, or through the use of "traps," ie: purchased assets that frighten people while you're busy elsewhere on the map. customization of your haunted house is handled through a purchasing system, which allows you to expand and upgrade your haunted house as you see fit. the navigation system could be better, and as stated before, the gameplay isn't exactly addicting.
Overall, it's a decent diversion if you've got twenty minutes or so to kill, but it's not something you're liable to invest hours in. A casual game to be sure, but something you could load up while you're on hold or waiting for a more graphics-hungry game to boot up. the five dollar price tag seems fair, though maybe get the demo first to be sure it's your thing.
Full disclosure: I played on Fedora 39 via steam's proton compability layer.
Thanks again to u/stalememes for the game code, and sorry for the tl'dr post.
Isn't that the game that Vivian James was made for and its production is one part of the entire reason Gamergate happened? I have it and I think that's why.
I don't remember enjoying it much, but I think it was a game made to get people to donate to charity originally so that's fine and the drama around it wasn't their fault either.
Either way, Ghost Master basically did everything it was going for better years prior.
that's the one, lol.
it's okay, more of a light-hearted time-waster than something I'd pour hours into, but it's fun enough for what it is.
You're very welcome. :)
Did you get to see Vivian James among the spookable guests?
not yet, I suspect she either shows up randomly or else late stage in the game, though, and I haven't played that far.
I remember the name, but not the game.
it's the game gamergaters on 4chan and reddit donated money to the production of, and what vivian james was originally designed for.