Ghost Keeper is the ultimate troll game. Yes, you command both monsters and spirits in this management(!) game, and though a troll doesn’t materialise in these dwellings, you sure as hell troll the mortals; pranking them to vacate the haunted mansion or at least die trying. Set in 19th-century England, you don’t have to worry about indifferent teenagers snapping content, or pony-tailed scousers asking, “Is anybody there?”, but there will be some resistance.
Anyhoo, you’re the deviant in charge, and at your disposal is a group of fiends destined to scare the inhabitants. Operating like an ADHD-infused family of Sims, mortals will stomp around the place going about their business, and in a voyeuristic Hitman way, you’ll monitor their habits and place your best-equipped monsters to scare the crap out of them by moving around the gaff like nobody’s business. Just ensure you adjust the sensitivity settings of your mouse and keyboard, as it’s unnaturally hasty.
This is important as Ghost Keeper is a game about being patient and resourceful. Said mortals will go about their business like hamsters in a wheel, and you will intercept this by playing tricks on them to reduce their sanity levels. As it progresses, you can essentially murder them, which will have undesired effects for the living, but marvellous for you guys. Alas, there is a rival group called The Brotherhood get involved, who will no doubt influence New York’s finest (The Ghostbusters) in the future. These, too, are vulnerable to ‘pranks’ and deadlier ones, but they do bite back.
It’s quite a unique concept as, like the Hitman example, it’s not just about line of sight, but how resourceful you are with your environment. Items can be interacted with via telekinesis, or you can use the environment to your advantage to lower the mortals’ wits. It slightly reminded me of an old game on the Switch I reviewed years ago called Death Coming, though the comedy is darker here and less ‘cute’. It’s not remotely scary as you’re pulling the strings.
The developer, Quest Craft, sounds familiar, but their catalogue on Steam doesn’t ring any bells. Gaming Factory, on the other hand, is a prolific bunch, having covered JDM: Japanese Drift Master, Lesson Learned and a list of other first-person simulations, but nothing quite like this. Ghost Keeper will appeal to those who might be familiar with the old PC games like Dungeon Keeper (no, not solely because of the name), and those other sandboxes of evil that don’t quite translate onto consoles as well. The bottom line? Yes, it’s in the Early Access stage, and there’s a playable demo where you can try it. I suggest you do that.
