Overview

What kind of game is this?

Ghost Master is one of those games that defies classification. Depending how you look at it, it’s an RTS, a puzzle game, or just without a genre. It has elements that can at times resemble the Sims, Dungeon Keeper and Majesty. What is it exactly? What keeps me coming back to play it even though at no particular moment can I ever recall feeling a rush? Good questions all.

The map

A ghost

His epitaph

The whole idea in Ghost Master is to haunt places and meet challenges in those places. Most often, it’s simply a matter of cleaning up the unwanted mortal presence in those areas. As is befitting a game of this style, there’s a certain campy humor to it all but it is never overt and it never falls flat on its face by trying too hard. The humor is more in the setting and background style, rather than an active attempt at making a player laugh. It suggests, and succeeds in making the game a light-hearted experience.

A play session

Ghost Master can’t simply be reviewed, it has to be described to help place criticisms in context. Typically a review can get by only with supporting points, but this game is different enough to require the full play-by-play.

The first image that pops into many people’s mind is a need little action-filled RTS. After all, ghosts are generally dynamic critters who chase and pop out of floors, ceilings and walls. Even the intro movie suggests this kind of gameplay. Imagine our surprise when Ghost Master turns out to be more about puzzling out a scenario by proper placement of ghosts.

One of the many powers

Hey hot stuff where YOU going?

Ghosts come in a wild variety of types and have an incredible array of powers. Many of these powers are shared, but vary in magnitude. A powerful specter has a more devastating Spark than a gremlin. The ghosts themselves are actual characters rather than units. You start with a few but must unlock others. Unlocking the ghosts is often a puzzle – a specific task or situation must be achieved.

Ghosts are also picky. They have fetters that they become bound to, and these are very specific. Some are easily found, like the indoors or water, while others like murder, sleep or children are hard to find. Once a ghost is bound to a fetter, he’s there until you move him, release him or allow him to roam with a behavior command. As ghosts are used more often, they become trained and can use more complex commands. Once a ghost is in place, the player simply needs to determine what power level the ghost can use and the ghost will do his duty, affecting his specific area or room.