Midnight Ghost Hunt is a laugh-out-loud hijinks generator

Midnight Ghost Hunt has a premise that’ll be familiar to anyone who’s ever watched Ghostbusters or played Phasmophobia. A haunted place is jam-packed with spooky ghosts, and someone’s hired a ragtag team of ghost hunters to find them, destroy them, and then vacuum up their souls using varied loadouts of options.

Players don’t just take on the role of ghostbusters, though. Players also have the opportunity to play ghostbusters. Midnight Ghost Hunt’s 4v4 matches. Ghosts and hunters must work together to help their allies.

Spend some time at the Midnight Ghost Hunt beta, I’ve absolutely fallen in love with the game because it’s a hijinks generator. You can see the ghosts. Midnight Ghost Hunt are incredibly vulnerable, and have to hide themselves in one of the many props cluttered around the game’s dense maps. Ghosts can choose to either stay hidden and play dead while the hunters go by, or they can emerge from hiding to use their ghostly abilities for dramatic escape.

Vaulted Sky Gaming/Coffee Stain Publishing

Some days I am the ghost hunter and use some crazy gadgets or plasma weapons to get around. Other times, I start as the ghost, and I’m really scared and hiding in a vase. After each round, teams swap, so it’s easy to get some time with both the living and the dead. The full match takes around 15 minutes, including a round as both a ghost hunter and ghost.

Sometimes I’d hide behind an armored suit. It was large and visible, but I had the advantage that it came with a sturdy sword which I could swing. One time I haunted an exhibit of a planet and ran down halls trying to escape angry ghost hunters. To slow down my pursuers, I set traps in towering bear statues, and wooden duck statues.

The match starts with the ghost team on the wrong side, but things quickly change when midnight strikes. That’s when the power of the moon makes ghosts much deadlier, turning the tables. Ghost hunters now become the hunted and must survive either by fleeing from or fighting off overwhelming odds.

Ghosts can have some fun with their abilities to manipulate and befuddle the hunters in exchange for having a lower early game. Hunters, on the other hand, come with an array of weaponry and gadgets, and it’s a blast to experiment with different loadouts and try out the pros and cons.

I was able to swing around the map with a salt-loaded shotgun, grappling hook, and blast out tons of anti-ghost shots at my enemies. A sniper rifle or ghost-tracker is more appropriate for tactical players who are careful and strategic. The sledgehammer is fantastic for destroying props and scaring out ghosts in the early game, but if the timer hits midnight, they don’t do much against fully powered-up phantasms. I can swap my tools out mid-match at a supply point, but it’s always risky to stop paying attention to the ghosts around you, even if you think you’re safe.

Vaulted Sky Gaming/Coffee Stain Publishing

What is the key? Midnight Ghost Hunt’s success is that there’s a ton of strategy to the game, and it’s a joy to puzzle out the best tactics and learn how to counter your foes. The skill ceiling is low. Although I was able to learn some excellent strategies in just a few rounds, there were still areas for improvement. Finding the best hiding spots on a specific map, figuring out which weapons work best, and choosing my loadout of ghost powers are fun challenges that feel organic to pick up through replaying — I never felt like I had to run to a fan wiki or seek out strats on YouTube.

There’s something refreshing about a game that’s mostly based around hijinks but provides enough direction to keep things challenging and competitive. Midnight Ghost Hunt has the same frenetic energy as the old days of Left 4 Dead’s Versus mode, with a healthy dose of silliness. Vaulted sky Games is skilled at balancing strategy and shenanigans. While the release date for this game is not yet known, it’s a good start.

Midnight Ghost Hunt is currently in a weekend beta running until Jan. 30; players can request access on the game’s Steam page.