Are you looking for an awesome, ghostly horror game featuring strong anti-Trump (more on that down below) feminist women that is also LIVE ACTION? Then head on over to Kickstarter and take a look at GHOSTS. This game looks awesome.

Here are excerpted parts from the campaign:

Hey, I’m Jed and I’m making a video game called GHOSTS.

Last Halloween, frustrated by the neverending lockdown situation in the UK, like a lot of people I turned to video games for escapism. Looking specifically for horror games to freak me out, I re-discovered the live-action video games (FMV) of the 90s. Titles like Night Trap, Phantasmagoria and Double Switch (featuring the utterly superb Corey Haim), games that dared to try something a bit different and really pushed the capabilities of the game systems of their time.

It suddenly dawned on me what I had to do – I had to make a live action video game starring my friends Emma, Haley, Jemma, Radina and Caroline and make it as scary as hell. I want to make you afraid of even looking at your Nintendo Switch but feel absolutely compelled to play the game anyway to help the ladies survive.

I contacted Visible Games to see if they were into helping me make it and posited the question: What if it was LIVE?

What if it’s hard-coded into the narrative of the game that you have to play it at a certain time? What if everyone in your time zone is playing the game at exactly that moment? It would make it an unprecedented terrifying event.  Wouldn’t that be cool?  Luckily Visible Games have the unique skills to pull this concept off and make this unique feature a reality.

We took the idea to Limited Run Games and I’ve never heard a faster YES in my life. Their support has been legendary and their reputation of delivering superior games is second to none. They will be releasing the game on all formats early next year.

Building the team to help make this has been so much fun and I went to the absolute best to visualise the ‘antagonist’, THE LONG LADY. Designed by SIRENHEAD creator Trevor Henderson, I’ve genuinely got the best people on the GHOSTS train!

You’re probably thinking “Jed, why don’t you just make a movie? Why a live-action video game?”. My answer is: Why Not?

So as not to reveal too many spoilers, we have to be a little careful about the information you receive this early on. What we can say is …

You play a TV producer, operating the outside broadcast van for a failing cable channel called FrighTV. Their flagship show is GHOSTS. It’s the only thing people want to watch on the channel anymore. A show that in its heyday captured millions of viewers on a major channel. Viewers were glued to their screens as the presenter with a team of eager ghost hunters explored haunted locations around the country.

Over the years, GHOSTS ratings began to drop which ultimately resulted in the show being dropped by the network and languishing on various freeview channels until it was purchased by FrighTV and re-branded for re-launch in 2022. The channel is littered with terrible adverts and trailers for movies you’ve never heard of and never want to watch.

As the cast explore the location, you not only need to worry about their safety, the noises you hear around the van and the strange neighbours, there’s also the urban legend of THE LONG LADY. Sightings of THE LONG LADY on this very street have chilled the bones of residents for decades. She appears in times of tragedy, looking through the windows of houses on the street. It’s said that if you look directly at her face, you die. Curtain salesmen do gangbusters here.

You are the outside broadcast producer, in charge of what is shown to the viewers at home who have remained loyal to the show throughout all the lean years. The show is LIVE so you have to think on your feet and react to every moment to keep things interesting.  In front of you will be all of the camera feeds streaming from cameras installed in the most haunted location in London as well as heart rate monitors for the cast. What gets sent to the LIVE feed is your choice and can affect the future of the show (and perhaps the safety of the cast). You need to keep the show entertaining and you will have various tricks to employ to help you ‘spice up’ the live show.

You also have various documents, videos and audio files, collected throughout the years from this local community that you need to decipher to help understand the grave situation. Perhaps something you discover will stop the horrifying events from unfolding.

The full terrifying real-time version of the game is only playable at 10pm in your local time zone. If you load up the game before 10pm you’ll be met with a classic test card. If you can crack the ‘test’ you will have access to an unlockable pre-watershed version where you can breathe and save your progress, but once you hit 10pm all bets are off! There are consequences for all of your choices though. Playing it safe is not always the best option.

When playing GHOSTS, if you leave your station at any point, the game notices the lack of movement and it will end your session. Desertion of duty means the cast will be killed off. You are responsible for the lives of all involved so make sure you’ve had a bathroom break, got plenty of snacks and most importantly turn off the lights!

Haley Bishop is an American actress, based in London. She stars in BIFA nominated ‘HOST’ (2020) on AMC Networks’ horror streaming service, SHUDDER. Other credits include Warner Brothers TOM AND JERRY (2021), ANGEL HAS FALLEN (2019), and DEEP STATE (2018).

She is also a writer and producer with SWR Media in both scripted and non scripted. Her most recent comedy, 1-800-D-Direct, premiered at the BFI in 2020 and is currently having a successful festival run, next playing at BAFTA qualifying Carmarthen Bay Film Festival.

Radina Drandova is a Bulgarian actress based in London. She graduated from the prestigious Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. Most recently starring in BIFA nominated, international cult hit sensation, ‘HOST’ (2020). Radina also stars in the short film ‘Dawn of the Deaf’ (2016) which appeared in over 100 film festivals worldwide, including Sundance. You can also catch Radina as the lead in the award winning short ‘PITFALL’ (2017) on Amazon Prime. Radina is part of an international community of artists championing truthful storytelling of the multicultural experience. She also loves pizza, sunshine and her favorite game is Unravel.

Jemma Moore stars in BIFA nominated ‘HOST’ which is currently 100% ‘Certified Fresh’ on Rotten Tomatoes and nominated as third best reviewed British film of 2020 in the Golden Tomato Awards. ‘HOST’ is also one of EMPIRE magazine’s ‘Best Movies of 2020’ with Jemma’s character making it into EMPIRE magazine’s ‘The 100 Best Horror Movie Characters’ list. It was named one of TIME magazine’s ’17 Great Movies You may have Missed this Summer’, Variety’s ‘Best Horror Movies of 2020’ and Total Film’s ‘Best horror films of all time’. Jemma is also known for her roles in ‘DOOM: ANNIHILATION’ (2019), ‘SHAKESPEARE & HATHAWAY’ (2019) and ‘WONDER WOMAN’ (2018).

Caroline Ward is most recently known for her performance in BIFA Nominated, ‘HOST’. ‘HOST’ is available on all major on-demand platforms, had an international cinema release in December 2020 and was released on Blu-Ray in February 2021. ‘HOST’ has been named in EMPIRE Magazine’s ‘The Best Movies Of 2020’, TotalFilm’s ‘The 30 Best Horror Movies Of All Time’, Variety’s ‘Best Horror Movies of 2020’ and Certified 100% Fresh on Rotten tomatoes.

Caroline is also co-founder of It Girls Productions, a production company focusing on female-led narratives, representation and inclusivity. 2021 will see short films ‘Stalling It’ (It Girls Productions) and ‘Third on the Left’ (Blotched Ink Productions), both written and directed by Caroline, on the festival circuit.

Emma Louise Webb is an Actress of screen and stage, Musician, Commercial Model and Writer from South East London. She trained at Identity School of Acting.

Emma appeared in the TV show The Crown before moving onto features with MULTIPLEX (2020) and the horror sensation HOST (2020). Emma is featured in numerous commercials for the likes of McDonalds, Samsung and many more. Her new girl group will be launching some time in 2021.

*******

Why did I start this article by saying that the women were anti-Trump? Well, in Discord conversations and through communications with the campaign of Ghosts, there was an enquiry on whether it would be okay to submit anti-Trump messages into the game as higher backer Kickstarter rewards. The team behind Ghosts enthusiastically endorsed this idea. That is awesome, as now you can send selfies and recordings of yourself flipping off Trump and crafting your own anti-Trump messages. There will be at least one picture of a young woman in a tank top saying Duck Donald Trump. There is lots of fun you can have with this, even though it’s unconnected to the larger story. My big hope here is that Haley Bishop will agree with the anti-Trump woman, but we’ll see.

Ghosts is already more than 50 percent funded. Let’s get this one over the threshold!