‘Halloween’ and ‘puzzle game’ rarely go hand-in-hand. The puzzle genre is synonymous with meditative relaxation and intelligent brain-teasers, not fright. But there’s one game that turns the facets of the genre on their head, and does a masterful job at it – Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective.
One of the most startlingly original puzzle games ever created, Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective was initially released on the Nintendo DS in 2010, and later a HD remaster on all major platforms in 2023. The spooky tone hits right away; a ghostly narrator sees his own corpse in a junkyard and asks if you, the player, can solve the mystery. Your task is to use “ghost tricks”, shifting and manipulating real-world objects to prevent certain deaths and advance the story. Over the course of one crazy night (with a slight detour ten years into the past), a fantastical tale is told that has more twists and turns than a day trip at Alton Towers.
Few puzzle games tell a story as well as Ghost Trick does. The game was directed by the legendary Shu Takumi, the mind behind the Ace Attorney series, and his handiwork is on full display here with the clever writing and layered storylines that are common in that franchise. Every character leaves an impression – the flamboyant Detective Cabanela, the chipper and ever-loyal Pomeranian Missile, and the terrifying “Manipulator” who can bend people to his will. And what’s so amazing is that the gameplay is just as rewarding, with genuinely brilliant puzzles that never rely on leaps of logic, but require you to use your cunning and think outside the box in ways that no other puzzle game will.
The game is split into 18 chapters, with two main gameplay modes – gathering info by travelling through the city on possessed telephone lines (it makes sense in-game), and saving people’s lives by travelling four minutes before their death and “changing the flow of time”. To rewrite their fate, you’ll manipulate everyday objects in clever ways – like blowing air with a fan to lift a flag, or hitching a ride on a crumpled piece of paper tossed across a room. It forces you to look at everyday objects in a new light, and when you finally get the sequence just right and prevent a character from dying, there’s no feeling more satisfying.
There’s no wasted space here. The game can be beaten in about five hours but you will never once be bored in any of them. My favourite moments include the absurd Rube Goldberg machine involving a globe, a painting, fruit, and a suit of armour; the tense prison escape; Lynne’s apartment; and the climactic section aboard the submarine, where the game reaches its most outwardly scary and suspenseful heights. Yet in all the tension, the game still manages to be full of charm and humour, keeping your spirits high and motivating you to get through each chapter and solve the mystery.
Ghost Trick has achieved cult status among gamers, and is regularly listed as one of the best games on the DS, as well as one of the best puzzle games of all time. While its £25 price tag on the Steam remaster might scare some people away, it regularly goes on sale, and its upgraded graphics and sound make it even more atmospheric and thrilling than the original was. If you want something to play this Halloween that’s as clever as it is chilling, I implore you to check Ghost Trick out.
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective is available in its original form on Nintendo DS, and remastered on Steam, mobile and all major consoles.
