This Phasmophobia-inspired co-op horror game ticks all of my boxes: player roles, a scaredy cat option, and "real-life haunted locations"

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I'm still genuinely astonished by the amount of Phasmophobia-likes that have spawned from the viral success of Kinetic Games' co-op ghost-hunting romp. I went through a phase of exclusively playing these types of games in which I uncovered some real gems like Devour and Forewarned, and I just might have found another in the somewhat clumsily named but innovative take on the genre, Ghost Bros.

Of all of the ghost-hunting games I've played, Ghost Bros. looks the most like Phasmophobia and appears to have been built in the same engine (can't mistake those awkward movement animations). And while developer Wahmpire Games bills it as a "Phasmophobia-esque" game, it's far from a clone and is doing a few key things differently, which is why it got my attention in the first place.

For one, party members have distinct roles they assign themselves before each ghost-hunting trip is started. There's the Investigator, Medium, Technician, and Stream Manager, each with their own unique abilities. I'm pro this because with Phasmophobia and the like, there can be a lot of chaos and confusion stemming from all players being mechanically identical to one another. With predefined roles, it'll be a lot more straightforward deciding who does what.

Speaking of which, if anyone on your team is a big scaredy cat, they can retreat safely into the Stream Manager role, which is specifically designated for folks who'd rather be "safe from any haunting encounters" while still being "a vital part of the team."

That's another thing that makes Ghost Bros. more than just a Phasmo-like; you aren't just ghost hunters, you're up-and-coming Twitch streamers looking to expand your audience by going to haunted locations and snuffing out spirits. Wahmpire Games has teased actual Twitch integration as well, with "audience-chosen incentives," but the specifics around how that'll work exactly have yet to be revealed.

Finally, I think it's neat that Ghost Bros. will explore real-life "haunted" locations - something I've long been fascinated by. "We will be hitting local 'haunts' in Southern California and Oregon, documenting them while live streaming on the PlayguePals channel, and then making custom assets and adding their stories to the game," the developer explained.

It seems I'm not the only one excited about Ghost Bros., as its newly launched Kickstarter was fully funded in less than two days. There's no release date yet, but according to the Kickstarter a beta is being planned for October 2024.

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