ghost possess game

8 Games That Let You Play As A Ghost

Players won't want the Ghostbusters on the case when it comes to these games, as they'll be taking on the role of a ghost.

Ghosts are all over pop culture around the world from movies to anime to TV shows. They even make it into video games, mostly as villains like in the various adaptations of Ghostbusters . However, it begs the question, what about the games that let you play as a ghost or some sort of spirit?

RELATED: Video Game Deaths That Still Haunt Us

There are plenty of games where players take the role of a ghost. Whether it's the classic design of a bedsheet with holes for eyes, or a fearsome ghostly apparition. Some of these ghost games might not be scary, but it's a unique experience to have crossed to the other side.

8 Avenging Spirit

Avenging Spirit is both an arcade game and a Game Boy game. While there are differences between the two versions, besides graphics, they ultimately play the same. Players are gunned down and turned into a ghost which sounds gruesome but it is a lighthearted game with a cartoon-like aesthetic.

Players can then possess enemies in levels like mobsters with guns. It’s kind of an obscure title at this time with no good way to play it officially, but thankfully curious players have emulation to fall back on.

Crawl , unlike Avenging Spirit , is a game that can be accessed easily and on most modern consoles too. It is an indie roguelike dungeon crawler centered on a multiplayer experience. One player will be set up as the hero and three other players will be spirits. These spirits can possess traps to hurt the hero or control monsters as well.

It’s a unique idea for both a ghost game and a multiplayer game too. Since it is older, it might be hard to find a multiplayer session online randomly. So, it may be time to get three other gaming buddies together instead.

Geist is one of the many GameCube exclusives that are still stuck on the console. Players are in control of John Raimi who gets his soul sucked out of him thanks to a terrorist organization. This does not kill him as the experiment instead gives John the ability to possess everything from guards to buckets with mops.

RELATED: Terrifying Horror Villains Stuck In Underwhelming Games

It was a wild idea at the time for a shooter and the GameCube as well. It’s a shame so many of these experiences remain trapped on the hardware but remasters happen all the time. This one is worth waiting for even though it was never perfect.

5 Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective is the game that inspired this list because of its re-release. It’s great that such a good adventure game , locked away previously on the DS, could come back for more people to try.

Ghost Trick stars a mysterious man named Sissel who dies. Like most ghosts on the list, Sissel can possess objects too. The biggest difference is that Ghost Trick is a puzzle game. Solving a particular puzzle will change history as Sissel can also time travel.

4 Murdered: Soul Suspect

Murdered: Soul Suspect is about the tattooed Detective Ronan O’Conner who dies on the job one day. The great detective comes back as a ghost and has to solve his murder along with other mysterious deaths in the vicinity.

Murdered: Soul Suspect evolved the adventure game genre by giving players more interactivity with the world from looking at objects to passing through walls. It’s also bizarre as heck because there are Dementor-looking spirits straight out of Harry Potter hunting Detective O’Conner down. It has an uneven pace and some troubling graphical issues, but there are few games like it.

3 The Outbound Ghost

The Outbound Ghost is a newer indie RPG that was inspired by Paper Mario . Players wake up in the afterlife as a ghost without a voice. They soon meet other ghosts willing to help this newbie out on their journey.

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Players will split their time between solving puzzles in the overworld and fighting battles in a typical RPG fashion. It is turn-based with attacks adhering to stickers collected in the world and eventually, players can collect new party members.

2 The 3rd Birthday

The 3rd Birthday has a similar setup to Geist except that this protagonist, Aya Brea, volunteers to get her soul sucked out of her. There is also a bit of time travel like Ghost Trick . A disaster has swept through New York and only Aya can figure out what happened via this soul device.

Her soul is sent back into the machine and she can possess other bodies as her normal form can’t take much damage. There is a complicated history to this game’s development, but The 3rd Birthday is part of the Parasite Eve franchise.

1 Rogue Spirit

Rogue Spirit is the newest game on the list, having just come out of early access in 2023. Players wake up in a garden as a dead samurai spirit. They can possess other warriors in a never-ending action roguelike game.

The possession mechanics are similar to others here, but the Japanese theming is something new. It’s one of those roguelikes that demands a lot of time be sunk into it to get better rewards. With practice, this may become a new obsession for roguelike fanatics .

MORE: Horror Games That Twist The Zombie Mythos

9 Games Where You Play As A Ghost

These games take you to the afterlife, putting you into the ethereal shoes of a ghost.

Ah, ghosts, the eternal epitome of all things spooky (right next to zombies and skeletons). From poltergeists to the more friendly variety, every culture around the globe has its fair share of ghost stories. After all, who hasn’t wondered about the afterlife before? And who hasn’t once thought about the possibility that, even now, an invisible, ethereal force has its eyes on you?

Related: Fantastic Point & Click Horror Games That Are Perfect For Halloween

By that logic, it’s only natural that their presence would bleed through into pop culture and media, spanning across countless genres. But how have ghosts fared in the wide world of video games? Surprisingly well, actually. It takes a bit more coding for humans to replicate their innate supernatural powers, but don’t be mistaken. These titles are sure to leave you possessed.

9 Geist: Haunted By Its Hardware

In a military retrieval operation gone wrong, the mysterious Volks Corporation captures scientist John Raimi and, using experimental technology, tears John’s soul from his body. This proves to be their undoing, as it gives him the power he needs to oppose them and any demons hell-bent on world conquest.

In Geist, you can only stay incorporeal for so long before you have to find a host (usually a soldier) to possess, and you need to scare them first. Thankfully, you’re a poltergeist, so scaring comes easy. Throw objects, turn faucet water blood-red, jumpscare through reflections, and more.

8 Murdered: Soul Suspect: A Film Noir, But With Demons

Detective Ronan O’Conner got a bit more than he bargained for the night he tried to stop a burglary and lost his life in the process. Now reborn as a ghost, Ronan cannot rest until his killer is brought to justice. He’ll use every trick in the book to find out who did it, plus a few new tricks he picked up while dead.

Murdered: Soul Suspect is a game all about unraveling mysteries. To solve the case, you’ll have to thoroughly comb the town of Salem for clues, all while avoiding dangerous demons that want to steal your soul.

7 The Outbound Ghost: A Classic Formula, Back From The Dead

In the small town of Outbound, ghosts live out their afterlives, only kept from moving on by their own regrets. In The Outbound Ghost, it’s your job to help your fellow ghosts resolve their pasts or help them come to terms with their deaths, so they can leave Outbound for greener pastures. In the process, you might just piece together your memories and move on as well.

Related: Game Series That Need To Return To Their Roots

Taking cues from the Paper Mario series of old, The Outbound Ghost will have you running through a 2.5D world, taking care of baddies in turn-based combat, and performing quests of both the weird and wacky variety. If you’re looking for a game that breathes new life into a familiar gameplay loop, this is the game for you.

6 Flipping Death: A Hilarious Body-Hopping Adventure

Flipping Death is the kind of puzzle platformer where one weird coincidence leads to a chain reaction of absolutely absurd proportions. You play as Penny, an unfortunate teen who not only falls to her death shortly after the game starts but discovers that her body is being possessed by an unknown dark force.

Fortunately, The Grim Reaper left you his scythe when he went on vacation, and you can use it to possess various townsfolk , each with their own special skills. Swap seamlessly between the lands of the living and dead to get your body back, or just pop in for a bit to hear some innermost thoughts. It's not a particularly long or challenging game, but its fantastic writing and grim sense of humor will definitely get you.

5 Haunting, Starring Polterguy: Scare Their Socks Off!

Released by EA all the way back in 1993 for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis (and later ported to the PSP in 2006) Haunting has you play as, well, Polterguy, a rebellious teenage ghost with a vengeance to enact on the unsuspecting Sardini family.

Your goal is to scare them out of the house, and you do this through “Fright ‘ems,” little tricks you can do on everyday objects to turn them terrifying. Some you prep, then wait for a family member to trigger, while others let you take direct control and chase your poor victim around the room. You'll have to be quick and think on your feet, though, because once your Ecto Meter runs out, you must play through a dangerous Underworld level to get back to the house.

4 Grimm’s Hollow: Short, Sweet, Spooky, And Surprisingly Emotional

In this short RPG Maker game, you play as Lavender, the spirit of a recently deceased young woman who is technically a reaper and not a ghost, but in the context of this world, the two are one and the same.

Related: The Best RPG Maker Games, Ranked

In Grimm’s Hollow, ghosts are spirits with too much energy to pass on, and that energy makes them violent. On the other hand, reapers are spirits with too little energy to pass on, but by fighting and harvesting energy from the ghosts, both of them are able to pass on.

The game has a heartfelt story about family and grief at its core, with a total of four different endings. It’s free to play on Steam, so there’s no reason not to give this game a shot.

3 Dead By Daylight: Leave No Survivors

Dead by Daylight is a game famous for letting you hunt down your friends as one of many Killers, with antagonists inspired by (and sometimes directly pulled from) famous horror movies. As a Killer, your job is to appease the Entity by sacrificing each and every Survivor before they can escape the Trial Grounds. Needless to say, the whole game revolves around the Killer.

There’s a wide range of Killers available to play, so if you’re looking to play as a terrifying ghost, you’ve got plenty of options, such as The Spirit, aka Rin Yamaoka, or The Wraith, aka Philip Ojoma. You can even play as Sadako Yamamura, the famous vengeful Onryo from The Ring! In general, these ghosts specialize in movement and stealth, able to catch off guard even the most experienced of Survivors.

2 Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective: Saving Lives with Household Objects

In this stylish cult classic on the Nintendo DS, you play as a ghost named Sissel. After waking up in a dump without any memories of who he once was, Sissel learns that by possessing the bodies of the recently deceased, he can travel back in time to exactly four minutes before they died. Using this power, he saves the life of Lynne, a detective investigating Sissel’s death.

Related: Why Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective Deserves A Sequel

You’ll be saving lives a lot during your playthrough, and you’ll do so by moving from object to object, animating them in just the right order and at just the right time to change the course of fate. The process may seem a little trial and error at first, but every failed attempt gives you more knowledge about how the scene will play out. Use that knowledge to your advantage the next time around.

1 Spiritfarer: Who Says Ghosts Can’t Give Warm Hugs?

Described by its developers as “a cozy management game about dying,” Spiritfarer is a game full of life and love. You play as Stella, a new Spiritfarer (and Player Two can play as Stella’s cat , Daffodil.) As a Spiritfarer, your job is to bring ghosts aboard your boat, build them a home, and take care of them to the best of your abilities. Eventually, they will be ready to pass on from the world, and you must say farewell to them forever.

Despite living in a world of spirits, Stella’s status as a ghost isn’t explicitly stated until near the end of the game. In life, she was a nurse specializing in end-of-life care and despite her child-like appearance, is implied to have lived to roughly her early '40s. Even in the afterlife, Stella hasn’t stopped taking care of others.

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Note: This Early Access game is not complete and may or may not change further. If you are not excited to play this game in its current state, then you should wait to see if the game progresses further in development. Learn more

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Approximately how long will this game be in early access, how is the full version planned to differ from the early access version, what is the current state of the early access version.

• 4v4 hide n seek mode with matchmaking
• 9 maps inspired by spooky tropes
• 10 Hunter weapons, 10 Hunter gadgets, 9 Hunter perks
• 11 Ghost abilities, 10 Ghost Perks, 8 Ghost Haunts
• Bots: can fill in for players, but are also able to play pure bot matches with you
• +60 skins, emotes and taunts
• Custom game rules editor
• Voice chat integrated into the game

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How are you planning on involving the community in your development process, buy midnight ghost hunt, buy early backer bundle.

Includes 3 items: Midnight Ghost Hunt , Early Backer Pack , Midnight Ghost Hunt Soundtrack

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System Requirements

• Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
• OS: Windows 10 64-bit or later
• Processor: Intel i3-4130 or AMD Ryzen 3
• Memory: 8 GB RAM
• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 / Radeon RX 580 or equivalent with at least 4GB VRAM
• DirectX: Version 11
• Network: Broadband Internet connection
• Storage: 25 GB available space
• Additional Notes: We expect the minimum requirements to drop throughout early access as we continue to optimize and run hardware tests. Lower specs might still perform fine.
• Additional Notes: Recommended Requirements TBD

©2023 Vaulted Sky Games LLC. Published under license by Coffee Stain Publishing. Midnight Ghost Hunt™ and the Midnight Ghost Hunt logo are trademarks of Vaulted Sky Games and Coffee Stain Publishing. All rights reserved.

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G2A.COM   G2A News Features 5 Games where you play as a Ghost

5 Games where you play as a Ghost

Playing as a ghost is always an interesting experience – it puts things into perspective and makes you ask some important questions, including the most basic yet still unanswered ones, such as what is the meaning of life.

Surprisingly, there aren’t many games where you can play as a ghost but we tried our best to bring you some interesting titles to try. Check out the list down below to find out some of the best games where you play as a ghost.

Murdered: Soul Suspect

We don’t really know how it’s like to be a ghost so we can only imagine, but Murdered: Soul Suspect is probably as close as you can get if you are interested in a more realistic approach.

The game starts with a bang, and then the tense only increases. Sounds familiar? Maybe that’s because it’s how Alfred Hitchcock used to work. The game is not necessarily scary but it’s quite believable in showing us how it could be to be a real ghost.

At the very beginning, your character is murdered, turning you into one of the weightless beings. However, you can’t “pass the bridge” just yet – to unite with your lost wife in heaven you will first have to complete all of your unfinished tasks on Earth, which includes revealing your murderer’s identity.

Ghost Master

It’s an obvious one for anyone who looks for a ghost-themed title. Ghost Master is a great strategy and puzzle game with some interesting game mechanics in place mixed with a good dose of humor.

In Ghost Master, you will not be playing as only one ghost, but instead, you will be able to command an entire team of these malicious beings in order to complete various tasks in increasingly difficult levels.

Missions usually revolve around scaring people to death by utilizing the unique abilities of your ghosts in a creative way, but there is also usually an optional objective that requires solving environmental puzzles in order to set certain trapped ghosts free – although it’s not mandatory to do so, it will make these ghosts available to play, which may help you beat later levels.

BEYOND: Two Souls

This is another great example of a game where you can play as a ghost, although the ghost won’t be the only character you will have to take care of here

Beyond: Two Souls tells the story of Jodie, a young girl who shares thoughts with an incorporeal entity called Aiden. She grows up and learns how to use his powers to achieve her goals – she can command him to do some “ghostish stuff” here and there when needed, which is like her “get out of jail free” card and often saves her butt.

However, one has to remember that Aiden is not a slave and shouldn’t be considered one – he won’t mindlessly follow your lead if you don’t treat him with respect, in which case he might get upset and things can get messy.

Haunt the House: Terrortown

If you loved Ghost Master and its sense of humor, you may be also interested in checking this little indie jewel as well.

Haunt the House is a game where you will be able to become a ghost tasked with only one thing – scaring people to death. Puny humans started to move into an abandoned town inhabited exclusively by you, disturbing your peaceful existence, so now it’s finally time to take action.

Become the source of all fears in the haunted mansion and utilize your powers to force unwanted visitors to take their leave. The game’s atmosphere is funny and light-hearted – a joyful soundtrack combined with simple cartoon-style graphics and the lack of violence makes the game suitable even to a younger audience.

Call of Duty: Ghosts

Probably not a game you would expect to find here, but hey – you do play as part of the group known as Ghosts, so you ARE a ghost in some sense, right?

Despite the game’s title, there is no paranormal activity in CoD: Ghosts. Ghosts is a mysterious group of Special Operation forces tasked with opposing the raising global threat.

Expect a lot of infiltration missions with the use of highly advanced equipment, where staying low is the key to your survival, but don’t be afraid to open fire when the opportunity knocks.

Surprise your enemies and strike when they expect you the least. As with most Call of Duty games , despite having a single-player mode it focuses on giving players a competitive multiplayer environment where you can test your skills against players from around the world.

Games Where You Can Play as a Ghost

Although it would seem that playing as a ghost is a fun concept, for some reason it’s hard to find a good game that explores this topic. Titles that are worth mentioning are scarce, and some of them are very niche and not available on computers but only on the older generations of consoles.

We tried to fill the list with games you can try and play right now, skipping these that can be hard to find these days. If you wish to browse the genre further and dig deeper, some honorable mentions would include games like Haunting Starring Polterguy, Geist, and Ghost Trick. Pick your favorites video game where you play as a ghost and have a great time.

Screen Rant

10 best video games where you can play as a ghost this halloween.

Ghosts are pretty terrifying enemies in video games. Some games prefer to flip the script, though, and have ghosts play the protagonist.

Halloween is nearly and the season of spooks and scares is full of iconic monsters like vampires and zombies. None of them is perhaps more universal than the ghost, though, and plenty of the horror hits of this year, including Ghostwire: Tokyo , make use of them.

Ghosts are also pretty terrifying enemies in video games: they aren't always visible, they're impervious to damage, and they can move through walls. Some games prefer to flip the script, though, and have ghosts play the protagonist. It's an interesting role reversal that always makes for unique gameplay.

Geist (2005)

Geist was one of the first M-rated games to be published by Nintendo. Rather than taking a spiritual approach to the idea, it brings some science fiction elements to the table. Scientist John Raimi works at a counterterrorism organization when he is suddenly captured. A process is then performed on him which splits his spirit from his body.

RELATED: 10 Forgotten Horror Games On The Nintendo GameCube

The game is split into a series of levels where Raimi must possess objects and people to progress. Objects can be moved and changed, but only in minor ways. People can do more, but must be weakened before they can be possessed. The hardware limitations prevented this game from being great, but it was still impressive for the time.

The Sims 3 & 4 (2012)

The Sims 3 and 4 have tons of expansions and updates. These aim to cover every aspect of everyday life, from pets to politics. Despite being a life sim, though, the series had long flirted with supernatural aspects and ghosts have been a part of the series since the first installment.

The Sims 3 : Supernatural expansion marked the first time players could design a ghost Sim, rather than waiting for them to die. Players could design their appearance and age as any other Sim, as well as their death. This does lead to some dark possibilities, but for the most part ghost Sims are just as cheery as regular ones, and they still appear in 4 .

The 7th Guest (1993)

Technically, the protagonist of the cult hit The 7th Guest is never explicitly identified as a ghost. However, the protagonist, Ego, is a spectral entity with no corporeal form who is revealed to be a spiritual aspect of another character in the endgame, so they are essentially a ghost. They are drawn to the mysterious Stauf Mansion to uncover the secrets within.

Stauf Mansion is lined with memories of a past tragedy there, and uncovering its mysterious is the main point of the game. Players investigate the mansion solving puzzles and watching FMV videos explaining the events of the past. This game, alongside Myst , was one of the popularizers of FMV in games . Much like Myst , it's also still fun to revisit today.

Legacy Of Kain: Soul Reaver (!999)

Recently Square-Enix sold off the characters and properties created by the studio Crystal Dynamics. Most people know this studio for creating Tomb Raider , but there's another underrated franchise under their belt; Legacy of Kain . The Soul Reaver game saw players control a wraith, or spirit, in a bizarre and esoteric underworld.

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Originally, protagonist Raziel was a vampire, but he was murdered by the sometimes-protagonist sometimes-antagonist Kain. He resurrects as a ghost and goes on a quest for vengeance. He action-adventures through a gamut of hack-and-slash levels. Raziel fights to enter reincarnation and return to life, like any good ghost should strive to.

Murdered: Soul Suspect (2014)

This dark and spectral mystery game sees players take on the role of a deceased detective. Ronan O'Connor has been murdered by the unknown Bell Killer. In order to pass on to the afterlife he must solve his own murder and uncover the culprit.

The game was criticized for its limited and odd-feeling gameplay. Level progression is weirdly simple for a detective game, mainly consisting of progressing through sequential levels. Where the game shines is in its story and the collectibles. The overarching plot is quite compelling and there are tons of optional collectibles to find that cast more light on Ronan's life.

Haunting (1993)

While considered one of the scariest games on the SEGA Genesis , don't let Haunting fool one into thinking it's a horror game. First and foremost the game is a comedy. The player controls the aptly named Polterguy, who even got title billing in some releases of the game.

Polterguy's death was caused by a defective skateboard which fell apart during a grind. Now he is determined to take revenge on the man whose shoddy products caused his death. So, he invades the house of the manufacturer and begins possessing objects to torture him. Despite the dark revenge tale, the game's frights are usually pretty funny, achieved through hilarious animation.

Ghost Master (2003)

What's better than controlling one ghost? Controlling multiple ghosts, obviously. In Ghost Master , players control the titular bureaucratic spirit as they delegate spirits to haunt various location. The game consists of 15vlevels full of mortals to scare.

RELATED: 10 Best Horror-Based Puzzle Games

This isn't the only goal, however. The Ghost Master receives many additional side objectives like increasing humanity's belief in the supernatural. This adds a puzzle element to an already fun simulation game. Learning the fears and values of the people players torment makes this game one of the best haunting simulators.

Thimbleweed Park (2017)

Thimbleweed Park takes inspiration from a lot of great point-and-click adventure games in order to craft a charming and spooky adventure. The game has multiple protagonists, one of which is dead. Franklin Edmund was murdered shortly after the game's inviting incident and is compelled to haunt.

Rather than exploring a haunted house, Franklin's segments see the player haunting the house themselves. He can possess objects in order to scare NPCs in order to complete puzzles. Franklin's ghost adventures are only limited to his segments, but the game has a suitably spooky small down theme that still makes the rest of it perfect for Halloween.

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective (2011)

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective is one of the best mystery games on the original DS . Created by the creator behind Ace Attorney , it stars an amnesiac ghost looking for his lost memories. In so doing he meets a cast of quirky characters and saves them from grisly fates.

He has the ability to rewind time four minutes before someone's death, allowing for thrilling rescue sequences. He also has the ability to manipulate small objects, making every life saved a complex puzzle. The game dazzled on DS with its fun Rube-Goldberg style puzzles and charming animation. It's biggest draw, though, is its plot, which goes in some truly unexpected directions.

Haunt The House: Terrortown (2014)

Haunt The House: Terrortown is another haunted house type simulator game. It got decently big on YouTube shortly after its release due to its charming aesthetic. Unlike other ghost games it doesn't use drab colors but instead goes all out with Halloween decoration aesthetic. Players control a ghost as they make their way throughout many locations throughout the titular Terrortown.

Despite the house in the title, there are many places for players to haunt. These include ships, museums, as well as the standard houses and mansions. Every resident of the town also has a unique personality and voice that can persist between levels. There are also three free expansions that add even more content. All of this content together makes Haunt The House the definitive haunting experience in video games.

NEXT: 10 Scariest Haunted Houses In Video Games