Someone Made a S’pore-Based Game About Hungry Ghost Festival That You Can Play With Your Browser

And that someone is none other than Reddit user Ateo88.

Just three months ago, Ateo88 (or Andrew as I found out through this tweet) posted on Reddit about a personal project he has been working on “on-and-off for years.”

He further stated that “the COVID-19 situation has left me quite a bit of spare time but also a lot of anxiety so I have been focusing on this to take my mind off things.”

Ok same, but I could never build a game from scratch. All I do is just pat my dog and read books.

How It Works

In the same Reddit post, Andrew explains the premise of the game, Ghostlore, a fantasy RPG inspired by Singapore and Southeast Asia.

“In this game, you must protect Seaport and its surrounding islands from dangerous supernatural creatures known as Mogui. The Mogui are creatures from local legend and will have abilities that are true to how they are described in folk tales. For example, in order to defeat the Pontianak you have to evade the ghost and target the tree which houses its spirit.”

There are also three classes to choose from (just like in Diablo):

• Reaver (tank class that wields a parang and shield)
• Hitman (fast DPS class that wields a bow and dual Ghurka blades)
• Arcanist (magic class that wields a Kris and magical paper talismans)

In a comment on the same post, Andrew further explains that there are also several easter eggs in the item descriptions.

There are also references from famous local folk tales such as the legend of Redhill which Andrew plans on adding cutscenes to in the “Wayang Kulit” style.

Andrew also put a link for a short video. Be sure to turn on the sound when you watch the video.

Demo now available

The good news is the game is available to play now over here.

And what incredible timing too; now everyone can get to experience the spooky ghosties without actually encountering them in real life during the Hungry Ghost Festival.

Hesitant about trying it out for yourself? Here’s a short 2-minute video demonstration on the gameplay.

Updates and feedback

Just a day ago, Andrew posted again on Reddit.

This time it was sprite arts on more ghosts and supernatural creatures from local legends.

Here’s how a couple of them look like:

Aww, aren’t they adorable in a cute demonic kind of way?

Since the launch of the demo, Andrew has received a lot of attention and many positive comments on it. Southeast Asia folklore huat ah.

You can show your support to Andrew by giving them some love either on their Twitter or Facebook. If you have any updates, feedback and suggestions on what monsters you would like to see featured in the game, they’d love to hear from you.

We stan a local game developer in this house.

Why not give the game a go? I know I will, especially at night when the house is quiet.

In the meantime, you should also spend some time to watch this video about the Hungry Ghost Month (and also subscribe to our YouTube channel for more informative videos!):