Action novel game 1f y0u’re a gh0st ca11 me here! launches on Steam Nov. 1

Publication date of the original Japanese article: 2021-11-01 12:12 (JST)
Translated by. Ryuki Ishii

Japanese indie game developer Furoshiki Laboratory and Chinese publisher WhisperGames announced the release date for their new action novel game 1f y0u’re a gh0st ca11 me here! It will come out on November 1 for PC (via Steam). The game supports English, Japanese, and Simplified Chinese. A demo version is currently available on Steam.

1f y0u’re a gh0st ca11 me here! is a novel game that tests your reflexes and quick decision-making skills. The protagonist Vanitas is a newly hired employee at a call center in the underworld, answering calls from ghosts in need of assistance. Vanitas’ job is to guide the ghosts left behind in the human realm so they can reach the underworld in peace.

Some ghosts are in need of medical assistance, while some are being exorcised. The catch is, ghosts can only call you for five seconds. The game progresses in real-time, so you must quickly decide what to do with them. Plus, Vanitas has to handle multiple calls simultaneously, making it harder to keep track of each call and its content.

All of the calls from ghosts are displayed in text, with the important parts highlighted in bold. The player must keep track of each conversation and click on the appropriate service icon. Depending on how you handle the calls, the ghosts might not be able to reach the underworld.

I played the demo version and it made me feel like I was playing a rhythm game with its upbeat soundtrack and busy decision-making segments. I can’t wait to see how the gameplay will expand in the full game.

According to the store page description, the game will also depict issues such as “The prejudice against communication technology, the lack of human resources, the confusion of a new life with the evolution of technology.”

Furoshiki Laboratory is an indie game studio based in Tokyo, headed by Kotaro Dendaira. The studio previously released a free novel game called Home coming. Dendaira, who is responsible for their new game’s art direction, also posts their artwork on Instagram. Sigsky, the main programmer of 1f y0u’re a gh0st ca11 me here! has released ShadowRusher and FindGear on unityroom, a Japanese distribution platform for games made in Unity.

1f y0u’re a gh0st ca11 me here! can be found here on Steam.