Ghostacle

Challenging video games usually receive a lot of attention from gamers, especially if their underlying concept is at least somewhat original. Hence, as long as the gameplay is tough and rewarding, things like graphics and story don’t matter as much, because everyone will be too busy trying to survive draconic levels and vicious enemy attacks, depending on the case.

Ghostacle is hardly an original concept, on the other hand, yet the challenge keeps you coming back for more even after you ragequit a couple of times. In short, the main idea is to navigate a maze, pick up all the little hearts and avoid the ghosts that patrol the area. It may sound relatively simple, but there’s a lot going on at any given time, and you need massive amounts of patience to survive.

As it’s to be expected, the stages start off pretty simple, but they get trickier and trickier as you manage to solve them. It’s not only that you have to deal with more ghosts, but they also get faster, and their paths become tougher to predict. On top of it all, the levels themselves slowly evolve into actual mazes, and it can be a challenge just to find your way out.

Even the smallest touch of a ghost is enough to reset the level, so you always have to make sure you are standing in the right place. Your goal should be to predict where the ghosts are going to be in a few seconds, because your character is too slow to dodge anything in real time. You always have to squeeze through tiny gaps, so it’s mandatory that you don’t mess up and get stuck.

Unfortunately, not much can be said about the level design or the graphics, because there’s nothing too fancy about the game. The stages are a bit too barren sometimes, and the graphics are about as basic as they can get, but you probably won’t have the time to complain about this. Still, it would be nice to see some improvement in this regard.

In the end, Ghostacle could certainly benefit from a variety of fixes and improvements, but the main idea is fun enough to keep you engaged even now. Thus, if you are a patient gamer and you do not mind dying a few thousand times, this could be a nice way to put your sanity to the test.