The Ghost Cage

Hello!
Well Halloween is behind us, but we can still play some adventures that involve ghosts, isn't it? Anyway do not worry, The Ghost Cage is not a horror game, but rather a cute and lighthearted ghost story that was made for the Spooktober Spooktacular 2021 Game Jam (where it won 1st place!) by SeaPhoenix (author of the very cool and cute FOREST STAR, check it now!) using RPG Maker MZ.

SeaPhoenix was inspired by one of the popular short stories written by Oscar Wilde: The Canterville Ghost (a couple of scenes are pretty much taken from that story, even if the protagonist is different and also many other aspects of the story were changed). So, even if the story is loosely based on that work, here too the ghost isn't one of these evil spectres that will force you to many chase sections to avoid the much feared Game Over, but simply an annoying fellow, and our protagonist has to deal with him.


Decisions, decisions! And if you read the The Canterville Ghost this part will be familiar!

The protagonist is Isabel, a pink haired girl that just moved to a new house, only to realize that's haunted! The game is divided in days and nights: during the days Isabel can interact with various Npcs and collect items that may be useful during the adventure, during the night she has to deal with the ghost. Controlling Isabel we have different choices, she can be afraid, she can try to get rid of the ghost or she can try to befriend him, it's your choice! The various choices can lead to different endings, happy, sad, heartwarming, or amusing.

There are only two stats that the player should take in account: Happiness and Hostility, and these will obviously change during the adventure depending on the actions and lines selected. Of course these values are important to get various endings, because for example you need a low hostility to befriend the ghost. But that was obvious isn't it?


HA! I'm always ready in case of burglars... ok, you're ghost but you'll fear my blade too!

Another important thing is (like in the real world!) gold: you need money if you want to buy some items that are needed in different circumstances, being this an adventure game it's important to have the right tool at the right time. And for this reason you can work during the day (there are two different jobs to choose from, and one seems really better than the other, anyway I won't spoil, try and see by yourself) and I admit that's pretty easy to earn so much I wondered if gold had other uses. Well that's ok I guess, this is a lighthearted adventure, not a survival experience!

Visually the game uses SOME Rtps but also the cute RPG Maker DS sprites for the various characters. Mapping is pretty good and the world created by SeaPhoenix may be small (but not too much, since this is just a short 20-30 minutes game) but colorful and detailed, with many interactions, and appropriate for this kind of cute adventure, of course. All good from this point of view. Clearly there are no monsters and battlers since there is an adventure game, but I liked the decision to use expressive facesets with several different expressions, especially for the protagonist.


Some items are needed to progress, after all this is an adventure game!

Final Verdict
The Ghost Cage is a simple and short adventure game that can be played more than once to experience the different endings. It's pretty simple, the tools and items needed are always logical in their use, despite that the game isn't really serious, there's humor and no horror at all. It's a fun experience, and for a game jam it's surely a great entry, it's a short lovely story and fun simple but complete adventure condensed into a small package. Recommended.