ScARe
View the case- Brand
- Ghostbusters
- Year
- 2021
- Objective
- Awareness
- Industry
- Entertainment
- Mechanic
- Arcade & Action
- Platform
- AR & VR
- Agency
- Kreativa Studio
Objective
"Ghostbusters: Afterlife" hit theaters on 19 November 2021, and Sony released a companion AR app the same day to extend the film into fans' own homes. Built with Ghost Corps as part of the movie's marketing push, the free app let longtime fans and newcomers alike become ghostbusters in their own living rooms, keeping the conversation about the film alive around its premiere.
Solution
Point your phone's camera at your own room, and the game's ghosts crawl out from the walls and furniture around you. Movie characters call in to guide you through the story, feeding you clues and handing over gear as the plot unfolds. You solve ESP puzzles, track down glowing energy cells to keep your equipment powered, physically dodge as ghosts spit ectoplasm at you, and wipe the slime off your screen with a finger when it lands. The camera, vibration and flash all fire in sync, so your own space becomes the set. The first two episodes are free to play, with further chapters released in the months that followed.
- 1
A player downloads the free app; the first two episodes are playable immediately, and further episodes are sold afterward.
- 2
The story casts the player as a ghost hunter during a paranormal outbreak, tasked with defending the real-world location they are physically standing in.
- 3
Players raise the phone and view their own room or street through the camera, with the franchise's ghosts and monsters rendered on top of the live feed in augmented reality.
- 4
In-app calls from film characters deliver instructions and hide clues that direct players toward unlicensed nuclear hunting gear.
- 5
Players solve ESP-style puzzles to unlock and upgrade that gear, and gather nuclear energy cells that power the proton equipment.
- 6
The core loop is a ghost encounter: the player aims the camera at the target on screen and captures it.
- 7
Ghosts counterattack with AR slime, which the player must physically duck and dodge to avoid; a hit coats the screen in ectoplasm that the player wipes away with a finger to keep playing.
- 8
Phone hardware reinforces the action in real time — vibration on impacts, a flashing LED flashlight, and ASMR audio in headphones.
- 9
Players face recognizable franchise creatures such as the Muncher and Mini-Pufts, escalating to episode bosses like the Terror Dog Sentinel.
- 10
Completing an episode unlocks the next; the game spans at least six episodes, including "Sentinel" and "Zombie Rest in Pieces," with episodes beyond the first two available as purchases.
