Snapchat launches a spooky AR game for hunting ghosts around you

Snapchat has launched a new in-app game called Ghost Phone designed to showcase the company’s AR technology by allowing players to discover the secrets of an abandoned phone and hunt supernatural beings around them.

To launch the game, users can either head to Snapchat’s Lens Explorer and find the Lens called Ghost Phone, tap the Rocket icon in Chat or they can click this link directly.

To play, you’ll have to hunt different kinds of ghosts by performing various activities. Players can find clues within text messages and data and unlock Camera Modes to capture the AR ghosts, while also learning more information about the abandoned phone. You’ll also have to get up and move around a bit to complete the game’s tasks, but there’s no Pokémon Go-level effort required.

Ghost Phone will a take while to play, but thankfully, even if you quit and come back to it, your progress is saved.

The company says the game is built using the Lens Studio and web-first game engine PlayCanvas. The game uses Snap’s World Mesh technology and surface recognition to place game objects around the user.

Snap has released a few Bitmoji-styled games previously, but this is one of its first efforts in AR-based gaming. Last month, the social media firm partnered with game studio HiDef to develop a social dance game.

According to the company’s Q2 2022 earnings report released last week, it registered 18% year-on-year growth to reach 347 million daily active users. However, its revenue growth (13%) was well below its previous guidance (20%-25%), and it said, “We are not satisfied with the results we are delivering, regardless of the current headwinds.”