Ghost Janitors Review (PC)

We’re not what you would typically refer to as slick janitors; we’re a little dated, a tad disgraceful, and an absolute nightmare to wrangle when the going gets tough and the supernatural steps out to mop the floor with our idiocy and incompetence. Don’t get me wrong, we get the job done, but not before breaking a few things at some point before the bucket spills its final droplet of sudsy water. We’re fools, but, given the circumstances, you can’t really blame us for being imbeciles. If you’re looking for Ghost Janitors, though, then you should consider hiring us. Maybe.

Ghost Janitors has taught me one thing. It has taught me that, even in the face of danger and all forms of supernatural phenomena, cleaning isn’t a job that you can leave behind. It doesn’t matter if it’s a simple spill or a toppling wreckage; if there is work to be done, then it’s far better to mop it up — literally. In the case of Ghost Janitors, it’s doubly important, not because it’s a life or death situation, but because the mere fact that one unkept spill can cause the world to jitter. A bit of a stretch, but you get the point.

A four-player co-op game at heart, Ghost Janitors tasks you and a band of ragtag cleaners with entering the ominous corridors of haunted worlds and, true to the point of the job, mopping, recycling, and manually scrubbing the decks of their twisted dioramas to earn a quick paycheck. It’s mostly harmless fun that, while still a little “spooky” and confrontational, makes the act of webbing a well-oiled team of fledgling scrub fanatics a festival of theatrical delights. But more on that later.

Thrills & Spills

Ghost Janitors isn’t an easy game. It isn’t easy, mainly due to the fact that, in order to progress through the game, you have to adhere to a few rules. For example, you can only have three lights on at once, and you must take full advantage of the the light in order to keep certain entities at bay. Not that this makes a huge difference, mind you, because as it turns out, outmaneuvering entities is also a headache in itself. The job, of course, isn’t all that difficult, as it’s mostly about moving from one location to the next and completing some simple scrub-and-slide tasks. But it’s the other parts of the process—the lights and the temperamental nature of the paranormal—that make even the easiest mode surprisingly complex.

To counter its rather sharp learning curve, Ghost Janitors does make a habit of providing you with a lot of bang for your buck, whether it’s in the form of randomized jump scares or dynamic chores, an adaptive AI system or troves of bittersweet victories. It isn’t the easiest game to wrap your head around, and it is one that poses more of a threat than most supernatural clean ‘em ups on the docket. However, Ghost Janitors does, in all honesty, make the painful act of waxing grime and keeping household appliances clean whilst also maintaining light sources and other defensive measures ridiculously immersive. It’s a pain in the neck, for sure — but it a good way.

Waxing the Ouija Board

If Ghost Janitors only kept to the one chalkboard and map, then I probably wouldn’t have stuck around for much longer than an hour or two. But, to my surprise, it presented a lot more than I thought it would. Alongside the randomized AI encounters, tasks, and jump scares, it also flaunted a steady stream of maps, original backstories, and an entire collection of perks, cleaning tools, and other nifty cosmetics for the player to unlock. Granted, it wasn’t always easy to capitalize on those perks, what with the game being a little trickier than the average ghoul-hopping house flipper. However, it gave me something to fight for, and that’s all that mattered at the time.

The game itself plays well, with little to no server issues or technical problems present to dampen the overall experience. It’s fluid and it’s chaotic, difficult and, above all, incredibly terrifying. It is, to some extent, Phasmophobia with sponges. Take from that what you will, folks.

Suffice it to say, there’s a good amount of potential for Ghost Janitors to evolve as a co-op game in the near term. Could it do with more regions and backstories? Absolutely. Would it benefit from a few additional tools and cosmetics in future patches? Yes. For what it’s worth, though, I’d say that Ghost Janitors is off to a great start, and that it’s more than capable of taking the necessary steps to elevate its greatest strengths.

Verdict

Ghost Janitors is silly, sudsy, and oh-so satisfying to jump into with a bucket and a mop, a ragtag squad of incompetent jack-of-all-trades and a whole lot of wishful thoughts. It’s the sort of game that you would naturally revert back to, not to accomplish your goals with flying colors, but to engage in mindless chore core work whilst onboarding whatever ludicrous surprises that await you in the darkest corners of its paranormal world. It isn’t always graceful work, but it is work that feels oddly satisfying to complete, more so when you have a foolhardy team at your fingertips ready to throw a mop at whatever dares to stain your reputation. That’s something that I’ll remember, for sure.

Although Ghost Janitors may not be the most fleshed out clean ‘em up game on the chopping block, it is one that delivers a good balance between being a comical co-op game and a surprisingly horrifying pantomime. It’s all in good fun, of course, despite its minor flaws and the odd bug here or there. But, for what it’s worth, the concept that it fosters is brilliant, and it gels nicely with the theme and the multiplayer nodes.

Suffice it to say here, then, that if you are looking to don the gloves and poltergeist radar with a friend or three, then you should definitely give Ghost Janitors a shot. It’s messy fun that deserves the broom; it’s more-ish mayhem that, while not perfect, ought to give you plenty to write home about for whenever you’re feeling at a loose end.