Snapchat’s latest lens throws you into a ghost-filled mystery, and it’s just what the social media platform needs for its paid tier.
Titled Ghost Phone, this game on Snapchat is the platform’s first AR adventure, expanding its Snap Minis feature beyond simple meditation and study apps.
Like other found phone genre hits, Ghost Phone tasks you with unraveling the mysteries of a phone you just found. By using its apps – in particular the camera that will launch you into AR ghost hunters – you will constantly unlock previously hidden texts, photos and videos that provide clues as to what happened to the device’s previous owner.
We tested the game and based on our first impressions we will definitely be playing more. While the phone games found aren’t to everyone’s liking, the AR elements offer a unique level of immersion – helping to sell the illusion that there really is a ghost hovering over your shoulder.
If you want to try Ghost Phone, it’s super easy. Of course, you will need Snapchat installed and you will need to be logged in. Then go to the Lens menu; just tap the camera icon at the bottom of the main screen and then the smiley face that will appear to the right of the record button.
Once in the lens menu, you can use the Explore icon in the lower right corner to find a much wider range of lenses. Finally, use the search bar at the top to search for Ghost Phone and you will see the lens made by the official Snapchat account.
Analysis: Can games save Snapchat Plus?
Ghost Phone is free, and it’s certainly a good thing Snap isn’t blocking all the best features of its apps behind a paywall – but if AR games come to Snapchat Plus, we wouldn’t be disappointed.
Additionally, subscribers have access to a set of starter resources and tools that are not accessible to free members. So far, though, we’ve been pretty disappointed in Snap Plus. His upgrade to Snap Maps terrified our software expert Daryl Baxter (causing him to leave the service) and Snapchat Web is currently just a disappointing Discord.
But if Snap announced that inventive new AR games were coming to the service, we would likely re-sign to try them out.
Snap’s Ghost Phone showed us that your team has a knack for using AR in exciting ways. The paid tier of Snapchat would likely bring even more resources to cool (or scary) AR game development, bringing paying customers even more awesome apps and new genres.
We’ll have to wait and see if Snapchat expands its AR gaming efforts – but if the next title is another freebie or a paywall-locked game, we’ll definitely give it a whirl.
