"There Are No Ghosts at the Grand" has a Brief but Brilliant Demo! (Impressions)

Whether it's a good old fashioned cartoon like Scooby-Doo (Mystery Incorporated is the best one) or a film, mysteries are always entertaining in media. From murder mysteries to uncovering conspiracy theories that turned out to be rooted in truth, the act of solving something is a trait that lends itself well to games. We have plenty of good mystery games out there, or stories that throw you in for a loop in one way or another, but recently I came across a recommendation for a game that executes it in a strange package. There Are No Ghosts at the Grand seeks to present a mystery thriller experience, while also mixing in some... home renovation mechanics?? After both seeing this game at the PC Gaming Show earlier this year and a glowing recommendation from fellow curator Lucy James, I knew I had to give this a try.

The demo starts off with you renovating the lounge of the Grand Hotel you've recently purchased with your share of your inheritance. You are taken through a bit of a meta tutorial with a talking paint scraper as your guide, who is always looking to help you at every turn. In this segment you are shown what tools you have available to you for moving furniture, vacuuming up debris, painting walls, and blasting away broken furniture. Before you continue working on the rest of the hotel, you receive a call asking for your assistance with uncovering a mystery surrounding a nearby island. After begrudgingly going along to help, you take a boat out and are introduced to one of the best aspects of this game: the musical moments.

Among this cast is Alex Brightman of Broadway fame. Yes, you read that right, the same Alex Brightman who played Beetlejuice, Dewey Finn in School of Rock: The Musical, and Fizzarolli in Helluva Boss. He makes his video game debut here as the main character Chris David, and in the first half of the demo you get to hear him sing! As someone who did musical theater in high school, I could not believe it when I saw he was going to be in this game, as School of Rock was one of my favorite musicals to participate in!

Theater kid moments aside, the musical segments were a pleasant surprise when I stumbled across it in the demo. After the musical number ends, you've found yourself crashed onto the island you were setting out to investigate. When you free the boat from being stuck, your partner drifts off back where you just came from, leaving you alone. But don't worry, it's an abandoned island, surely nothing could go wrong here.

As you continue to explore the island, you become wary of memories from previous residents during World War II. It's here that you discover that this island wasn't necessarily abandoned—it's that nobody returned to speak of its horrors. It's upon exiting this underground bunker that you realize the reality of your situation and are chased by spiders that look like chairs for some reason. The demo then ends with you sealing yourself in the bunker to figure out how you'll survive on this island.

While I lament only having been able to play just 30 minutes of this game, I can already see myself falling in love with this idea. The gizmos that you use to accessorize the Hotel also being useful for uncovering secrets around you on the island is a fascinating idea, although I do want to see more on how personalized you can make your Hotel in the final game. My only piece of feedback that I have are the controls. For the most part, everything is intuitive, but the gear wheel for selecting your gadgets feels a bit too sensitive, and there is no option to turn down the sensitivity on that.

Aside from that detail, the only other issue I had was that I couldn't play for longer, because I had so much fun hearing the musical bits from the cast and working to unravel the mysteries of the world around me. This game was an instant wishlist when I first saw it at the PC Gaming Show, but now it's going to be a must-buy when it comes out later this year.