Crawl trailer is a perfect horror pastiche for some same-screen arcade action

If Powerhoof can make games like they can make trailers, then Crawl could be very good indeed. It's a same-screen multiplayer brawler, in which the player must avoid the traps and enemies activated by their ghostly friends. The concept is dramatically explained in the video, by a narrator whose hammy horror acting would make Vincent Price proud. Of course, as an indie game, it's also accompanied by some expressive pixel animations and a glitchy chiptune soundtrack.

Aimed at 2-4 players, one person takes control of the human, while the others play as ghosts. In order to stop their human victim, ghosts can possess traps and use magic runes to take necromantic possession of skeletons and undead creatures. Whichever ghost lands the killing blow is then given a mortal body, and must take their turn to survive the dungeon gauntlet.

It's a solid and fresh concept, which is increasingly hard to find in the growing same-screen multiplayer genre. If your interest has been piqued, you can find more details at the game's site , and vote for a possible Steam inclusion through the Crawl Greenlight page .

Phil Savage
Editor-in-Chief

Phil has been writing for PC Gamer for nearly a decade, starting out as a freelance writer covering everything from free games to MMOs. He eventually joined full-time as a news writer, before moving to the magazine to review immersive sims, RPGs and Hitman games. Now he leads PC Gamer's UK team, but still sometimes finds the time to write about his ongoing obsessions with Destiny 2, GTA Online and Apex Legends. When he's not levelling up battle passes, he's checking out the latest tactics game or dipping back into Guild Wars 2. He's largely responsible for the whole Tub Geralt thing, but still isn't sorry.