Ghostless is a new side-scroller about rooting out AI infiltrators

Brazilian developer Coffeenauts is bringing its 2.5D action-adventure and colony-building game Ghostless to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. The game asks players to lead a human uprising against a rogue artificial intelligence in a post-apocalyptic alternate 20th century.

The core loop splits your time between two distinct modes of survival. Out in the world, you scavenge for resources, platform through ruined environments, and fight machines in side-scrolling combat. Back at your base, you use those resources to expand your colony and manage the survivors you bring home. The complication is that the AI has learned to manufacture androids that look exactly like people. You have to figure out which of your new recruits are actual humans and which ones are just waiting to sabotage the resistance.

Paranoia and platforming

Ghostless takes place 15 years after a Cold War cyber attack caused a Soviet super-intelligence to wipe out most of civilization. You play as a character called the Envoy, who is sent to investigate rumors of a facility where the AI is constructing a new secret weapon. Out in the field, the enemies are obviously mechanical and hostile. You can shoot, dodge, and jump your way through them to gather what you need. The combat relies on fast-paced, set-piece battles where you have to clear out enemy strongholds to secure vital technology and bring it back home.

"The ultimate human vanity is your exclusive claim to the soul."

The AI antagonist taunts the humanity of the resistance with this line. It sets a grim tone for a world where you are constantly second-guessing the motives of the people you are trying to protect.

The tension shifts once you return to the colony. You need to grow your numbers to stand a chance against the machines, but every person you let in is a potential threat. Ghostless blends standard 2.5D exploration with social deduction mechanics that force you to investigate your own allies. Trusting NPCs is usually a mistake in games anyway, so at least this time the paranoia is an intended mechanic.

Coffeenauts creative director Fabio Rosa said the initial concept was about capturing the tension of John Carpenter's The Thing. The project eventually expanded into a genre hybrid that mixes colony simulation, detective work, and action-platforming. The studio refers to the visual style as hi-fi pixel art. It combines retro character sprites with modern lighting effects to sell the gloomy, ruined atmosphere of the setting.

Building the resistance

The game was just revealed during the Latin American Games Showcase in early June, an event dedicated to highlighting games from the region. Coffeenauts previously released the co-op party game Spacelines from the Far Out in 2022. That title was a colorful, comedic take on running a space airline. Ghostless is a much darker turn for the São Paulo studio. The developer has not announced a release date yet, but the official Steam and PlayStation Store pages are already live for wishlisting.

The survival genre has plenty of games about hoarding scrap metal and building walls to keep monsters out. Adding a social deduction layer changes the math entirely. Managing a post-apocalyptic base sounds stressful enough without having to administer a Voight-Kampff test to every person who asks for a bowl of soup.