What is Phantom Shapes?
Phantom Shapes is a funny online hide-and-seek game for PC that you play with 2 to 7 friends. One player is the Phantom and hides as a cursed shape. Everyone else is a Worker, and the Workers team up to find that shape before time runs out.
The short version
- Players: 2 to 7 in a room. 1 Phantom and up to 6 Workers.
- Where: PC (Windows), on Steam. It comes out on 2 December 2026.
- Style: spooky, silly and family friendly, with no gore.
- Maps: four haunted places: a mall, a hotel, a museum and a school.
- Tools: 19 tools and tricks, all free from your first game.
How a round works
Everyone starts in the Staff Lounge. When the host presses START, one player becomes the Phantom. The Phantom designs a shape, or copies a real prop from the map, and hides it somewhere it fits in. The Workers wait in the lounge while it hides.
Then the search starts. Workers walk the map with flashlights, scanners and other tools, and look for the one object that does not belong. The Phantom fights back with tricks: it can lock doors, curse a Worker, send out a Fake Worker and even copy a Worker's voice.
A few times each round the Phantom can start a Hunt. The Phantom comes out to chase, and the Workers run, hide and throw Ghost Salt. Find the shape and the Workers win. Run out the clock and the Phantom wins. The full rules are on How to Play.
Playing with friends
Most of the fun is the talking. Workers argue about which plant looked different a minute ago. The Phantom sits very still while a friend shines a flashlight right at it. With proximity voice chat you hear the players near you, so a shout from the next room tells you something is going on.
A new Phantom is picked every round, so over a night most players get a turn to hide and a turn to search.
Who it is for
It works for groups who like party games. There is no shooting, and a microphone is optional: text chat and emotes work too.
Want to try it with your group? Read How to play Phantom Shapes with friends, and wishlist it on Steam so you hear the day it comes out.