Try a tiny hunt
no download. it's dark in there.
Lights out!
A ghost is loose in the bedroom. Hold your flashlight on it for a couple of seconds to banish it. It gets scared of light, and it gets grabby in the dark. You have one minute until dawn.
Move your mouse to walk · hold the button to shine · or WASD and Space Drag a finger to walk and shine at once. The real game is five buddies and a ghost played from five phones.
One big screen, a lot of little ones
everyone sees something differentThe TV or the computer shows the house. Each phone is a controller, and it shows its player a different, private truth. Pick a screen to see what it knows.
three flashlights, one ghost you can't see
Sam the Bearhover a room. you can see all of it.
Pick your onesie
five can play. everyone wears something different.Every phone picks its own onesie in the lobby, and the ghost's job rotates: everybody gets a turn at haunting before anybody gets a second one.
Bear
…and the ghost has three looks
Same rules for all of them, but each one shrieks differently. Whoever is haunting this round picks up a new look and a new trick.
The Ghost
VanishShrieks, then pops up somewhere else entirely.
The Wraith
PhaseCan't be lit or pulled in for two whole seconds.
The Banshee
WailStuns every buddy within reach for three seconds.
How a night goes
dusk to dawn, one round at a time🔦 Shine
Buddies walk with a stick, and the flashlight points where they're headed. Hold the big button to shine. Light shows the ghost and slows it down, but a battery lasts about twenty seconds, and a beam that's on the ghost drains three times as fast.
🪤 Trap
Everyone carries one trap. Drop it, then hold the ghost in light nearby: the trap pulls it in and snaps. One light is slow. Three lights are fast. Three traps and the ghost is done.
😱 Shriek
The ghost's way out. A shriek puts every light out for three seconds and gives its spot away for a moment. Then it goes back to catching anybody it touches.
🌅 Dawn
Buddies win by trapping the ghost three times, or by lasting until dawn. The ghost wins by catching everybody at once. Then the next person gets to be the ghost.
Eight ways to stay up too late
tap a card to see how it works🎉 Party mode
Pick the games you like and the game plays every one of them once a round, in a random order, with a scoreboard on every phone after each one. Or play a single game on repeat. We don't judge.
🔔 Bell Ringers plays real songs
Each buddy rings part of the tune, so jump in time together.
What do you need?
not much, honestlyOne copy of the game hosts. Everyone else just needs a phone with a browser. Pick your situation:
The computer is the big screen.
On Steam (coming soon), the game runs on a Windows, Mac or Linux computer. Plug it into the TV and that's your haunted house.
- Run the game on the computer, and plug it into the TV with an HDMI cable.
- A QR code and a four-letter code show up on the big screen.
- Everyone else scans the code with their phones, picks a onesie, and they're in.
Host from your phone.
The iOS and Android apps (coming soon) can host a whole game. Your phone runs the house, shows it on a screen, and still works as your own controller, so the host plays too.
- Open the app and start a game. Your friends join the same way: scan, pick a onesie, play.
- Put the big screen on a TV with AirPlay or Chromecast, or gather everyone around the host's screen.
Showing the big screen on a TV straight from a phone is something we're still building. Until it's ready, the host's own screen is the big screen, so pass it around the pillow fort.
Just open a link.
Joining a game takes nothing but a phone browser. No app, no account, no install, and it's free.
- Scan the QR code on the big screen, or go to the join page and type the four-letter code.
- Pick a name and a onesie, and tap Ready.
- Hold your phone sideways if you like. You're a buddy now.
While the game is in private playtest, the join page asks for a tester password.
FAQ
things people ask in the darkHow many people can play?
Up to five buddies per game, and one of the five is the ghost each round. If there aren't enough of you, add bots in the lobby: they play buddies and take ghost turns too. One bot and you is already a game.
Does everybody need to buy the game?
No. One copy of the game hosts, and everyone else joins free from the browser on their phone. That's the plan for release: buy it once, no ads, no subscription.
Where can I play it?
It's coming to Steam on Windows, Mac and Linux, and to iPhone, iPad and Android. Joining works from any phone with a browser. It isn't out yet: right now it's in private playtest, so the join page asks for a tester password.
Do I need the internet?
To join a game, yes: phones find the big screen with a four-letter code over the internet. After that, the phones talk to the big screen directly. The privacy page has the details.
Is it scary?
It's a cartoon ghost with googly eyes and its tongue out. Nobody has been actually frightened by it so far, though a few people have screamed.
Does it collect my data?
No accounts, no ads, no analytics, no tracking. The only thing you type is a nickname of up to twelve letters, and it stays in your game. Read the privacy policy, which has a little game of its own.
Developer
Sleepover Buddies is an independent game made by Jan Aguja in the Philippines. For questions, feedback, bugs or to join the playtest, email [email protected].
Soon
Soon