Introduction: What is Pengu’s Night Shift?

Pengu’s Night Shift is inspired by Pokémon GO — specifically the real-world geolocation movement and the feeling of exploring your surroundings with a purpose.

But it isn’t a Pokémon GO clone. The similarity ends at “you walk around in the real world.”

The core gameplay loop is completely different: instead of collecting creatures, you’re using analog tools, gathering evidence, and deducing which ghost you’re dealing with.

If you’re familiar with these titles, the easiest way to describe it is: Pengu’s Night Shift sits somewhere between Pokémon GO and Phasmophobia (but in real life).

Here is a screenshot from the game.

Inspiration & Story

When I was a kid growing up in Indonesia, my school had a reputation. Everyone said the fourth floor was haunted - the hallways were always dark, the lights flickered, and nobody wanted to go up there after class. Looking back now, I’m pretty sure the teachers intentionally started those rumors just so kids wouldn’t go up there.

So naturally... My friends and I got curious.

We downloaded those old "ghost radar" apps on our tiny phone and treated them like real paranormal detectors. We would roam through empty classrooms, peek into pitch black hallways, and scare ourselves half to death because as an eight year old kid, I fully believed those EMF spikes meant a ghost was behind me.

*I think it looked something like this. *

These moments are unforgettable. It made our imagination run wild. It felt like an adventure.

That memory stuck with me for years.

So for Kiroween, I wanted to bring that childhood feeling back - but this time:

• with real detection tools
• with an actual deduction system
• with mechanics that build tension

I also originally wanted to revive Clippy (Microsoft’s old dekstop companion) as my "Ressurection" angle - turning him into a paranormal investigation assistant.

But due to IP restrictions, I had to pivot.

So instead, I revived the concept of classic 90s desktop helpers and redesigned it as:

Pengu, A little mascot who reacts to your tools, gives hints, and adds charm without risking disqualification. One of my scrapped ideas was to use a magnifying glass character — basically Clippy’s cousin — but I didn’t want to get too close to the original design.

Another subtle inspiration came from Pokemon GO - the feeling of: -exploring the real world -walking toward something on a radar -using your phone as a window into a hidden layer of reality

My game isn’t AR but it captures that same energy of "something is out there, go find it."

Just like how Pokemon GO turned everyday streets into adventure zones, my game let me turn my ghost hunting childhood memories into interactive again and built with real mechanics instead of fake ghost radar apps.

Whos is Pengu?

Pengu is this guy. Pengu is the little assistant that guides you through investigations. He is your boss. If he has tips for you, listen to him.

What it does

Pengu’s Night Shift is a mobile first (PWA) investigation game that turns real world locations into haunted "hotspots." Players would walk around outside with their phone, use analog inspired tools to hunt for a hidden ghost, and then try to deduce which ghost they are dealing with before sanity runs out.

The core gameplay pattern is divided into two parts. Which are overworld exploration and investigation mode. However, current MVP is restricted by admin mode’s movement for easier testing for the judges. No GPS implementation yet for movement.

Overworld Exploration: This is the bread and butter Pokémon Go style exploration. The main view of the game is a map which will follow the users’ location. Instead of catching Pokémon, players will collect camera rolls, boosts, charms and field journals that will help your investigations. However, the GPS system has yet to be implemented. So we have to click on map to move for current testing. Although it does take real world lat,lng calculations.

Investigation Mode: This gameplay loop is activated when someone is within the Investigation hotspots and starts the mission. The map turns into a full screen ghost hunting device kits. Movements is simulated through devmode.

The tools:

• Radar: Direction Only Point toward the ghost’s hidden spot. It doesn’t tell you what the ghost is, or how close, just a general direction. The movements are simulated on devmode for the judges but this is used as if your phone is the compass, as it would move according to where you point your phone

• EMF: Distance Only Shows how close you are to the ghost (0-5)

• Camera: Core Evidence Tool You line up a shot and take a photo. The camera then "develops" and locks the camera for 7 seconds, forcing you to swap to other tools while you wait. When it finishes, you may see a faint silhoutte, moution blur, shadow figure, glitch streaks or nothing at all. You have to face the ghost to take a photo or you will capture nothing.

• Spirit Box: Talk to them and get their personality traits A dual knob interface where you tune two knobs until the frequencies "lock in" the ghot’s signal. When locked, you get to ask it one of three questions. They will either ignore or respond based on their trait.

• **Thermal:**A quick temperature check that tells you if the area feels Normal, Cold Spot, or Deep Cold – useful in combination with other tools, but never a solo solve.

All of this feeds into an Evidence Screen where the player reviews:

• Photos they’ve taken
• Spirit Box responses
• Rough thermal readings

From there, they make a final guess from a roster of seven ghosts (Wraith, Shade, Poltergeist, Banshee, Phantom, Onyx, Trickster). Each has a unique combination of:

• EMF personality
• Spirit Box behavior
• Word pool
• Camera manifestation
• Thermal profile All information about them is stored in the codex.

This creates variety of strategies and skills to solve each investigation.