THE GROUNDSKEEPER is a first-person simulation-horror game where you play as the solo caretaker of a haunted Victorian estate operated as a commercial tourist attraction.
By night, scrub grime, blood, and supernatural filth with pressure washers and tools, evade hostile entities, capture photo evidence, and upload it to social media. By day, adjust ticket prices and monetize visiting tourists to fund equipment upgrades and keep the estate profitable.
Congratulations on your appointment as Grounds & Maintenance Specialist at The Manor! Your primary task is simple: restore the dilapidated mansion as much as possible before the morning tourists arrive. Scrub away decades of decay, blast stubborn grime off Victorian wallpaper and sanitize ghostly grime left on walls using high-pressure sprayers, vacuum cleaners and mops.
Unclean rooms affect tourist satisfaction so try your best to clean it all. But do it quick or the night may grow too dark. Every wing presents unique architectural layouts and types of filth. From high-pile antique rugs that require heavy vacuuming, to grime-caked conservatory glass, no surface should be left neglected.
You are never truly alone on the night shift. As the hours tick past midnight, your sanity begins to decay, triggering anomalous environmental disturbances throughout the halls. Doors slam shut, books fly off the shelves and uninvited entities manifest in the darkness.
Use your evidence gear to capture proof of the haunting. Then post it on social media. Only post the best shots, quality over quantity! Then sit back (well, don't actually sit back) and watch the likes and followers come in! Get ready for tomorrow, there'll be a lot more tourists, meaning more to impress.
Each morning, crowds flock to the estate gates based on your recent online clout. Open the gates, monitor queue flow, and set daily admission prices at the ticket booth. Price too high, and visitors walk away in disgust; price too low, and you leave crucial operating capital on the table.
The cleaner the mansion is, the higher the tourist satisfaction. The more clout you have the more number of tourists. Try to balance these two aspects as best you can to prevent burning yourself out.
Report to the Worker’s Shed Terminal to process daily earnings and settle mandatory estate fees. Use the leftover funds from each day to buy new equipment.
Systemic Cleaning Simulation: Tactile surface-restoration mechanics featuring dynamic filth shaders and specialized cleaning equipment.
Escalating Paranormal Threat: Procedural entities that react to your presence, manipulate physical props, shatter lighting fixtures and aggressively hunt in the dark.
Procedurally Generated Map: The procedurally generated map, in combination with the procedural entity, makes every run different.
Found-Footage Clout Loop: Capture validated photographs, video and audio recordings of paranormal activity, manage social feeds and build hype to maximize estate foot traffic.
Daytime Attraction Economy: Balance ticket pricing, review tourist sentiment feeds, monitor room cleanliness scores and settle daily maintenance overhead.
Modular Map Progression: Unlock and purchase higher-tier keys and equipment to unlock new areas, providing new challenges and entities.
