There are No Ghosts at the Grand Preview

When I think back to Microsoft’s Showcase back in the summer, there were no games that caught my attention like There are No Ghosts at the Grand, a curious indie from developer Friday Sunday, which seemed to have it all. The trailer started with some renovation gameplay, before proceeding to delve into a musical, horror-themed moments, and so much more. I immediately thought to myself, I have to see more of this game!

Fortunately, Gamer Guides were invited to a hands-on with There are No Ghosts at the Grand at Gamescom 2025, along with an interview with Creative Director and Founder, Anil Glendinning, to speak more about the game.

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Your main task in There are No Ghosts at the Grand is to renovate it.

One of my first questions was a simple one: “What genre would you class There are No Ghosts at the Grand as?” After all, these were my first thoughts after that initial trailer, and one that I still had after my hands-on. As Anil puts it, “I think the strongest thing to hold it together is that it’s a narrative game. It’s a story game. Now, it’s a story game that takes place within a small open world. It’s a story game that has renovation and decoration mechanics. It’s a story game that has driving mechanics as well. It has singing, character dialogue, and exploration, and side quests, and relationships. But it’s all in service of the story.” And he couldn’t be truer.

The visuals are striking in There are No Ghosts at the Grand and immediately draw you into the bizarre world you find yourself in. As American Chris David, you have inherited the Grand Hotel, and your first, and most important job, is to renovate it. The demo picks up with us being introduced to a set of power tools with which to do all this renovation, such as a furniture placer, painter, blaster, and, of course, a vacuum. There is a catch to all of this, however, as to aid you in your task is a Scottish helper who lives on a screen on the tools. Despite his best attempt to be annoying, I couldn’t help but fall in love with this character already, and it only set the tone for those to come.

Still, there was a room that needed renovation, and the tutorial took me through all of the basic mechanics. All of the tools are simple to use, and with the press of a button, you can see what objects or walls a particular tool can affect by lighting them up (this can be turned off for those of you who don’t want any assistance). For those of you who are fans of games such as PowerWash Simulator, you’ll be right at home here, as it is incredibly satisfying seeing a room come together. I asked Glendinning about how much freedom there will be with your renovation of the Grand, and he had this to say.

“So very often, when you first unlock a room, that room is connected to a particular character. And so, you’ll discover the history of that room and the history of that character as you go about completing story-based renovation tasks. However, once you have completed that, the room then becomes yours, and you can renovate it and decorate it however you want.”
“Furthermore, once it’s completed, adjacent rooms also then unlock, allowing you to explore those, and again, you have your freedom to explore that.

Brilliant, that’s the first worry ticked off, as it would have been a shame if you were limited to it. Our renovation, however, is interrupted by a call from Mayor Greene, who cuts it short, and we’re soon ushered outside of the Grand. As Glendinning puts it, yes, this is a haunted house game where you can actually leave the haunted house.

It’s clear to see there’s no love lost between Chris and Mayor Greene, mostly down to the former’s decision to renovate the Grand; however, she thinks she may have found an answer to an ongoing mystery. At this point, I then get to drive the bike with Mayor Greene and a mysterious cat, as I make my way down to the pier. Although for this demo, we’re off to get on a boat, Glendinning mentions that you will have full exploration of this small town.

“So, we have a small town that you can explore, and it’s full of secrets, lore, nooks and crannies, hidden side quests, collectibles, and items that you can find. The main storyline is developed as you increase your relationship with characters.”

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You can freely explore the small town of There are No Ghosts at the Grand.

Wow! Okay then, that gives us some great variation to the renovation gameplay and helps us to understand a bit more about the direction the game is heading. I’m told that the main story of the game develops over the course of 30 days and nights before it heads for the final stretch, and your choices and actions will determine how that all plays out.

This is something I see firsthand after I take the boat towards the island that Mayor Greene mentioned previously. Here, I can choose to either de-escalate the hostilities between the two or further push on the matter. That’s right, your choices will impact your relationships with the characters you interact with, and you’ll often have to choose between one or the other in specific choices. As mentioned above, these all play into the gameplay loop of There are No Ghosts at the Grand and will impact your ending.

This is all without mentioning how Mayor Greene and Chris, the protagonist, have their dialogue sung in a musical number, which all have a theme based on the character speaking. This keeps getting better! Glendinning tells us that there was a reason for having these moments, not just for the sake of adding it. Rather than letting characters just have their own theme song, the musical parts add to their characterization so that the lyrics of a song aren’t overpowering the scene at hand.

I thought I had seen most of what to expect of There are No Ghosts at the Grand at this point, but once I’m stranded on an island, my task becomes to find a place to hunker down for the evening (which requires a bit more of the renovation gameplay). As night falls, this is where I then discover some of the more spectral side of the game, where I’m piecing together memories of the island, speaking with Mr. Bones (the cat from earlier, who can now speak in a wonderfully delightful Australian accent), and eventually, there appears to be monsters that haunt me, allowing me to shoot them as I make my escape. Although this isn’t a combat-focused game, Glendinning tells me that there are more segments like these, and if you get hurt in the full game, you’ll lose your evening, and thus, precious time.

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You’ll see the more spectral moments of There are No Ghosts at the Grand during the night.

If I saw all of this in just a 20-minute demo, I honestly cannot wait to get my hands on the full game to see what more to expect. It may seem like There are No Ghosts at the Grand is mixing tons of genres just for the sake of it, but everything has a reason, a plan, and most importantly, the game is incredibly fun to play. Out of everything that I played at Gamescom, this may be the one that sticks with me the longest, and it appears that Friday Sunday has something very special on their hands with There are No Ghosts at the Grand.