If you haven’t played Paper Ghost Stories: 7PM yet, you absolutely must; as a bonus, it’s free to play on PC via Steam until June 2! It’s the first in the Paper Ghost Stories series, and a relatively quick play. The next game in the series was announced today. Titled Paper Ghost Stories: Third Eye Open, the game expands on its predecessors concepts. It is set in early 2000s Malaysia and follows Ting, a young girl coming to terms with the power inside her.
The common threads between the games are style and inspiration. Each title in the series could be described as being a paper theatre style, inspired by the paper puppetry of Southeast Asia. The Steam page states that “the beautiful, childlike aesthetic belies a darker story of a family falling apart and Ting’s role in its salvation, and the haunted house at the heart of it all.” The games are inspired by folklore; Paper Ghost Stories: Third Eye Open specifically pulls from Malaysian tradition, culture, and folklore.
Ting is battling for her mind and her morality. She’s a five-year-old Chinese-Malaysian girl, and she’s gradually discovering her supernatural abilities. Paper Ghost Stories: Third Eye Open follows Ting for five years as she is guided (and misguided) by two spirits with their own agenda. Malaysian culture is at the heart of the game, so players will visit Morning Markets, befriend an elderly monk, feast on Apam Balika and Nyonya Kuih at the Night Market, all while avoiding the wandering spirits of the woods. Gameplay involves puzzles and mini-games to help players fully unravel the mystery at hand.
The Steam page refers to the game as the first “full-sized” game in the franchise; I’d argue any completed game is a full game, but I suppose some despise short games and only want to play longer ones.
Developed by Cellar Vault Games and published by Chorus Worldwide, Paper Ghost Stories: Third Eye Open will be released for PC via Steam, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series, and Xbox One in early 2023.
