Does the Ghost puzzle game hold the secret to Papa Emeritus IV’s future?

Apparently not content with headlining arenas around the world, invading international albums charts and seeing their songs go viral, Sweden’s satanic superstars Ghost have now announced their own videogame.

Released as a tie-in to the new Phantomime EP, Escape The Ministry is a point-and-click puzzle-based online game in which fans explore the band’s mysterious headquarters, with an ominious warning that they must escape before they’re found out.

It all ties in to the wider lore and mythos surrounding the band that has been shared across the (semi)-frequent chapters on YouTube, with hints of appearances from members of the wider Ghost family including Sister Imperator and the previous Papa Emeritus lineage.

Armed with a camera (which can download images directly to your desktop), the player walks around Ghost HQ collecting clues and messages that may hint towards what lies in store for the band. A heavy metal take on Monkey Island style puzzle solving, the game can be played online and via VR.

While the band remain typically tight lipped about what the future holds, there have been plenty of hints that the band are gearing up to kill off the current Papa Emeritus — IV — as they traditionally have between each album cycle.

IV remains an anomaly in the Ghost lore, being the only character to serve as a Papa that hasn’t been ‘killed off’ between albums (thus far, at least). Granted, when Copia was introduced in April 2018 he was simply Cardinal Copia, before ascending to full Papa-Dom in March 2020 during a show in Mexico.

Currently Ghost have tour dates running right up until October, playing in Europe, North America and Australia, including appearances at European festivals throughout the summer.

In-game, a room dedicated to the four previous Papas (Papa I — III and Papa Nihil, the apparent originator of the band) includes an empty pedestal with the ominous message «under construction, this pedestal will be filled at a later time».

We won’t spoil any of the puzzles for you, but suffice to say the whole game ties in to Phantomime in some fiendishly ingenious ways and features plenty of easter eggs from across the band’s history.

Naturally, that’s also kickstarted a fresh wave of speculation on what the future might hold for the band — and while we don’t have answers just yet, we suspect it’ll be gloriously ludicrous when it all comes to a head.

Ghost are on tour throughout 2023, for the full list of dates visit their official website. To play Escape The Ministry, visit https://ministry.ghost-official.com/