Every Haunted House Has A Story
Unless you have lived in a new-build home from the very start, chances are there have been multiple owners of your house before you. And in some of the much older buildings, they might come with ghosts of the past. I don’t necessarily mean the supernatural kind, but the memories of past lives; scratches in walls, things hidden under floorboards, secrets from the past.
But what would happen if you specialised in both house cleaning and ghost removal? That’s the set-up for Creepy Shift: House For Sale, and it’s a fun one.
The Creepy Shift games have carved out a great niche in the gaming market. The premise is simple – these are first-person horror games that blend everyday job sim mechanics with supernatural twists. We reviewed Creepy Shift: Roadside Diner back in 2025, but now Creepy Shift: House For Sale focuses on the house removal business and has a different feel from the previous games, mixing Ghostbusters with Storage Hunters.
Clearing Out More Than Just Old Furniture
You play one half of a duo renowned for cleaning houses that are a bit… spooky. Your latest job is the Kowalski family home, where the occupants disappeared under mysterious circumstances. As you begin working, you gradually uncover clues through notes that reveal what happened to the family. Then the ghosts start appearing, giving you even more pieces of the story to fit together.
I really liked the tone of this story, which never takes itself, or the situation, too seriously. The removal duo are good fun and have a real Ghostbusters vibe in their phone conversations. The environmental storytelling also does a solid job throughout.
Cleaning By Day, Ghost Hunting By Night
But what are we actually doing in this game, I hear you cry? Well, you’re cleaning and maintaining the house before dawn, when the property developer arrives. You only gain access to small sections of the house as the game progresses. So, for example, you might begin by clearing rubbish and household items from the living room. You fill empty boxes with family belongings and junk, and once a box is full, you take it outside to your work area. There, you tape it up before feeding it through a wrapping machine. You also have two storage units – one where you load boxes onto pallets, and another that serves as your tool storage and break area.
In the first person, you carry out jobs and tasks in each room. But to unlock the next section of the house, you need to solve a puzzle, and each area has something completely different to tackle. There are colour-coded puzzles, safes to crack, one involving valves, an old video, and a clothes-based puzzle. They’re fun, interesting, and challenging.
Ignore The Warnings At Your Own Risk
You also have a tool belt containing hammers, nail guns, and other equipment to repair furniture and walls. And, of course, there is plenty of vacuuming to be done. But the ghosts keep getting in the way.
You’ll often find warnings written on notes around the house. One might tell you that if you hear a radio playing, you should switch it off immediately or something bad will happen. Another might warn you to collect glowing green runes and throw them down the well in the garden. I won’t spoil anything, but I strongly recommend following the instructions on those notes.
I had a great time with Creepy Shift: House For Sale and its combination of cleaning and ghost hunting. My only real criticism of the gameplay is that the controls can sometimes be a little awkward when picking things up, and the physics occasionally feel a bit off too.
A Fresh Spin On Horror And House Flipping
Visually, the game is set entirely within one house and its garden, but don’t let that put you off. It’s great to watch the house change as the night unfolds and the skies gradually darken outside. There are lots of nice little touches too, from the letters you discover to the collectibles hidden throughout. One of my favourite details is that, in your break room storage unit, you can put on old real horror films and watch them.
The audio is great as well, with a suitably ominous soundtrack and some excellent sound effects. The game is fully voiced too, which really helps sell both the removal duo and the ghostly encounters.
You’ll probably like what you find in Creepy Shift: House For Sale, taking it in across a couple of sittings. It’s fun and addictive, in the same way many cleaning and maintenance games are. But it is the story and the ghostly goings-on that will keep you hooked, and there are some genuinely brilliant jump scares along the way.
Creepy Shift, I can’t wait to see what you come up with in the next instalment.
Important Links
Hide The Skeletons – Creepy Shift: House for Sale Launches On Console – https://www.thexboxhub.com/hide-the-skeletons-creepy-shift-house-for-sale-launches-on-console/
Buy from the Xbox Store – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/creepy-shift-house-for-sale/9N0NL0CHSSGH/0010
