Dancing with Ghosts, the life-sim about finding joy from grief from legendary game developer Greg Johnson’s HumaNature Studios, tells a tale of spirits lifting people’s spirits in the reveal trailer today with its first public hands-on today at The MIX Fall Game Showcase in Seattle, ahead of a 2026 release on Steam for PC and Nintendo Switch.
Inspired by personal tragedy and the cultures and traditions of his family from Thailand, Johnson set out to create a life-sim about contending with sadness while persevering to make the world a better place. As Mai, a 15-year-old girl in a Thai river village who lost her parents, and Pim, a 10-year-old ghost that only Mai can see, do good deeds to help Pim’s Karma. Complete mini-games to help villagers, use Pim’s ghost abilities to discover what truly ails people, and experience major story events through fun dance sequences.
After losing her parents in an accident, 15-year-old Mai lives in a small Thai river village. One day, she meets a ghost named Pim who doesn’t remember much of her time in the living world (or even why she’s now a spirit), but she’s elated that someone can finally see her. Mai and Pim set out on a journey to process their identities, and come to terms with the emotional challenges befalling them both.
Inspired by the concept of tham boon, help the villagers as Mai by playing mini-games to complete tasks and earn good Karma for Pim. Reveal crucial story moments by playing through dance sequences, and express Mai’s thoughts by drawing in her journal. As Pim, enter people’s bodies to hear their inner thoughts and collect Heartlights to deliver positive energy to help them while fleeing from shadow spirits.
Dancing with Ghosts is the next title designed by Greg Johnson, whose work across his four decades in the game industry includes lead design on ToeJam and Earl, the Starflight series, and Doki-Doki Universe. The idea came to be after the tragic passing of Johnson’s 28-year-old daughter, and his family’s loss of everything in the 2023 Lahaina fires.
Johnson, who himself is half-Black and has aimed to bring Black culture into his games, wanted to tell a story in another culture close to his heart. Greg, who became fluent in Thai to communicate with his beloved Thai and Muslim family, was inspired by Thailand’s cultures and customs around the departed. HumaNature hired local artists Ferrai Duanghathai and Tanta Voratawankul, Thailand’s Bit Egg animation studio, and long-time collaborator Ferry Halim from Indonesia, to bring Dancing with Ghosts to fruition.
Dancing with Ghosts will launch on PC and Nintendo Switch in 2025. A Kickstarter campaign to support the game will go live in October.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/humanaturestudios/dancing-with-ghosts
