Apparition isn’t your typical game, showing you the mechanics first, then telling you: go, explore a series of levels. Here, things are turned around: there is one location - the forest of Green Creek - it’s immediately available, and it’s the mechanics that await discovery. Specifically, how to summon a demon from the woods and survive an encounter with it.

The primary objective of Apparition is gathering points which you receive for photographing and filming evidence of the disturbing history of Green Creek, ghosts, and demons. That, and surviving, of course, if you want to keep your points, you will have to make it back to your car and drive away to safety.

In the first layer of gameplay, you die quickly and often. You return to the forest of Green Creek to try again and maybe live a little longer. You come to the forest at night, earning your first points by filming or photographing disturbing things in and around the cabin. You speak to spirits using a spirit board and… you hear footsteps in the woods. A demon. By the time you see it, it’s already running at you, and your end is swift. The demons cannot be fought; you can make a desperate attempt at running, or remain unseen.

Perhaps you will find some way to outwit the demon on your next visit.