The Real Ghostbusters is the 1989 Casper / Target Games AB board game based on the animated series. It is a separate game from both Milton Bradley’s earlier The Real Ghostbusters Game and the later Triotoys / Paradigm / Falomir release with the similar title The Real Ghostbusters: The Game.
This version pushes the cartoon team into a more city-wide contest. Instead of just climbing through one haunted set piece, players take one of the four Ghostbusters, work with that character’s strengths and weaknesses, and try to clear Manhattan’s ghost problem well enough to finish with the best payday.
How it works
Catalog descriptions for the game frame it as a competitive run through a ghost-filled New York. The Ghostbusters are all playable roles, the city becomes the battleground, and the scoring focus is about making money while staying ahead of the haunting problem. Stay Puft also enters the picture as a larger threat that can force everyone to deal with the endgame together.
That makes it one of the more unusual Real Ghostbusters board games: still kid-friendly, still built around the cartoon’s visual identity, but broader in scope than the Milton Bradley tricks-and-traps board.
Quick facts
- Year: 1989
- Publisher: Casper with Target Games AB
- Age guidance: 7 and up
- Style: competitive animated-series board game with distinct Ghostbuster roles
Source note
Summary details on this page are based on the Ghostbusters Wiki entry for the Casper / Target Games AB release and the BoardGameGeek catalog listing. The featured image is a thumbnail from the YouTube overview The Real Ghostbusters Board Game – Ep 63 Ghostbusters Week.