In this spooky multiplayer oddity, middle-American suburbanites lurch comatose from their beds every night to do the bidding of spectral voices. A local kid on the run, smartphone at the ready, your task is to record and thwart these paranormal goings-on while searching for a missing friend. Cause too much uproar, however, and you’ll draw the ire of the Shape, a blazing phantom that can only be seen through closed eyelids. It makes for an absorbing small-town thriller, like Stranger Things with a splash of They Live, though repetitive tasks and some unimaginative gadgets hold the game back from greatness.

Each game, as one of up to four players, you set out from an abandoned railcar to carry out a randomised series of objectives, from photographing bloodstains to stealing arcane objects from bizarre chambers underground. In your path stand an army of somnambulant grown-ups, many still in their pyjamas, backed up by electricity traps and aerial drones. The town’s layout is the same each time you visit, but the props and threats move around, which keeps things interesting even after mission types grow familiar.

Watch the Blackout Club trailer

You can play The Blackout Club alone, but the game is more fun in groups, not because it makes things easier (the hazards increase per player) but because you can get each other into hot water. At its liveliest, you’ll essentially re-enact setups from comedy horror movies, clambering through a window while another player keeps watch, only for your pal to step on something noisy and bring a horde down on your heads.

Each player starts with a useful tool, such as a grappling hook, and unlockable abilities allow for more inventive solutions to problems: you can prank-call enemies to distract them, for instance. The game’s arsenal of gadgets feels inappropriate, however, owing as much to generic military stealth games as to teen romps such as The Goonies. On the one hand, you’ve got firecrackers and cans of shaving foam with which to clog up traps; on the other, crossbows and flashbang grenades on loan from Tom Clancy.

There’s no killing in The Blackout Club, but you can pin down dazed opponents while buddies escape, or knock them out with tranquilliser darts. It’s advisable to avoid antagonising anyone, though, because it raises the odds that the Shape will appear. This creature is a real terror, mostly because you can’t see it until you shut your eyes (though in a truly insidious feat of audio design, you can always hear it breathing). If it catches you, it’ll turn you into one of the sleepwalkers. Your friends can revive you, if they think you’re worth the bother.

The most intriguing parts of The Blackout Club lie deep underground, and plundering those depths is an eldritch delight. Sadly the repetitiveness of each round sabotages the mystery: it’s more like you’re clocking up overtime in a weird universe than trying to get to the bottom of it. I’d have liked to play a version of this game with more narrative backbone, but there’s a world of dire implication to enjoy here if you dig for it – and besides, some horrors are best savoured in company.