How to avoid crossing the streams in Ghostbusters - hints, tips, and tricks

Late last week, Smurfs' Village developer Beeline Interactive released a free-to-play iOS Ghostbusters game in which you - surprise, surprise - take control of a team of paranormal investigators.

New York City has been overrun by hordes of nasty ghosties, so it's your job to grab one of those infamous proton packs, jump into the Ecto-2, and clean up the streets of the Big Apple.

Unfortunately, Casper is nowhere to be seen. The ghosts in this game, you see, are downright UNfriendly, and they'll send you packing if you're not careful.

That's why we've created this little guide. We hope it helps.

Look at all the junk food!



The first thing you should do after you fire up Ghostbusters for the very first time is complete the game's tutorial. In it, you learn how to properly handle your proton pack and utilise each of your team members' unique abilities.

So, your main aim in Ghostbusters is to work your way up a New York-based tower and bust the many ghosts, ghouls, and spirits that are terrorising its inhabitants.

Unfortunately, each floor (or level, essentially) of this tower is blocked by an otherworldly barrier that can only be removed through the use of slime. You earn this ectoplasm by completing side-missions.

When someone asks you if you're a god, you say YES!



Slime, then, is one of this game's three currencies.

Cash is another. Cash is, in fact, Ghostbusters's most common currency. You usually earn it at the end of a successful bust.

You can spend cash on recruiting new team members, as well as on new equipment and research. We'll discuss that in detail a little later, though.

That leaves power cores, a.k.a. Ghostbusters's premium currency. If you're familiar with free-to-play titles, you'll already know that premium currencies are extremely hard to come by.

Power cores allow you to recruit the four original 'busters - Ray Stantz, Peter Venkman, Egon Spengler, and Winston Zeddemore - from Ivan Reitman's 1984 Ghostbusters movie. Power cores also enable you to speed up research and purchase special items.

If you really want to, you can buy packs of cash and power cores via in-app purchases.

Old Testament, Mr Mayor



There's just one more thing that you should constantly keep an eye on: energy. This is displayed at the top of your device's screen.

Energy depletes as you blast ghosts, capture spirits, and generally perform activity. Without it, you can't undertake any new busts.

Unfortunately, your team of investigators is yet to discover Red Bull, so you either have to purchase energy (using power cores) or wait for it to automatically regenerate when your squad becomes tired.

Your team gains a single point of energy every 36 seconds.

Someone saw a cockroach up on 12



Most of the missions you'll encounter early on in Ghostbusters are incredibly easy to complete, but tasks do become increasingly harder as you progress.

It's important, then, that you know the strengths and weaknesses of each of the four team members that you take on your missions.

Wranglers, for example, are equipped with slime blowers and heavy armour. These 'busters are capable of taking more damage than your other team members.

Blasters, on the other hand, are long-range recruits that carry proton packs and medium armour. These deal more damage to ghosts than any other unit.

Finally, there are scientists, who pack light armour and a special multi-purpose ectoplasmic disposal gun that is capable of healing other team members.

Naturally, you should push wranglers to the front of your party so that they can soak up any damage dealt by the ghosts you're battling. Oh, and you should keep scientists as far away from the action as possible.

Use the small pause in action between waves of ghosts to re-position your team.

Everybody has three mortgages nowadays



In between missions, you can return to your fire station HQ and research new upgrades and equipment for your ever-growing arsenal of ghostbusting weapons.

There are two varieties of research in Beeline's Ghostbusters game: ghost research and tech research. Both are extremely important.

You can complete ghost research every time you capture a new variety of spirit or whenever you capture pre-determined amounts of said spirits.

Through this research, you can craft special items that increase the damage, armour, speed, and range ratings of your various team members.

Tech research works in a pretty similar way, but it requires the many blueprints that you pick up on your travels around New York City.

By completing tech research, you unlock new equipment for your entire team. The items crafted from ghost research, however, can only be allocated to a single member of your outfit.

Both forms of research require cash and your hard-earned time, so you may want to consider spending some of your power cores to expedite the process.