Ranked No. 1 in the "mild horror" genre and breaking into the Top 4 on the bestseller list—how did this dark horse, which has been driving the company’s stock price, pull off a comeback against all odds?

If I had to pick the most unexpected dark horse of 2025, I’d say it’s definitely *Supernatural Task Force*.

Of course, you’ve probably already heard plenty of “industry legends” about him. Stories like how he kept a low profile early on only to make a dramatic comeback later. Or how, with a single wave of his hand, he sent Giant’s stock price soaring several-fold, briefly pushing its market cap close to 100 billion—a true natural talent who single-handedly propelled the company’s stock price forward.

At first, *Supernatural Task Force* wasn’t widely expected to succeed, but then it took the gaming world by storm: on July 4, it burst into the Top 10 of the iOS best-selling games chart and peaked at No. 4, proving its true worth with hard-earned revenue. Shortly thereafter, the developers announced that the game had reached the milestone of 1 million concurrent players.Since then, within just six months of its official launch, *Supernatural Task Force* has pulled off a dramatic “rags-to-riches” story.

In fact, even before the impressive mid-year results were announced, *Supernatural Task Force* had already gained a strong reputation and sparked trending memes that had spread beyond the gaming community to major short-video social media platforms.For example, the game’s mascot, “Shu Shu,” quickly became a go-to meme for many players thanks to its hapless expression—though unfortunately, it has since been dethroned by the adorable, cuddly weasel, which is now flooding feeds across major short-video platforms.

Another example is the flood of meme and strategy guide videos. A tutorial video less than two minutes long titled “Quick Start for Newbies: Avoid 10 Years of Detours” has garnered over 500,000 views. In it, the creator starts by collecting the Dragon Balls (which increases the game’s difficulty),"taking your dog for walks whenever possible" (to sabotage teammates), and "picking up teammates’ items" (to steal loot)—all of which have "greatly benefited" countless newbies. According to public data, on Douyin alone, views for topics related to *Supernatural* have exceeded 15 billion.

It’s safe to say that, whether in terms of revenue or IP influence, *Supernatural Task Force* has already become the leader in the “mild horror” genre. As the user base for this genre continues to grow, further unlocking its commercial potential, *Supernatural Task Force* is driving a “mild horror craze” across the entire industry.

01

"Baffling" Chinese-Style Micro-Horror Becomes the Top Genre

In the past, I’ve encountered quite a few people who joked that *Supernatural Task Force* was “hard to understand,” saying it was difficult to categorize. But after experiencing it more closely, I realized that *Supernatural Task Force* has built a lot around the core concept of “Chinese-style subtle horror,” and the most crucial aspect is “luring players in first.”

Why do I say that? Horror games have a massive global audience, including plenty of casual players who’ll say, “My closet just moved—I’m done with this game.”Ultimately, fear is a double-edged sword: while it can send players’ adrenaline surging and deliver an unprecedented thrill, it can also lead to an immediate “open, close, uninstall” reaction that drives them away.

Given that *Supernatural Task Force* is a game with a large daily active user (DAU) base, the key challenge is undoubtedly how to attract more players to the game. In this context, the decision to focus on “Chinese-style light horror” as its core concept is particularly noteworthy.

On the one hand, in my view, the strength of *Supernatural Task Force* lies in its ability to strike a good balance at the threshold of mild horror—it significantly tones down the horror elements while maintaining a certain atmosphere of dread, and even deliberately includes some cute monsters to draw players in.

To give a few simple examples, the character designs in the game adopt a puppet-like style; while they have a certain inexplicable strangeness to them, they aren’t associated with horror.The monster designs are distinctive. For example, the rat and weasel mentioned above lean toward the cute and goofy side, while the ghost bride and terracotta warriors clearly incorporate Chinese elements, adding a touch of horror—though not too much.

It's pretty abstract.

Some might say, “That’s not scary at all,” but the hardest part of creating “subtle horror” is precisely striking that balance. That’s why *Supernatural Task Force* focuses on building atmosphere.Imagine you’re deep underground in pitch darkness when you suddenly hear the rapid beat of a drum. You look up and see a leather drum with legs. Just as you’re thinking, “Is that it?”—as the drumbeat quickens—a lion dance lion suddenly bursts out of the drum.Compared to the typical scary-looking monsters and jump scares, this gradual build-up of atmosphere is clearly more palatable to players.

Oh, right—this is what it looks like now.

On the other hand, various collaborations with Chinese culture have laid the game’s cultural foundation; the “Ancient City of Jingjue” map, previously launched in collaboration with the Loulan Museum, has earned unanimous praise from players.The ruins of the ancient city amidst the yellow sands evoke a sense of the vicissitudes of Chinese history, and the unearthed “Corpse-Scented Devil’s Tongue” from the Great Jin Dynasty gives players a strong sense of embarking on an ancient adventure.

The character outfit “Lianhua Du,” launched in collaboration with the Dunhuang Art Museum, draws inspiration from the Dunhuang Apsara murals and features ribbons and silk from the Western Regions as its main elements, allowing the vibrant pulse of Chinese culture to be felt at a glance.

The incorporation of Chinese cultural elements not only tones down the horror elements in the game, but the familiar cultural backdrop also serves as a catalyst for attracting players and further reinforces the game’s signature “subtle horror” style.Consequently, the game’s differentiation—centered on “Chinese-style mild horror”—has allowed *Supernatural Task Force* to gradually establish a category barrier, leaving it with virtually no direct competitors and enabling it to run away with the lead in the mild horror genre.

02

PVE Team Treasure Hunting: "Anyone Can Do It"

If the concept of “Chinese-style micro-horror” mentioned above is the trump card that draws players into the game, then the core PVE treasure-hunting gameplay is what keeps them coming back.

In recent years, concept-driven products have been popping up left and right, but they often fade into obscurity after an initial wave of hype. The reason is simple: for products designed for long-term operation, “the fun factor is the ultimate test.”“Supernatural Task Force,” however, builds its subtle horror elements on a foundation of low entry barriers and genuinely engaging gameplay. Its core “treasure hunting” mechanic incorporates elements of exploration, strategic gameplay, and escape. At first glance, it might seem to align perfectly with this year’s wildly popular “search, fight, retreat” gameplay style, but upon closer inspection,there are actually distinct differences between the two.

First of all, the "Tomb Raiding" gameplay has a low barrier to entry and high replay value, perfectly blending the theme with a touch of horror.Compared to traditional “search, fight, and retreat” gameplay, which relies on long-range combat with firearms, *Supernatural Task Force* leans more toward “close-quarters combat.” Essentially, all you need is a flashlight and a shovel to explore the various maps, effectively lowering the skill barrier.Digging up some dirt, smashing a jar, or opening a tomb usually yields substantial rewards, so each match can be as long or as short as you like. Aside from vertical layers, most map layouts are straightforward and uncomplicated, further lowering the barrier to exploration and truly making the game accessible to anyone—all you need are two hands.

A Shovel Moving Sideways

Furthermore, the biggest difference from “Search, Fight, and Escape” is that the game’s core objective is for the team to cooperate and contribute a fixed amount before they can successfully evacuate—and as the map’s difficulty increases, the evacuation fee also rises. While it may seem like a team game that forces cooperation, in reality, there are countless ways to achieve the goal.You can go it alone and rake in the loot across the map, collaborate with other team members by dividing up tasks, or even leech off a pro player—just tag along behind them, picking up the scraps they leave behind while shouting, “Pro player, you’re the best!” As the saying goes, “When one person succeeds, everyone benefits”—and that’s definitely an option here.

Withdrawal Amount Target: 25,000

Of course, aside from the freedom to play however you like, the game mechanics and strategic elements are also very interesting. For example, players start with only six slots (which can be expanded later by purchasing a backpack), so they inevitably have to make trade-offs when choosing items and treasures.One of the Mouse’s skills is to steal treasures that players have placed on the ground and “discarded.” Some players have discovered that if they hang treasures like jade bracelets on the fence, the Mouse won’t steal them.Another example: the puppet monster attacks when players have their backs turned and is immune to physical damage throughout the encounter. However, if you can keep it circling around you like “Qin Wang Rao Zhu,” it will eventually run out of power and collapse on the spot, giving you precious time to escape.There are countless interesting design details like these in the game, and many players have exclaimed, “I’d rather not have spent 5 mao on this!” after seeing them.

Fun fact: The red areas on the map indicate where coffins are being removed.

Finally, and in my opinion the most crucial point, “PVE is the optimal solution for the ‘search, fight, and retreat’ formula.”This year, the sudden emergence of *Escape from Yakov* has shown the industry the terrifying potential of “PvE search-fight-retreat,” leading even developers who have traditionally tied this genre to PvP to begin shifting their focus toward PvE gameplay content.

Beyond that, however, there’s another very important piece of information: the number of players wanting to join the online multiplayer mode has risen exponentially, and related mod videos on Bilibili have even surpassed one million views.What many people don’t realize, however, is that *Supernatural Task Force* established PVE cooperative search-and-elimination as its core gameplay long ago, so it’s actually no surprise that it was able to attract a massive user base so early on.

It’s fair to say that players’ fervent demand for PVE “search, attack, and retreat” gameplay stems from their aversion to hardcore PVP competition,I also frequently encounter situations where, after underperforming due to “various reasons,” I’m subjected to a “triple insult” from teammates. This immense pressure eventually turns into an inexplicable sense of fear, often leading to player churn as they lose the desire to log in over time. Of course, I’m not saying that PvP gameplay is bad,In fact, *Supernatural Task Force* also features plenty of PvP content, such as card games, unbalanced battles, and squad-based treasure hunts. However, beyond these activities, there are likely many non-PvP players who feel they don’t belong anywhere. Therefore, the launch of *Supernatural Task Force* has precisely met the needs of this segment of the market.

With the rise of PVE gameplay, most players now prioritize the gaming experience over the final outcome. You’ll even see players “tormenting” their friends in-game just for the laughs. A lighthearted, casual gaming environment often makes it easier for viral memes to break out into the mainstream, and this puts the core fun of the game’s mechanics to the test—a principle that *Supernatural Task Force* clearly understands well.

03

The game's content and popularity just "grew" on their own.

In recent years, an increasing number of content-based products have been making sustained strides in the UGC space, and the associated buzz has at times been viewed as one of the metrics for measuring an IP’s influence.

"Micro-horror" has long been a popular genre in user-generated content (UGC), with a constant stream of groundbreaking works emerging in terms of gameplay, viral memes, and fan fiction. It’s fair to say that *Supernatural Task Force* has a natural advantage in this genre and has taken "micro-horror" to new heights through its built-in UGC editor.

In the game, the UGC editor built into “Haunted House Square” features a vast collection of outstanding player-created content. Several of the officially recommended maps have consistently remained extremely popular, with even the least-played one attracting over a million players.while the most popular one, “Exit 8,” has attracted 6.84 million players, with a completion rate as high as 27.44%. Some players have even commented, “Is the recreation really this accurate? Is this workshop that impressive? They’ve got some real skill—I’m impressed.”

A closer look reveals that, unlike other UGC products that tend to explore a wide variety of gameplay styles, *Supernatural Task Force* has its own distinct approach. Its core UGC content remains focused on tags such as “mild horror,” “multiplayer,” and “escape games,” which highlights at least two key points.

First, the slightly scary UGC content indirectly strengthens the game’s core player base, and players demonstrate extremely high loyalty—as evidenced by both their engagement levels and completion rates—which shows that the UGC content resonates with players’ preferences.

Second, many titles attempt to recreate the gameplay of classic horror games, and there are already numerous such games on the market. By using the UGC Workshop to enrich content and keep players engaged outside of actual gameplay sessions, the approach is somewhat similar to how player communities in single-player games “grow content” on their own, thereby further extending the product’s lifespan.

Outside the game, fan-created content for *Supernatural Task Force* has also taken the internet by storm. From walkthroughs for various in-game maps to players’ own amusing in-game experiences, from “tricks to mess with others” designed to educate newbies to popular memes involving ship shipping and teasing Bai Yu—it’s safe to say that both the variety of formats and the breadth of content are truly astonishing.

User-Generated Content (UGC) on the TikTok Platform

On Xiaohongshu in particular, *Supernatural Task Force* has become the micro-horror game with the highest number of followers, not only amassing nearly 2 million followers but also generating over 3 billion views on related topics.It’s worth noting that, according to user profiling data from ByteDance’s Arithmetic, women account for as much as 62% of *Supernatural Task Force*’s player base—a figure that shatters the stereotype that the “search-and-escape” genre is dominated by male players. Given this demographic, the game’s popularity on Xiaohongshu and the scale of its fan-created content come as no surprise.

In my view,the consistently high level of discussion and engagement surrounding the game can be seen as an additional source of social reach and influence for a game with a large DAU. The content primarily centers on gameplay guides, fan-created works, and various in-game memes, which effectively attract potential players and break through to new audiences, thereby further solidifying *Supernatural Task Force*’s position as the top title in the “mild horror” genre.

Conclusion

Looking at the success story of *Supernatural Task Force*, its core lies in the precise construction of a closed-loop system of “attraction—retention—fermentation.”Rather than pursuing the extreme thrills of hardcore horror, the game cleverly positioned “Chinese-style subtle horror” as its unique selling point. By crafting an immersive atmosphere and integrating cultural elements, it significantly lowered the barrier to entry and successfully lured a massive number of “casual” players into the game.

In addition, the game’s PVE-focused “Treasure Hunting” gameplay provides solid long-term support.Combining a low barrier to entry, high freedom, and engaging gameplay—while minimizing the pressure of PvP competition—it creates a relaxed, fun, and entertaining social space for players. This is precisely the key to its ability to attract a massive DAU and achieve high retention rates.

Through the game’s powerful in-game UGC workshop and the thriving fan-created content ecosystem outside the game, the product’s popularity has been propelled to new heights. This has not only continuously infused the game with fresh energy but has also firmly established its market position as the “number one in the light horror genre” and solidified its IP influence.

The success of *Supernatural Task Force* may not be a coincidence; rather, it is likely an explosive manifestation of Giant Network’s years of dedicated effort and accumulated experience in the high-DAU strategy. From a point of confusion to one of clarity, *Supernatural Task Force* may already be ahead of many other developers.