Yooka-Laylee has finally landed, bringing a nostalgic type of of adventure platforming gameplay worthy of the title of spiritual successor to the Nintendo 64’s Banjo-Kazooie back into our collective gaming lives. There are plenty of lush worlds to explore and challenges to endure as the bat and chameleon duo take on the dastardly Capital B and his corporate empire of mischievous minions.
Of course, in any spiritual successor to Banjo-Kazooie, there are going to be a healthy amount of collectibles to find and Yooka-Laylee is chock full of them, from Quills to Pagies to continue your campaign. Not the least of these are the Ghost Writers, who lay hidden throughout each of Yooka-Laylee’s five worlds, each requiring a careful eye and the right moves in order to reach and collect them.
That said, never fear! We’ve spent extensive time with the game and tracked down those tricky ghosts so you don’t have to comb worlds from head to toe. Keep in mind that there are a full set of five ghosts in every world, making for 25 Ghost Writers in total. Furthermore, they come in five colors, each requiring a certain basic strategy to collect as follows:
Yellow Ghost: This one’s easy. Just find it and you can collect it.
Red Ghost: The red ghost is feisty. you’ll have to dodge its attacks and hit it back when it turns orange a few times to incapacitate it for collection.
Green Ghost: This slinky ghost will dart around when you enter its domain. Chase it down and catch it to collect.
Blue Ghost: This trickster hides in small clearings, appearing briefly and disappearing just as quick. Once you have Laylee’s Sonar Shot, you can blast this ghost to uncloak and reveal it for collection.
Pink Ghost: This gluttonous ghost won’t go anywhere without a snack. You’re going to have to find a fruit bush to take advantage of Yooka’s Slurp Shot with so you can sate this ghost’s appetite and collect it.
With the ground rules laid, it’s time to hunt down some Ghost Writers!
Triblestack Tropics
Yellow Ghost: From the starting point at the Grand Tome, head to the right of the ramp in front of you and down some steps. The ghost is in an enclave near the bottom.
Red Ghost: You must first expand the Tropics with enough Pagies. The red ghost will require you to climb the expanded Monument. Upon exiting a doorway leading to a rotating platform, you must make it to the path to the immediate right of the doorway you came from (if you’re looking at the door from the platform). You’ll come to another doorway leading to a winding path. Take the path down to terrace where two enemies will be running around the red Ghost Writer.
Green Ghost: At the bottom of the ramp that leads to the cooking skeleton explorer (Clara), take a right and travel along the path to a small oasis with a palm tree. The ghost is sitting there in the center.
Blue Ghost: From the knightly pig, Sir Scoffsalot, go back towards the torn Pagie and take the path to the right. The blue ghost is at the end of the path in a circle of Quills. Use the Sonar Shot after it appears to reveal it for collection.
Pink Ghost: Traveling up to the terrace from the Grand Tome, you will see a large rock directly ahead. To the immediate left of it is a series of platforms. Traverse them with jumps and double jumps to get to the top of the big rock and nab the ghost. Use the Slurp Shot ability to collect a Frost Berry from near the bottom platforms and feed it by spitting it into the ghost’s mouth.
Glitterglaze Glacier
Yellow Ghost: You’ll need the Slurp State move from Trowzers for this one. On your way down the path from the Grand Tome, you’ll spy the yellow ghost on your left behind a fence. Climb the nearby hill to find a torch. Swallow the fire to empower yourself with it and continue forward to the left towards the fiery bramble. Empowered, you can jump through the fire and traverse the path beyond it to collect the yellow ghost at the end.
Red Ghost: With the Slurp State move from Trowzers in your arsenal, travel to the top of the hill near the yellow ghost. You’ll find a torch. The area to the right is frigidly cold. You must Slurp the torch to empower yourself, then travel through the cold area, lighting torches along the way to keep your empowered Slurp State and stay warm. The red ghost is lurking along the pathways through this area. Be mindful to keep your Slurp State up with the nearby torch as you dodge its attack and retaliate.
Green Ghost: From where Dr. Puzz is, head over to the nearest mountain wall and continue along it to find a doorway. Go through it. On the other side, head to your immediate left and follow the path to a river. At the head of the river, you’ll see a hole in the water. Dive in and go through the hole to a cavern where the green ghost awaits.
Blue ghost This one lurks in the waters near Cartos. From the old mine cart, head toward the big ice island in the water and then go further to a smaller platform beyond it. The blue ghost is wisping around a brick floor just below. Dive in, wait for it to appear. You can use the Sonar Shot while swimming underwater to reveal it.
Pink Ghost: you need the Sonar ‘Splosion move from Trowzers in Moodymaze Marsh to get this one. At the towers and ice ramps where the bossy road sign (Planker) is hanging around, head up the ramp to the next platform and then continue onto the one just ahead of you. On the top platform, you’ll find the pink ghost encased in a block of ice. Use the Sonar ‘Splosion to break the ice, then head over to the grenade fruit you used to carve the Capital B statue and race it back to the ghost to feed it.
Moodymaze Marsh
Yellow Ghost: Make it to the Frogger-like logs floating down the muck river and follow the first row of logs down to the end. Facing the river end, there will be series of small islands to the right. Follow them to a small clearing where the yellow ghost awaits.
Red Ghost: After dealing with the water sound trap puzzle, jump on the rocks to the right up to the wooden platform above and cross the bridge. The red ghost will be across a second bridge to the left.
Green Ghost: Once you purify the water for one of the grocery carts, you can access several pipes underneath the water in the area, one of which is Swampy Station. Once inside, swim up to the ground floor, run to the left past the Drones, and jump into the water at the open end of the sewer grate. The green ghost lurks in the water under the grate. Use the Buddy Bubble move to get your footing underwater and chase this ghost down. There’s a chance it could escape through the wall. If this happens, just leave the Swampy Station area and re-enter it.
Blue Ghost: Along your journey, you’ll discover a maze of thorny brush with a button nearby that opens a pipe acting as a short cut to the Grand Tome. To the left of the pipe is a path through the thorny vines. The blue ghost is wisping about in a clearing along this path.
Pink Ghost: First, you’ll have to cough up some Pagies to expand Moodymaze Marsh. Behind where you come across the skeletal explorer Clara seeking a gem in a pipe, you’ll find a metal shack sitting in a pool of clean(er) water. Slurp up a frozen fruit near the bottom and make your way to the top to feed the pink ghost its treat.
Capital Cashino
NOTE: at a certain point after leaving Cashino for the first time, Trowsers will appear in the hub world to offer you the Flappy Flight move, which allows for free flight and makes collecting many of the ghosts in Capital Cashino a lot easier.
Yellow Ghost: From the entrance to Capital Cashino, head through the doors and take a left at the banker that is definitely not Capital B. You should come to a Sonar Shot platform puzzle that takes you to a Pagie, a high platform facing a card pyramid, and a slide. From the platform, jump and glide or use Flappy Flight to reach the closest ledge. One level down, on the right, and near the back of the card pyramid, you’ll find the yellow ghost.
Red Ghost: For this one, you must expand Capital Cashino. To the left of the giant air ball machine is a path that will open up. You’ll need to use the Reptile Rush move to jump the ramp and break through the glass into a series of following Reptile Rush ramp puzzles. The red ghost awaits on a dance floor along this series. Put the moves on it and collect.
Green Ghost: This one can be found atop the tall grouped towers of spinning roulette wheels in front of a Pachinko game featuring Capital B’s giant portrait. Don’t let the spinning wheels mess you up. Use your glide to chase this green goober down and nab it.
Blue Ghost: There’s a giant pachinko game featuring a portrait of Yooka and Laylee near the base of the card pyramid. From the portrait, head straight out and a little to the left to find a big red cube shooting air up near some big red dice. Use the glide or Flappy Flight to float up on the air wave above the building over the dice and reach its roof. On top will be some enemies and a broken slot machine near a box. High Jump on top of the slot machine to get up onto the top of the box where the blue ghost flits about.
Pink Ghost: For this one, you must expand Capital Cashino. Near the giant pachinko machine with Yooka and Laylee’s portrait is a tunnel with pictures of ghosts. This leads to a series of matching puzzles with the Slurp Shot. In the fourth puzzle room, following the rotating match puzzle, drop to the ground floor and check to the right. The pink ghost is hidden in a breakable crate. Fruit can be found in the same room to feed it.
Galleon Galaxy
Yellow Ghost: From the tome, head to your right through the opening in the rocks. Use the Lizard Lash move to ascend the series of rocks up to a moon-like floating sphere. Jump across the nearby platforms to the back of the sphere to find an opening. The yellow ghost awaits inside.
Red Ghost: This one requires the world to be expanded. Make your way to the Black Hole In One golf game. Inside the golf course, look up to spy a floating spaceship. Use Flappy Flight to reach the roof of the ship and locate hole that leads inside. The red ghost is rearing to go for a final battle.
Green Ghost: This one requires the world to be expanded and that you’ve powered Dr. Puzz’s D.N. Ray (solve the light house puzzle and find the Mollycool on top). Turn into a boat and sail from the dock straight out and to the first opening on the right. Looking in that direction, you’ll see a collection of blue glowing rocks near a high tech sphere building. Melt the rocks with your fire cannon to reveal the ghost, chase it down, and collect.
Blue Ghost: At the nearby island covered in glowing rocks where a Pagie is hanging in a suspended cagie, the blue ghost sits on the roof of the building holding the cagie crane. Use Flappy Flight to reach the roof.
Pink Ghost: To reach this one, look to the ramp in front of where the tonic vending machine (Vendi) is located. Near the bottom of the ramp on the building is cracked glass covering a hole that can be broken and entered with the Reptile Rush ability to get into the Lunar Lockup area. The ghost is sitting behind the bar inside next to a convenient grenade fruit plant.
Certainly through collecting the Ghost Writers, you’ll track down a lion’s share of the Pagies and Quills you’ll need to complete Yooka and Laylee’s quest to get The One Book back, but there are certain to be a few left over. Luckily, with everything it takes to get these ghosts, you’ll have all the tools you need by the time you’re done and clean-up should be a breeze! Happy hunting!
