Phasmophobia
Phasmophobia is a cooperative horror investigation game played from a first-person perspective, supporting one to four players. Players take on the role of ghost hunters who must identify the type of ghost haunting a designated location by gathering evidence using various paranormal investigation equipment. The game features speech recognition, allowing ghosts and certain equipment to respond to words spoken by players. As investigators spend time at the site, their sanity decreases, eventually triggering hunts during which the ghost actively pursues and can kill players. The game includes multiple location types of varying size, twenty-nine ghost types each with unique behaviors and evidence, and a progression system where players earn money to unlock and upgrade equipment. Virtual reality is optionally supported.
What it feels like
Mounting tension as sanity drops, hunts approach, and the ghost becomes active creates anticipatory fear. Hunts during which the ghost actively pursues and kills players sustain high-stakes moment-to-moment pressure. The ghost is an active present threat that clearly intends harm once hunts begin.
What it's about
Ghosts, paranormal activity, and occult investigation are the entire subject matter. The primary aim is psychological horror—frightening players through paranormal dread and active threat. Identifying ghost type by gathering and analyzing evidence structures the core investigative mystery.
How it plays
Reading ghost behavior, line-of-sight, activity states, and hunting triggers is central to the investigative challenge. Searching haunted locations for evidence items and paranormal clues is a core loop of investigation. Players manage sanity as a declining resource that triggers hunts; equipment and money unlock progression.
How it looks and sounds
First-person perspective is definitional to the ghost-hunting investigation experience and immersion. Audio cues, voice recognition, and ghost vocalizations are key to detection and immersion.
How it's structured
The game is explicitly designed as a 4-player online co-op experience where teams work together to investigate hauntings. Individual investigation contracts at different locations can be completed in discrete sessions. While nominally playable solo, the game is built around cooperative multiplayer; single-player is a secondary mode.
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