History VideoGame / Phasmophobia

The game is available on Steam as an Early Access title. On June 13, 2023, it was announced to be receiving console ports for the UsefulNotes/XboxSeriesXAndS and UsefulNotes/PlayStation5.

* BrandishmentBluff: While investigating a haunted location, the ghost may become agitated enough by an investigator's mere presence that they'll materialize for a few seconds and charge them while making all manner of unpleasant noises, and sometimes with a weapon raised while flickering in and out of existence. Inexperienced players may mistake this for a hunt and flee in fear, while experienced players can tell the difference between this scary bluff and a genuine hunt that puts lives in danger.

** In the Nightmare Update, among the new locations is an abandoned camp which is chock full of horror franchise Easter Eggs. If you go to the dock near the lakehouse and look over the edge, [[Franchise/FridayThe13th a familiar jockey mask will float up to the surface]]. If you go over by the fire pit in one of the map's corners, you will see a twig effigy nearby, similar to the one found in ''Film/TheBlairWitchProject''. You can also occasionally peer out into the woods beyond the map borders and be treated to the sight of [[Franchise/TheSlenderManMythos Slender Man]] staring back at you. Finally, if the player turns the TV on in the cabin, the nearby phone will ring, once again referencing ''The Ring''.

* DaylightHorror: Jinns aren't necessarily more dangerous in the light, but they are less dangerous in the dark, because if the circuit breaker is off, a Jinn cannot use its special power at all.

** In the Nightmare Update, among the new locations is an abandoned camp which is chock full of horror franchise Easter Eggs. If you go to the dock near the lakehouse and look over the edge, [[Franchise/FridayThe13th a familiar jockey mask will float up to the surface]]. If you go over by the fire pit in one of the map's corners, you will see a twig effigy nearby, similar to the one found in ''Film/TheBlairWitchProject''. You can also occasionally peer out into the woods beyond the map borders and be treated to the sight of [[Franchise/TheSlenderManMythos Slenderman]] staring back at you. Finally, if the player turns the TV on in the cabin, the nearby phone will ring, once again referencing ''The Ring''.

The game is available on Steam as an Early Access title.

** The Summoning Pentagram, drawn in blood on the floor surrounded by candles. Lighting all of the candles forces the ghost to appear in a harmless state within the pentagram, making it easy to get photographs. However, once the 3 seconds ends, it ''immediately'' begins hunting.
** The Music Box, which will attract a ghost and make it sing. However, if it touches the box, it will begin a hunt, even killing the player immediately if they turn it on right near the ghost.
** The Tarot Cards, which have ten random effects, including setting off an immediate hunting, immediately killing the player, restoring sanity to 100 or reducing it to zero, or even resurrecting a dead team member.
** The Spirit Mirror, which, if turned on, reveals the ghost's room. However, it drains 8 sanity a second to look at it, and it will shatter if the player's sanity hits zero, immediately starting a hunt.
** The Voodoo Doll now has pins in it, and using it costs 10% sanity and forces the ghost to do an interaction. However, there is a 10% chance that the heart pin is stuck in, causing an immediate hunt. If the player using it has 10% sanity or lower, the hunt is guaranteed.
** The Ouija Board now never fails to answer a question, but it drains a lot of sanity for asking it about the ghost's room (Demons, however, still drain less, keeping their identifying marker), less sanity is drained for other questions like the ghost's age. The player must tell the board "goodbye" for it to shut off; leaving a board that is on immediately starts a hunt. A player can also ask the ghost to play hide and seek, which will start a countdown to a hunt (in addition to causing the board to catch fire and burn up, rendering it unusable for the rest of the round).
** The Monkey Paw will grant the user five wishes out of a set list. These wishes can be of great aid to the investigator in gathering evidence, evading the ghost, or trying to change the environment to be more advantageous for the investigators. However each wish comes with a unique consequence which can include sanity loss, trapping them in a room, giving the ghost bonuses, and almost all the wishes kick off a cursed hunt.

* TarotTroubles: One of the six {{Cursed Item}}s a player can find is the deck of tarot cards, containing 10 randomly-chosen cards that have ranging effects on the player(s). A few of the cards play the "troubles" very straight, while others completely invert it:

* AbandonedHospital: The Asylum location takes place in a long-abandoned mental hospital.

** Deogen is constantly aware of the player's location at all times and is not affected by obstacles like doors, making them the first ever ghost in the game where hiding from it is completely useless. The trade-off is that the Deogen takes a lot of energy to manifest its form and will significantly slow down when nearby a ghost hunter, allowing them to evade it until the hunt ends. Deogen also have a unique Spirit Box response where instead of speaking back, it will breathe heavily and aggressively into the box, immediately identifying it (though they will still answer normally as well, so you may have to fish for a response if you suspect the ghost is one).

** The cards that play this straight, giving players negative effects, include The Moon (instantly drains the user's sanity to 0%), Death (immediately triggers a hunt), and The Hanged Man (kills the player on the spot). The Wheel of Fortune has a 50% chance of being this as well; if the card burns red when it disintegrates, it drops the player's sanity by 25%.
** There are just as many cards, though, that completely invert this by having positive effects: The Sun (instantly restores the user's sanity to 100%), The Hermit (prevents a ghost from hunting or leaving its current room for a brief period), and The High Priestess ([[BackFromTheDead brings a dead player back to life]], if applicable). The Wheel of Fortune also has a 50% chance of being this; if the card glows green when it burns up (instead of red), it ''raises'' the player's sanity by 25% instead of lowering it.

** Onis are incredibly active ghosts, often performing more frequent interactions and events than any other. They also tend to be fully visible when they manifest. Oni are also incapable of the ghost event where they hiss in your ear, which will let you know to immediately disqualify it regardless of other evidence if the ghost hisses.

** Mares work best in the dark. They will turn off the lights and Fuse Box when they get the chance so that they may move faster and hunt more frequently in the dark. Keeping the lights on (particularly in its Ghost Room) is key to reducing its aggression. Mare have the unique ability of ''immediately'' turning the light off in its ghost room when you turn it on, which while not conclusive (others may do it that quickly as a coincidence) can be a major tell towards its identity if you're already suspicious.

** Demons are extremely aggressive ghosts and attack very often, sometimes as soon as the player steps outside of the van[[note]] Most ghosts require players to be below a certain sanity threshold before they can begin a hunt, but as a special ability Demons can begin to hunt no matter the sanity, even if every hunter is at 100% sanity, which can be a good way to identify it if you keep tabs on everyone's sanity levels [[/note]]. However, they are more easily repelled through the use of a crucifix [[note]] the effective range of the crucifix is increased to 5m instead of 3m- this means a Demon will be stopped from beginning a hunt if it is within 5m of a crucifix when it is supposed to begin hunting, whereas for other ghosts this radius is only 3m [[/note]].

** The Thaye works like a reversed Shade in that it will be very active at first, but then become more reserved and shy as the investigation continues. The Thaye will trigger many ghost events and hunts early on in the investigation that hunters will have to quickly capitalize on, because afterwards these events and opportunities to capture supporting evidence will become fewer and further between. Thaye have an unique identifier of being able to "age" as the investigation goes on; if you ask them their age on an Ouija Board (assuming one is accessible) it might give a different age if you wait a few minutes and ask it again.

** For the truly masochistic and hardcore among the fanbase the developers added Insanity difficulty. Now instead of two evidences to work off the ghost will only reveal one piece of evidence to work with. The rest will only have to be worked out from its behavior as there are no cursed possessions to give you extra hints. In addition you start with less sanity than nightmare difficulty, pills heal even less sanity, the ghost room changes more often, there is no beginning grace period to set up, the ghost has a longer hunt period and starts off at almost max aggression (meaning practically every ghost can be as aggressive as a demon), the fuse box is turned off at the start, and there are almost no hiding spots on any of the maps. Even veteran players have played on this difficulty and have died often due to how incredibly challenging it is.

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: The new Monkey Paw cursed possession has multiple wishes that could aid players in the course of their investigation. That said, each wish also has drawbacks that can severely hamper them the rest of the time.

** Yurei behave much like a vanilla Spirit, but they passively drain sanity faster than any other ghost. They are particularly susceptible to smudge sticks, which have the unique effect of preventing the ghost from wandering in addition to their usual effect.

** Onryo are spirits that are afraid of fire. Lighting a candle and holding it in the presence of an Onryo may immediately cause it to blow out the candle and prevent a hunt, acting as the Onryo's unique version of a crucifix. This behavior can be exploited to prevent an Onryo hunting.

** This is the primary strategy for Demons, one of the most aggressive ghosts. They hunt often and, as a result, kill often. At the same time, their aggressiveness makes them easy to identify, and crucifixes nullify them for some time. Demons also have the unique ability to start a hunt regardless of player sanity. While this power is exceedingly rare, Demons can, and have, initiated hunts within seconds of the premises being entered.

** Demons are probably the worst kind of ghost to encounter. They are extremely aggressive and may attack unprovoked, sometimes as soon as the player steps outside of the van. Most ghosts require players to be below a certain sanity threshold before they can begin a hunt, but as a special ability Demons can begin to hunt no matter the sanity, even if every hunter is at 100% sanity, which can be a good way to identify it if you keep tabs on everyone's sanity levels. However, they are more easily repelled through the use of a crucifix. Note that while a Demon's aggression leads to frequent Hunts, other ghosts under appropriate circumstances may attack just as often.

** Jinn are empowered from having the power box on: they move much faster, allowing them to quickly "sprint" to a player's location during a hunt, and have the ability to sharply drain the sanity of nearby players. This makes them the only type of ghost where it's better to do most of the investigation in complete darkness, turning off the power box to keep it from switching on any lights.

** Onryo are spirits that are afraid of fire. Lighting a candle and holding it in the presence of an Onryo may immediately cause it to blow out the candle and prevent a hunt, acting as the Onryo's unique version of a crucifix. This behavior can be exploited to prevent an Onryo hunting and control which room they are in, as Onryo do not leave a room with an open flame.

** Demons are probably the worst kind of ghost to encounter. They are extremely aggressive and may attack unprovoked, sometimes as soon as the player steps outside of the van. However, they are more easily repelled through the use of a crucifix. Note that while a Demon's aggression leads to frequent Hunts, other ghosts under appropriate circumstances may attack just as often.