Phobia Online Introduction:

Phasmophobia is an indie horror game created and published by Kinetic Games, a British game studio. The game revolves around the popular activity of ghost hunting and was initially launched in early access on Steam for Windows with virtual reality support in September 2020. Its fame skyrocketed the following month, thanks to the participation of renowned Twitch streamers and YouTubers, especially during the Halloween season. By October 15 of the same year, Phasmophobia had become the sixth-most popular game on Twitch and dominated global Steam sales for several weeks in October and November 2020.


In Phasmophobia, players engage in horror investigation and survival experiences from a first-person perspective. They can venture alone or team up with a group of up to three others to undertake contracts involving identifying the specific type of ghost haunting a designated location. Communication is crucial, and players can interact through voice chat, both locally within a short range and globally via walkie-talkies. Notably, the game incorporates speech recognition, enabling certain in-game elements, such as Cursed Possessions and the ghost itself, to respond to players' spoken words and phrases. While collecting evidence and surviving are key to earning the most cash and experience points, completing objectives and taking photos can significantly boost rewards. Players are encouraged to accomplish as much as possible to level up and unlock maps, levels, and item upgrades.

Gameplay:


The game begins in a lobby where players prepare for their contracts. Phasmophobia allows players to customize their appearance by choosing from eight different paranormal investigator characters to differentiate group members. Contracts are selected by player votes, and the host sets the difficulty level. All equipment is purchased and upgraded at a computer in the lobby before being loaded into a van, which serves as the base of operations at the haunted site.

Phasmophobia boasts twenty-four distinct ghost types, each with its own behaviors and unique clues. When players arrive at a site, one of these ghost types is randomly assigned for the mission. As they work to fulfill the contract, players' sanity gradually depletes, with various events and circumstances influencing the rate at which this occurs. When sanity reaches a critical level, the ghost becomes aggressive and attempts to eliminate the players (assuming the "Friendly Ghost" custom difficulty setting, which disables hunts, is not enabled). During the hunting phase, all exit doors are locked, forcing players to either outrun or hide from the ghost until the hunt ends. The ability of the ghost to initiate a hunt depends on its specific strengths and weaknesses, and a standard hunt can be thwarted with a Crucifix, whereas a Cursed hunt, triggered by a Cursed Possession, can only be prevented with a Tier III Crucifix.