TW: This game is, apparently, pretty immersive so it uses sounds, jumpscare animations and even VR to take things up a notch. Not recommended for the faint of heart. Seriously.
A show of hands: Anyone here into “Buzzfeed Unsolved?” Or ghosts and paranormal activity in general? Or detective games?
If you’re looking for any of the above, a game with a fresh concept or you just want to amp up the horror vibe with an immersive experience, Phasmophobia is the latest indie nightmare fuel scaring your favorite streamers shitless in their gamer chairs. Interestingly, it currently has “overwhelmingly positive” reviews on Steam, too.
Think “Buzzfeed Unsolved,” except there’s twice the amount of dumb bitch energy potential because it’s a multiplayer game. You can rope in up to three friends to assemble a team of paranormal experts hunting down ghosts. You’re like the Ghostbusters, except you’re going in various locations not exactly knowing what kind of ghost you’re about to encounter, and the ghosts are hyper-aware of what you’re up to.
It’s not as simple as walking into an abandoned house, documenting what kind of ghost was responsible for the eerie vibe and leaving unscathed. Your first few trips are apparently designed to be easy because as you explore more locations, you realize that the subtle spooks from before are just warm-ups.
It’s funny to watch Shane and Ryan (but mostly Shane) hurl insults at ghosts in “Buzzfeed Unsolved” and get no response for laughs but in this game, the ghosts could actually respond to you. The voice recognition feature lets you interact with ouija boards and spirit boxes but also picks up on your moods. So careful when you’re starting to get the chills, the ghosts are probably waiting to hear you blurt out “let’s get outta here.”
This game takes both wits and guts to survive: You gotta think about how to go around your limits (i.e. you can only carry three items at a time, what a bummer) and analyze how you’ll execute your tasks before taking on every location.
The game is currently in its early access stage, so you might catch some glitches here and there. It’s also apparently made by a solo developer, so if you’re considering trying this game, check out the Steam page to support the dev and for all the nitty gritty deets like computer specs and even updates on future builds.
Still from Phasmophobia’s Steam page