Phasmophobia: Tips and Tricks for Beginners

Created by Kinetic Games studio, Phasmophobia is a game that just keeps on giving as the developers continually add new updates and elements to their unique horror-survival game.

Phasmophobia is a multiplayer ghost-hunting game for teams of us to four players. You work alongside your friends to take on contracts, hunt down these ghosts (before they hunt you), and collect evidence to decipher which type of ghost they are.

Surviving is not always the easiest of tasks during the game, so here's a handful of tips and tricks to help you get started.

Read More: Phasmophobia: How to Use Smudge Sticks

Selecting A Difficulty

First and foremost, you need to choose the best difficulty for you and your team when embarking on a contract. Initially, you will only be able to complete Amateur contracts until you level up.

Ultimately, your highest difficulty choice is unlocked at Professional contracts. But, there is a Halloween event adding a Nightmare difficulty coming soon.

The Start-Up Phase

At the beginning of each ghost hunt, there is a start-up phase in which you and your teammates will have a short time period in which you can try and collect as much evidence as possible before the ghost is able to hunt you.

Make the most of this time!

Using Your Flashlight

If you want to navigate around any of the maps in Phasmophobia, a flashlight is an absolute necessity.

You will be able to turn on lights around each building, but as you'd expect from any spiritual activity, you can't trust them to stay on for long. Therefore, make it your first priority to acquire a flashlight or headtorch before going ghost-hunting.

Monitoring Your Sanity

Hunting ghosts will deplete your sanity slowly. Or, if you come face to face with one, incredibly quickly. You can use Sanity Pills during your hunt to help maintain your sanity, or you can make a point of retreating from ghost hunting for a moment whenever your sanity drops.

If you have a full team, it's useful to often have someone in the van monitoring your sanity and the cameras that you'll inevitably need to set up around the map.

Using Equipment to Gather Evidence

There are various materials you can purchase before going on a contract that you will need to help collect evidence that ultimately tells you which type of ghost you are facing. Some of this equipment is unlocked further down the line, as you level up.

Remember to be tactful about what you take on a hunt with you. Split items between players in your team, do a little budgeting and don't take more than what you need. You don't want to be left with no equipment or money left over for your next hunt! Although, insurance often helps to make sure this doesn't happen - which is explained more below.

Tracking Down the Ghost

Throughout your contract, you will have access to a journal that tells you all about the various ghost types, how they behave and what evidence they leave behind.

As you come across different types of evidence - such as Ghost Orbs, Ghost Writing, EMF Level 5's - make sure to log all of this in your journal, so that you can ultimately deduce which ghost you're dealing with and get the hell out of there with your sanity, and cash, intact.

If you need some help on ghost types and the evidence they give off, check out our handy guide here.

Encountering The Hunting Phase

It happens. Sometimes, a teammate will go in all guns blazing and make the ghost really angry. Then, before you know it, the doors are locked and you're the one being hunted.

More often than not, saying the ghosts name will make them really angry... so it's best to avoid this unless you're looking for trouble. If a ghost begins to hunt, your only option is to run and hide until the hunting stops and you can go back to collecting evidence - or the van - safely again.

You can survive a hunt by retreating to a safe hiding place, such as a locker or a room that has no paranormal activity going on. You're gonna need to be quick though!

Insurance Payouts

It's also important to note for those players who are unlucky enough to die, there is insurance for any equipment they may lose, so not all is lost.

For Amateur contracts, the dead player's items will be reimbursed by 50 percent. This is then a 25 percent reimbursement on Intermediate contracts, and a 0 percent reimbursement on Professional contracts. Keep this in mind before running headfirst into a hunt and screaming the ghosts name!

With those tips and tricks in mind, you and your friends will be ghost hunting experts in no time. Happy hunting, and remember to try and not get hunted yourselves.