Phasmophobia's anniversary update takes some sting out of losing

Phasmophobia ghost
(Image credit: Kinetic Games)

An update for cooperative horror game Phasmophobia launched on September 18th, kicking out some nice changes to the indie for its very successful first year. If you forgot, we published a piece where the author called it "the best ghost game ever made." We also gave it an award as the best co-op game of 2020.

For its first birthday, Phasmophobia has gotten a total redesign of the journal, making tracking what ghostly goings-on are relevant much easier. It's now far simpler to navigate, and you can cross off evidence as you go.

Perhaps most relevant for some of us, I won't say who, it's now a bit nicer to lose. Rather than a flat $10 for failing a contract, you instead get an insurance payout based on the chosen difficulty. You'll also now get to know what type of ghost you failed against, which is nice for learning the game's 16 and rising flavors of spooky goober.

As sprinkles on top, Phasmophobia now has an offline singleplayer mode.

The update was accompanied by a short, but sweet note from the solo developer who started Kinetic Games. "It has been an amazing year for Kinetic Games and Phasmophobia and I would like to thank everyone for their amazing support. Today, Phasmophobia is one of the highest rated games on Steam which is incredible and something I never imagined happening," it says. You can read the entire update on Steam.

Contributor

Jon Bolding is a games writer and critic with an extensive background in strategy games. When he's not on his PC, he can be found playing every tabletop game under the sun.

Read more
Phasmophobia Bleasdale Farm rework images
Phasmophobia is getting a big rework for one of its oldest maps, turning the Bleasdale Farmhouse into a horrifying and confusing maze
A woman with short hair stands next to a pot plant, provocatively
GOG's version of Silent Hill 4 has been updated with missing content from the original console game
The outlast trials personal pick
Sure, I'm scared of my own shadow, but that doesn't stop me from forcing my friends to play The Outlast Trials with me
desiccated faces with columns protruding from their heads gaze forward toward the camera through an orange haze
The best horror games on PC
The outlast trials setting
'You just have to make them think this world is real, and this world can hurt you': The Outlast Trials devs discuss a changing horror genre and an insatiable need for scares
R.E.P.O. screenshots
'REPO is fun': Lethal Company creator recants their criticism of the new co-op horror game after trying to move a grand piano through a mansion
Latest in Horror
The new Prime Asset featured in the upcoming update for the Outlast Trials.
The Outlast Trials puts its already paranoid players under surveillance for a time-limited story event
The outlast trials setting
'You just have to make them think this world is real, and this world can hurt you': The Outlast Trials devs discuss a changing horror genre and an insatiable need for scares
Silent Hill f transmission trailer screenshots
Silent Hill f is no longer banned in Australia, but it still sounds pretty messed up
One of Repo's player characters, resembling a yellow pedal bin with googly eyes, encounters a skeletal, open mouthed face with glowing yellow eyes.
REPO dev says it wasn’t actually inspired by Lethal Company, and started as a singleplayer cleaning game: ‘It was nice, but far from what REPO is now’
Uplifted chimp Penn and cyber-rat Trip in the key art for Animal Use Protocol
Animal Use Protocol's dysfunctional chimp-rat alliance drags the Stasis series into a horrible new first-person era
A woman with short hair stands next to a pot plant, provocatively
GOG's version of Silent Hill 4 has been updated with missing content from the original console game
Latest in News
A mech awakens.
Mecha Break developer is considering unlocking all mechs following open beta feedback
Lara Croft Unified Art
Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics lays off 17 employees 'to better align our current business needs and the studio's future success'
A long bendy arm stealing money from people in a subway car
'You're a very long arm. You steal things. It's a comedy game,' explains developer of comedy game where you steal things with a very long arm
The heroes are attacked by monsters
Pillars of Eternity is getting turn-based combat to mark its 10th anniversary, and that means PC Gamer editors will soon be arguing about combat mechanics again
Image of Ronaldo from Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves trailer
It doesn't really make sense that soccer star Ronaldo is now a Fatal Fury character, but if you follow the money you can see how it happened
Junah beginning a battle in Metaphor: ReFantazio.
Today's RPG fans are 'very sensitive to feeling like they wasted time' when they die, says Metaphor: ReFantazio battle planner—but Atlus still made combat hard anyway