One of the better performing games right now on Steam is without question Phasmophobia. It’s a co-op multiplayer experience where players go around hunting ghosts. The premise has certainly caught on like wildfire, as is pretty clear with the sales stats for the game on Steam.
It has soared to the charts and a huge reason for this is its creepy and tension-filled design. Players get to go around haunted locations using ghost detection equipment to capture evidence. Along the way, they’ll have to mind their steps because all kinds of ghosts are on the prowl for their next victim.
The game is still in Early Access, but it already has shown a lot of potential. It will only get better with time too as the developer already has a lot of interesting plans cooking up. One of these is making the ghosts smarter. That’s an interesting proposition because some of the ghosts are already challenging to interact with as it is.
A behavioral change in particular that is being worked on is the design change for where ghosts typically go. Before, they would favor a location and remain there — making them pretty easy to detect. In future updates, though, ghosts could change locations quite frequently. As you might imagine, that would throw players off and make them have to rethink their ghost detection strategies.
Also, it has been proposed that ghosts would return back to locations where players were spotted. On paper, this should make players tread very carefully as they navigate their surroundings in haunted locations.
Phasmophobia is a pretty refreshing concept in the co-op survival-horror space. It gets a lot of things right, such as the emphasis on working together as a team. If you want to have a successful ghost encounter and subsequent hunt, everyone has to perform their role just right. It could be sitting back in the van monitoring EV equipment or getting up close and personal with ghosts.
The game also has a lot of atmosphere that puts you on the edge of your seat. You’re not really sure what ghosts you’ll come in contact with next or where they’ll be positioned. That locks you into the action. The fact that this game is only going to be better from a gameplay standpoint is amazing to hear. The developer clearly knows where they want to take this title and that’s always a good thing for a promising title’s future.