Phasmophobia is a game that lives and dies by the ability of players to wrangle up some friends to go ghost-hunting with. While technically playable solo you’re missing out on the real draw of the game by doing so, limiting shenanigan potential greatly as well as making harder difficulties nearly impossible. While there is enjoyment in strictly trying to figure out the ghost through investigations, the spook factor mostly wears off with time and repetition, and the inclusion of others becomes a near necessity. That isn’t even really a big deal when it comes down to it though, because if you’re playing this game it’s likely you intend to play with friends anyway.

Even with friends the game would still get old before too long, but with the dev(s?) constantly updating with new items, maps, and fixes the game can be a nice riff session for a couple hours every few weekends. Whether it be the silly, borderline-eldritch degree to which the player can stretch their body or the impromptu games of player imposed hide-and-seek, the game is as much a comedy as it is a horror game. An aspect that you come to appreciate when the aforementioned spook factor is diminished over time. At its core Phasmophobia is a decently-janky game that’s limited shelf-life is compensated with hilarious moments of tense ghost chases and player-on-player hijinks. It has no real depth to it, but it’s a fun throwaway title nevertheless.