Phasmophobia: What a Horror Game Can Teach Us About Teamwork
By: Kelly Tompkins
Tags: Review, Horror, Videogames, Productivity, Games

Phasmophobia: What a Horror Game Can Teach Us About Teamwork

It can show us who we are when we’re afraid.

screenshot from game

It’s almost Halloween and that means horror for everyone!

I love horror games but they’re generally played solo which can mean a lot of pausing or gaps between playing if it gets too scary. Or is that just me? I’ll be the first to admit even though I love horror as a genre and don’t get scared during movies, I am absolutely terrified when playing horror games, especially since there’s no one with me.

This is where Phasmophobia comes in.

But what is the gameplay like?

Phasmophobia is a 4 person co-op ghost hunting game that’s currently in “Early Access”. Even though early access would generally mean it’s an unfinished game that might have a few bugs in it, this game’s simple mechanics have this game reviewed as “Overwhelmingly Positive” and for good reason.

The main items in the game:

Whiteboard with objectives that pay money at the end

5 minute counter before ghost gets hostile

Tools like an EMF reader, thermometer, video camera, and more to capture evidence of ghost activity at haunted location

Truck starting point has an activity meter for the ghost and sanity meter for players

Hiding from ghosts once they’re in their “hunting” phase(where the activity meter is maxed out and the house becomes locked)

Get 3 pieces of evidence that narrow down what ghost is haunting

A journal with info about the ghosts and which 3 pieces of evidence reveals them

The game really shines when you can get a full group and even more when everyone works together. But the main point of this article is about how we can learn more about teamwork, right? So what does this game teach us about it?

Coordinated tools/efforts

Everyone can only pick up 3 items and you’ll want one of them to be a flashlight because the locations are dark. That means everyone gets essentially two tools to investigate with and some tools may not get a response from the ghost. You’ll want to get a lot of your investigation done during that 5 minute window before the ghost gets more hostile so it’s important that you all coordinate what tools you’re using and when.

Coordinating which tools you’re taking will make the investigation go smoother and be more efficient in that initial time frame before the ghost actively hunts. You grab the EMF reader, then another person might want to grab the thermometer to look for cold spots. If you guys both grabbed the same tools, and that tool gave no evidence, there was wasted time and you’ll both have to go back to the truck to grab a different tool.

It’s just like in real life. If everyone brings their unique strengths and differences, then the work will go a lot smoother. Choose to use the same strength and there might be arguments or a lower efficiency among the team. Things will progress slowly and as your sanity goes down in the game, you’ll find it that much harder to investigate as the ghost will hunt more frequently.

Everyone fills a role

If you can get a full group, there are certain group dynamics that can happen without thinking about it. You can either all move in and investigate together at the location or you can have someone stay back in the truck to monitor things like the cameras, the players sanity levels, and the activity meter of the ghosts.

And the ghost’s behavior comes into play as well. When you first start, the whiteboard that has all of the objectives will also give a little information about the ghost like their name, whether they only respond to individuals when they’re alone or if they respond to groups, etc. Whether they respond to groups or not can change the dynamic. You might want to have people go into specific spots in the location alone to instigate a response from the ghost while someone watches the activity meter outside. Or, you could choose to group up because they respond to individuals only so that you can decrease the chance of them hunting.

This game brings out the roles that players will end up playing throughout the game. In my experience, if the ghost cuts the power, there’s always a natural “leader” in the group who’s brave enough to go down into the basement to turn the lights back on. Then there’s me-the one who follows the leader but keeps track of evidence, delegating tool usage or even stays back in the truck to monitor things. The game sets up people to fill the roles they’re best at, regardless of how brave you are.