Lobby

The **lobby** is the place players will spawn upon starting up the game or finishing a contract. It is a warehouse that has been converted into the lobby. The lobby is used as an intermission area for players to find or create servers, play minigames while waiting, purchase equipment, or simply to interact with other players.

## Layout

The lobby contains several distinct areas, which are, clock-wise:

### Main menu board

This is where players will spawn upon launching the game/joining the lobby. This board acts as a user interface and contains several options. To access the board, the player must press Space or left-click on it; it is not necessary to be in front of the board if pressing space. Players can press Space again or the Esc key to leave the board.

#### Main menu

This is the menu which will appear before joining a lobby. From there, players may either create or join lobbies as well as view their daily and weekly objectives progression.

* **Singleplayer** - create a singleplayer session
* **Multiplayer** - create or join a server
* **Training** - learn the basics of ghost hunting
* **Options** - adjust the settings to your preference
* **Credits** - Shows a list of people who directly contributed to the game's development
* **Quit** - exit to desktop

#### Lobby menu

This menu appears upon joining a lobby. It allows the host and other players to adjust server settings and manage players before starting a game.

Every player in the lobby will appear as ID Cards on the board. The host is able to kick players from the lobby using the "X" button next to the player's card, whom will be barred to join again until the host leaves. All players can also adjust the volume of other players for themselves using the scroll bar at the bottom of the player's card.

If the lobby is set to "private" upon creation, a code will be assigned to it, which will be displayed in the top right corner. Players are able to copy the lobby code to share it to others or hide it from view (this will not hide it for other players in the lobby; this feature is meant for streamers to prevent viewers from joining the lobby).

The server settings can be managed through these buttons:

* **Change** - Allows the host to change the difficulty or create a custom difficulty (see below). Non-hosts can view the current difficulty through this button.
* **Leave** - Disconnects the player from the lobby
* **Ready** - Marks the player as "ready" to start the game. Every player in the lobby must be ready for the host to start the game.
* **Start (Host)** - Starts the game.

#### Difficulty selection

By clicking on the pen icon by the difficulty box, players will be able to view and edit the current difficulty through the "change" button. Alongside the five default difficulties and the Challenge Mode, there are three custom difficulty preset slots players may edit in order to create unique gameplay experiences.

### Equipment store

This is where players can buy or sell equipment as well as add them to the game through a large touch-screen. Players may also create custom loadouts they may select upon entering a lobby. The area is also decorated with display cases and a large wall rack containing all equipment.

### Display area

This area consist of several display cases where collectibles and items found during investigations will appear, including:

* Bones (certain bones such as hands, feet, femurs, etc. must be collected twice)
* Cursed possessions used during investigations (Tarot Cards are collected individually by drawing them from the deck)
* Trophies related to special events and challenges.

Clicking on items inside the display cases will allow the player to inspect them closer.

On the floor, several runes can be revealed using the UV Light.

### Entertainment corner

Going up the stairs, there is a mezzanine where several games and entertainments can be found.

#### Basketball

*Main article: Basketball*
There is a basketball hoop on one of the walls as well as two basketballs on a table in a corner. The hoop is equipped with a score display that will count the number of goals a player has made. The number of goals is specific to each player; one player scoring a goal will not increase the score of other players and the number of goals will carry over from one server to another.

#### Cornhole and ring toss

Sets of cornhole and ring toss games. The rings and bags for each game can be found on the same table as the basketballs.

#### Bowling

There are pins disposed on the floor along with a small bowling ball players may toss. The pins can be placed (default: F on keyboard) similarily to candles.

#### Jenga

A stack of jenga blocks (branded "Biggish Blocks") where players may play jenga. Each jenga block can be placed (default: F on keyboard) in a manner similar to Video Cameras.

### Staff room

A dark, inaccessible room located under the entertainment corner. By peering through the window, the *Patient 07* ghost model can be seen twitching at the far end of the room.

### Van loading bay/boombox

The players may access and explore the van from this area. There is also a table where a boombox can be found and two clipboards displaying the daily and weekly tasks progress of the player. The boombox can be toggled on or off to play techno music for the player that has activated it. It may also play themed music or start on during special events. On the wall of the staff room, there is a corkboard where the 10 last pictures taken during a game will be displayed.

The music titles played by the boombox are:

* Rik4k - All Aboard
* Rik4k - Back in Time
* Rik4k - Dreaming Emotion
* Rik4k - Enlight
* Rik4k - Forgotten Truth
* Rik4k - Luminosity
* Rik4k - Peace Circus
* Rik4k - Promotion
* Rik4k - Rocket Science
* Rik4k - Summer Ending

### Map selection board

On the left of the main menu board, there is another corkboard where players can choose the next map to play on. This is a vote-based system; the map with the majority of votes will be the one chosen for the contract. If multiple maps have the same number of votes, the game will randomly choose between the tied maps upon starting the contract.

The players may also choose the "random" option to let the game select the map for them.

## Events

See also: Special events and challenges
On multiple occasions, the lobby has been decorated to celebrate various special events:

### Halloween 2020

During this event, the lobby was decorated with Jack-o-lanterns, the lights were dimmed out. and particles resembling Ghost Orbs were floating near the board. The sky outside was also turned bright red.

### First year anniversary

The lobby was decorated with various party accessories, including banners, party lights, interactible balloons scattered on the floor, as well as Glowsticks of different colors players could pick up. Player models were also given party hats that they would keep for the entire game while the event was ongoing.

It is also during this event that the boombox was introduced.

### Halloween 2021

Most of the lights in the lobby were turned off, the sky turned an ominous bright red and particles resembling ember floated around the white board, giving the lobby a very sinister ambience. UV flashlights were disposed under the white board, which could be used to reveal various messages and writings all over the walls and floor. Some special elements were are also added:

* The door by the electrical board is slightly ajar. Peering through will make the ring girl ghost model suddenly appear in the gap with a loud hissing sound.
* A shadowy child ghost model with bright glowing eyes is peering down at players from the rafters above the white board. This is modified from the "tooth-faced" ghost model.
* There is a skeleton hidden in one of the lockers.

Player models also wore paper masks representing various ghost models for the entirety of the event.

After the event ended, the lighting and particle effects were removed, but the UV messages and other physical decorations remained. One UV flashlight stayed available on the equipment shelf for use.

### Christmas 2021

The lobby gained a Christmas tree with several presents surrounding it, two minigames for players to spend time on, snowballs to throw, and snow covering part of the floor.

Player models wore elf hats for the duration of the event; additionally, one of the ghost models was temporarily changed to wear a Santa hat, wield an oversized candy cane instead of an axe, and ring jingle bells every time it made an audible step.

### Halloween 2022

The lobby received ominous lighting effects as well as various thematic props, such as skeletons, candelabras and jack o' lanterns. The jack o' lanterns could be lit using a lighter found on the table where the boombox is. A then-upcoming Tier III UV Light could be picked up from a box behind the counter of the shop area and used to reveal various writings on the wall.

Peering through the Staff Room door at the ghost model inside would cause a demonic circle to appear in the middle of the lobby with ominous grandfather clock sound effects, surrounded by five sheet-covered ghosts (these are merely accessory NPCs, not to be confused with actual ghosts) who would whisper and emit freezing breath. If the player walked into the middle of the circle, the ghosts would start to slowly close in with a rising sound effect, until they all suddenly dematerialize, leaving the sheets dropping to the ground and finishing the event.

### Christmas 2022

Between 0.8.0 and 0.8.0.7, the lobby featured several decorations:

* Christmas fairy lights and bells
* Stockings hung on the walls
* 3 snowmen who turn their heads to look at the player
* A cookie plate on the table
* Christmas-themed music (using the same music as 2021)

### Halloween 2023

The lobby was very similar to the Halloween 2022 lobby with the same thematic decorations minus the lighters and the Tier III UV Light. The demonic circle event was also present.

### Christmas 2023

The lobby received several themed decorations:

* Christmas fairy lights
* Stockings hung on the walls
* 4 snowmen
* A cookie plate on the table
* Snowballs
* Presents
* Christmas-themed music (using the same music as 2021)

## Trivia

* Shooting 666 hoops will trigger lighting and thunder outside.
* Between 0.3.0 and 0.3.1.2, old equipment models could be found in a cardboard box on a shelf on the right of the whiteboard.
* Two rings from the ring toss can be linked together by throwing the first one upwards and collide it with the second one by the same way. This is most likely a Unity physics bug.
* An engraving on the side of the table with a boombox reads JOJO WAS HERE. This is a reference to an official *Phasmophobia* content creator, JOJOsaysBREE.

## References

1. ↑ *"This is an Easter egg that belongs to official Phasmophobia content creator JOJOsaysBREE!"* ImTooToasty, *Phasmophobia* Discord Moderator. 15 December 2022 (on Discord).