Phasmophobia Co-Op: The Game Show Halloween Special

Phasmophobia co-op was the plan for the Halloween episode, and it’s something I’ve wanted to do on The Game Show since 2002. Back then the bandwidth couldn’t handle it. Now it can. So on October 29 the crew went ghost hunting while I watched from the van.

The game only seats four, so I hosted and Jack Burton, Jess, Logan, and Darria played. Logan is the one who actually knows Phasmophobia. He walked everyone through the gear, paid for a full loadout out of his own in-game money, and then watched all of it get lost in the first house.

What Phasmophobia is

If you haven’t played it, Phasmophobia is a four-player ghost hunting game from Kinetic Games. You get dropped at a haunted location with a van full of equipment. EMF reader, spirit box, thermometer, UV light, video camera, a journal the ghost can write in. You collect evidence, narrow down what kind of ghost it is, and get out before it kills you. The longer you stay, the angrier it gets. Once it starts hunting, the doors lock.

It’s a mystery game that happens to be terrifying, and it’s built for a group call. One person panicking is funny. Four people panicking while the lights go out is the whole show.

Round 1: The default house

Professional difficulty, full gear, a ghost named Shelly living in the garage. Jess found a pelvis bone in the first two minutes. Then the hunts started. Jess died first. Jack died next. Darria went down. Logan was the last one standing until he wasn’t. It was an Obake. Nobody got close to guessing it. Logan lost everything he’d bought.

Round 2: The farmhouse

The Halloween event turned the sky red and the farmhouse was running under a blood moon. The ghost showed up carrying an axe. It sprinted across the house and then slowed to a crawl once it got close, which is a tell if you know the game. The crew didn’t. They guessed Mimic. It was a Deogen. Jess also dropped the first F-bomb this show has had in a while, and the swear jar got a quarter.

Round 3: The diner

This one had an arcade cabinet called Lair of the Unliving, a milkshake, and a ghost that cried in the walls and crawled at people hunched over backwards. It told Logan “I see you” and “can you find me.” Jack died in the bathroom. Jess died in the kitchen. Then Logan’s game disconnected mid-hunt, which Max in the chat correctly called getting killed by the internet. It was a Demon.

Round 4: The high school

Huge map, and by now everyone was broke. Jess bought flashlights. Darria found a cold classroom at the top of the right staircase. Ghost orbs showed up on the video camera, the EMF climbed, and then the journal got written in. Logan called it: Revenant. He was right. All four walked out alive. First win of the night, and the only one.

The rest of the show

Everyone showed up in costume. Jack was Dungeon Crawler Carl with Princess Donut on his shoulder. Jess was Claire Redfield in her new Code Veronica design and cut bangs for it. Logan was one of the old Phasmophobia avatars from before the customization update. Darria was Korra. I was casual Cyclops, because the real shirt doesn’t arrive until Friday.

We also took a minute for Patrick Stewart, who died this week. Captain Picard, Professor X, and by every account a kind man who’d say yes to small indie games if you just asked.

And everyone shared Halloween plans. Jack’s taking his daughter trick-or-treating after the Kansas 6A volleyball semifinals. Jess is doing horror movies and a fish fry with family. Logan watched The Thing for the first time this week and has a haunted trail and a tabletop game lined up. Darria is doing BreakGirlX’s makeup again, a tradition since 2018. This year it’s dead cheerleader.