User:ChrisNew4/Phasmophobia (video game)

Popularity
In addition to gameplay by notable content creators, many of the games initial players took to social media to share their clips of the game. Users on these social media platforms would re-share the clips or download the game for themselves. A large portion of Phasmophobia's immediate popularity and success can be attributed to it's presence on social media.

 Cursed Possessions: 

Cursed Possessions, also called "Cursed Items" or "Cursed Objects", are a group of items in Phasmophobia that allow players to directly interact with the ghost itself. Some abilities of the possessions include the ability to make the ghost appear, force a hunt, ask the ghost questions, or even kill the player. As of April 2024, there are a total of seven cursed possessions in Phasmophobia. There is the ouija board, music box, haunted mirror, tarot cards, summoning circle, voodoo doll, and the monkey paw. Each item offers a distinct way of interacting with the ghost. Each cursed item has a 1 in 7 chance to spawn on each map, with different spawn locations for each item. Only one cursed possession will spawn on the map unless set otherwise via custom difficulty. The music box, haunted mirror, tarot cards, summoning circle, and voodoo doll, were all released in the update 0.5.0, known as the Cursed Possessions update.


 * The ouija board was the first cursed possession in Phasmophobia, being present in early alpha and the initial release. Similar to the spirit box, the oujia board allows players to ask the ghost questions, such as "Where are you?" or "How old are you?". The oujia board can give players more helpful answers than the spirit box. The ghost will respond by moving the dial to one letter at a time, spelling out an answer. Asking questions on the oujia board will lower the player's sanity.


 * The music box is an item that allows the player to locate the ghost, once the music box is obtained, a player can open it and the ghost will begin to hum creepily along with the music. Once the song is over or the player drops the music box while the song is playing, the ghost will immediately begin a cursed hunt.


 * The haunted mirror is a cursed possession that allows a player to look into the mirror and see the ghost room. Each time a player looks into the mirror, their sanity will decrease. After the mirror has been used for a certain amount of time, it will break and trigger a cursed hunt. Depending on the map, the haunted mirror can either be found on a wall or laying down.


 * Tarot cards are a cursed possession that are used by "pulling" cards from the deck. There are a total of 10 tarot cards in the deck; each time a player pulls a tarot card, they will lose sanity. When pulling a tarot card, the card will burn with a distinct flame effect, the color present in this effect is dependent on what the card did. Some tarot cards can benefit the player, such as restoring their sanity slightly or even fully restoring it. One tarot card has the ability to revive a player who has died; if no one has died, the player will receive an extra life. There are also tarot cards that are less desirable as a player, such as the card that drops a players sanity to 0%, or the card that triggers a cursed hunt. One tarot card, called "The Hanged Man", has a 1% chance of being pulled and will immediately kill the player if pulled.


 * The summoning circle is a cursed object that can spawn on the floor of an area, typically a basement. The summoning circle is a circle outlined in red that is surrounded by 5 candles. Players have the ability to light the candles using an igniter, once all 5 candles are lit, the ghost will appear in the middle of the circle. After appearing, the ghost will remain still for a few seconds before beginning a cursed hunt.


 * The voodoo doll is a cursed item that allows players to trigger ghost interactions. There are 10 pins in the voodoo dollar, ghost interactions can be triggered by pushing the pins into the doll. Once the tenth pin is pushed into the doll, it will trigger a cursed hunt.


 * The monkey paw is a cursed item that was added in the 0.8.1.0 content update on February 27th, 2023. The monkey paw allows the players to make wishes by speaking into their microphone (using one of 10 phrases). Once a wish is made, the finger on the monkey paw will then close, showing that the wish has been granted.

Hunts
In addition to the varying abilities amongst ghosts, all ghosts exhibit the ability to hear other players talking through their microphone. Talking during a hunt will alert the ghost of the player's location and they will move in the direction of the player's voice. During a hunt, leaving electronic devices on, such as the flashlight, will also attract the ghost towards the player's location.