Solo Phasmophobia? You must be insane! Not really - it's actually really fun, and becomes an even more intense puzzle game if you're alone. Without other players and without making any noise, you can actually take a much more methodical and slow approach to dealing with the ghosts, and see a lot of mechanics at play that you might not fully understand if you have another three players in the lobby.

This is a short guide for players who might want to try the challenge, and has a few tips that apply to multiplayer as well. I've recently hit Level 100, and most of that is with Solo games (about 1/4 were MP with friends.)

A few ground rules:

Rule One: Don't Talk Unless You Want To See The Ghost

This one is really important. Since you don't have multiple players, the Ghost's 'stress level' will rise much more slowly - and if you don't talk at all, the Ghost may only occasionally act. This is to your benefit. Once you want to see the Ghost, don't use its' name unless it's a last resort - instead, just ask 'Where Are You', and 'Are You Here' near the Ghost Room - this gives the best results and reduces the risk of a hunt.

Rule Two: Wear Headphones

The fastest way to find the Ghost is via sound, as discussed below. Not talking helps here, too - the more you can hear, the more clues you have to find the Ghost Room Quickly.

Rule Three: Know Your Hiding Places, ALWAYS Move Away From The Ghost Room

Whenever you're walking in and out of the building, always keep an eye on your nearest hiding place. With only one life to spare, this is essential - hiding from the Ghost will be easier. Never move closer to the Ghost Room to reach a hiding place. The Ghost will almost always spawn inside of the Ghost Room or near it to begin the Hunt.

So, you're in the truck. It's time for...

Tanglewood Street House

Difficulty: 2/10

Fun: 6/10

Quirks: The car is super annoying. Find the key ASAP if the Ghost is in the garage. It'll usually spawn right next to the front door. Note: the Garage Key is not the same thing.

Notes: This one is the best if you want to just grind money super fast. Bone spawns are a little bit more rare, but you have a great chance of finding the Ghost Room less than a minute in. There's no annoying rooms for the Ghost to be in, and Ghosts are easier to figure out in the tight quarters.

Edgefield Street House

Difficulty: 4/10

Fun: 5/10

Quirks: The car is super annoying. Find the key ASAP if the Ghost is in the garage. It'll usually spawn right next to the front door. Note: the Garage Key is not the same thing.

Notes: This one has two really annoying spots for the Ghost to spawn which, sadly, aren't uncommon - the upstairs and downstairs hallways that connect the house are hard to screen with Crucifixes and can make the Ghost really tough to pin down. You won't even realize you made a mistake until the lights start flickering. This is an acceptable alternative to Tanglewood for easy grinding.

Ridgeview Road House

Difficulty: 4/10

Fun: 6/10

Quirks: The car is super annoying. Find the key ASAP if the Ghost is in the garage. It'll usually spawn right next to the front door. Note: the Garage Key is not the same thing.

Notes: This one is pretty sprawling, with three floors to cover. Use the door strategy outlined below, start with the right hand side of the house and clear it, then the level will be a lot easier since you can hear above and below from the main floor while you're combing it. If the Ghost is upstairs, it's super easy to panic and end up running right into the Ghost - make liberal use of the closets.

Grafton Farmhouse

Difficulty: 6/10

Fun: 5/10

Quirks: The Voodoo Doll (a little ragdoll) will always move towards the Ghost when dropped. It's buggy, but it's a free way to find the ghost and gives photo credit.

Notes: This is the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ farmhouse of the two, mainly because of the super open spaces that are a nightmare for evading the Ghost. Find the Ghost Room as fast as possible, and then immediately designate two hiding spots. One should be if you're running out of the Ghost Room during the hunt, one should be if you're approaching the door during the Hunt - never walk back towards the Ghost Room when a hunt starts.

Bleadsdale Farmhouse

Difficulty: 5/10

Fun: 6/10

Quirks: Take a photo of the bloody meat cleaver on the table just after the front door to get a free photo credit! The Voodoo Doll (a little ragdoll) will always move towards the Ghost when dropped. It's buggy, but it's a free way to find the ghost and gives photo credit.

Notes: This map is really fun and isn't tough to sweep once you learn how to check it. Move through the first floor first, then to the second floor, then to the attic - super linear and only requires one major backtrack. The workroom keys will occasionally spawn in the hallway past the Kitchen, and are useful if the Ghost is in there and you need a quick exit. There are some annoying open spaces, but thankfully, it's relatively easy to find cover in most Ghost Rooms here.

Brownstone High School

Difficulty: 8/10

Fun: 7/10

Quirks: -

Notes: This one seems intimidating, but it's not as bad as it seems. Use a Parabolic to get a bead on the Ghost if you want, but my preferred method is to go in with a standard loadout. The large hallway lights are easy indicators of what you've cleared already - the light switch will be found in the direction of the front door at the edge of the hallway, and is super useful. Use the Front Door once, then never use it again - find the Ghost Room and use the side door closest to it to get in or out. The Front Door hallway is a deathtrap and the easiest place to die in Phasmophobia. The thing that makes this map a lot easier than others is that the Ghost will almost always spawn in a room with either a door, a sink, or a phone. The sink is a dead giveaway, and has a large sound radius for you to find it. The phone is the same way, and the Ghost will usually ring it multiple times. Any door that's ajar before you arrive is a great clue to the Ghost's location. Sweep left to right, floor by floor, and you'll be fine. Never enter the larger rooms in this location, particularly the Basketball Court - there's no place to hide.

Asylum

Difficulty: 10/10

Fun: 0/10

Quirks: -

Notes: Don't solo Asylum. No, seriously. This map is not built for Solo gameplay, and isn't worth your time. You've been warned!

Amateur - This difficulty isn't cost-efficient for the time you'll be spending.

Intermediate - If you have to. This difficulty gives you a grace period of 2.5 minutes, and a 2x multiplier to your money. Not bad, but there's little difference between this and Professional.

Professional - The difficulty you should play on. The Ghost technically 'starts hunting' at the start, but you don't actually have to deal with this if you stay quiet. The 3x multiplier is more than worth your trouble.

EMF Reader - (2) This is useful in multiplayer but not great for a solo game. The need to get an interaction from the Ghost goes directly against our stealth policy, and forces confrontations with the Ghost. I usually bust this out last, turn it on, and drop it inside the Ghost Room - it has a longer range on the floor and will still show EMF counts just fine. Since the EMF 5 interaction is entirely chance based, this is perfectly adequate for smaller Ghost Rooms. Don't bother with larger ones unless desperate for Evidence. Take a picture of an active EMF reader for money!

Flashlight - (3) Only pack this if you don't have money to spare for the Strong Flashlight. Otherwise mandatory, always have either on your person, as they'll reliably tell you when a Hunt is starting.

Video Camera - (3) Useful, but not reliable. Ghost Orbs spawn as an invisible emitter that shoots invisible little dots of light that only appear to the Camera sensor. The emitter is sometimes visible from the entrance to the Ghost Room, but this is hardly a set rule. Sometimes, you have to move this around - try to time moving the camera with doing something else in the Ghost Room so that you're spending the least time possible inside. Always try to bring a Tripod to give you maximum options with the camera, and to give you a good view on the book you're going to put in front of it.

Lighter - (2) Pack it for the smudge sticks.

Candle - (1) Don't bother - the Glowstick does everythng the candles do minus the sanity buff, and can't go out.

UV Light - (4) Very useful, and should be brought in even if you have a Glowstick (Although bring the Glowstick first.) Sweep windows, sweep doors, sweep light switches. Always check both sides of the door for fingerprints - they can spawn on one side but not the other. Also, explore just a bit outside of the Ghost Room - sometimes the fingerprints are nearby.

Crucifix - (4) The Crucifix is a must grab as it's an occasional objective to stop a hunt with it. The Crucifix is also one of the more unreliable items in the game, especially if the Ghost spawns in a large space. If you have the objective, pop it somewhere central in the Ghost Room, but don't try to trigger a Hunt - the Ghost can just move out of the radius and start the Hunt from there. Contrary to popular opinion, the Crucifix and all Ghost items work when held in hand, but you probably don't want to test this.

Spirit Box - (4) The Spirit Box is useful when you're finally ready to start asking the Ghost some questions - like the EMF, activate this and drop it inside of the Ghost Room, although you might have to walk around a bit with it if the space is larger. Since you're alone, the Ghost is less likely to respond, so just leave this on - you might find that the Ghost just starts speaking into it unprompted, which is ideal. If you hear Attack or Kill from the Spirit Box, head for the truck and wait a few seconds for the Ghost to calm down.

Salt - (2) On paper, Salt is awesome - in practice, you don't really need it in a Solo run. The footprints left in Salt don't count as fingerprints (they're not evidence), and listening will tell you if the Ghost is in the area more efficiently than going back to the van for this.

Smudge Sticks - (2) An objective, so you might as well bring them. Otherwise kind of useless - they technically slow the Ghost down, but you'll always have time to hide before a Hunt gets going. When you need to Smudge, walk through the entire Ghost Room and even go outside - the smudge sticks need to be smudged near/on top of the Ghost to work properly, and are finicky as hell. I wouldn't blame you bringing two.

Strong Flashlight - (5) Always bring this if you can. The illumination helps you find hiding places, keeps you aware of where you are, and is a huge buff.

Thermometer - (4) This is pretty cheap, but it's the best way to find the Ghost at this time. The Thermometer takes the temperature of the floor where you aim it (aim it at a low angle), and most Ghost Rooms will have slightly lower ambient temperatures, making it easy to use this to pinpoint the Ghost Room. The Thermometer isn't really useful for pinpointing freezing temperatures, although if you must know, the cutoff is 3C - anything under that is a freezing temperature. Once you find the Ghost Room, drop this outside and check back later if you're missing any pieces of evidence - the Ghost will cool the Ghost Room down slowly over time. Above all, the best way to check for freezing temperatures is to be active in the Ghost Room, which should eventually reveal your freezing breath.

Sanity Pills - (2) Only really useful on School or (if you're a masochist) Asylum. Ideally, you want your sanity low to proc more Ghost interactions, but if you're seeing multiple Hunts in a row, pop these to give yourself some time.

Glowstick - (4) Super useful. Provides a constant, unbroken source of light that's immediately distinct, and also provides UV light in a small surrounding radius. Can be used as a UV light in a pinch. I prefer this to the UV Flash, but that's a personal preference.

Motion Sensor - (3) Detects motion in its' path. Not really useful as far as Hunts since the Ghost has a number of teleportation powers. Useful for making money, though - and can also be used to check if a Ghost is walking over an area you plan to set up the book in. Always set this at about crouch height - child ghosts will not trigger the Motion Sensor if it is chest level.

Photo Camera - (4) Super useful, and generally stays by me until I find the Ghost Room. I usually ditch this in the hallway outside of the Ghost Room and pick it up once I've put something down - practice switching to this quickly to catch a picture of the Ghost when it appears. If you're looking into a dark room and you hear your heartbeat, snap a picture - chances are, you'll get a shot of the Ghost with it. Never take a picture of the Ghost while it's Hunting - it doesn't count towards the objective.

Ghost Writing Book - (3) This one can be a serious pain in the ass to get. Some have claimed the Ghost needs to walk over it to fill it in, but this is absolutely not a guarantee - the commonality I've noticed is that there's almost always some sort of interaction before the Ghost fills the book in, including sightings or flickering lights, or even a Hunt. Put this in front of a motion sensor to see if the Ghost is in the vicinity - sometimes you need to change the position of the book. Try to cover doorways and hallways where the Ghost has been confirmed, or place it in the center of a cold spot. Put the Book down where a Camera can see it, and you can remotely monitor if it'll get filled in. Take a picture for money once it's filled in! (Note: you have to approach the book in person for this. Taking a photo of a monitor never works.)

Sound Sensor - (1) This is semi useful on MP, but useless for us. Since we're alone without any distractions, we'll be able to find the Ghost Room quickly by just listening.

Infared Light Sensor - (0) This is a useless item. It's the Motion Sensor except it's not tied to an objective and just has a bigger light. What's the point?

Parabolic Microphone - (2) This one is only really useful on Asylum or School. If you see a number pop up on the display, it's detecting a sound. The range is roughly across Tanglewood Street, so you can sweep rooms long-distance. This is more useful for finding the general location of the Ghost, then switching to Thermometer or finding other clues to locate the specific place.

Head-Mounted Camera - (0) It's a solo guide, this is only useful for MP.

Tripod - (4) Highly recommended. Put the camera down by aiming it at the top of the tripod, then pick the Tripod up by aiming at the center stalk, crouching and using it. The Tripod will drop if you swap off of it.

So, you've arrived. The first stage of our search will be finding the Ghost Room. On almost every map, you'll start with a Thermometer, Photo Camera, and Strong Flashlight. Keep the Thermometer out and keep your Photo Camera on the cycle right after it - this is for Bones, Evidence, or if the Ghost decides to appear early. Move through the first floor first, second floor second, basement as a last resort - the stairs are always a deathtrap. There are three main things you're trying to see;

• You're listening for the sound of doors or footsteps and using positional audio to figure out where it's coming from. Ringing phones, car alarms, and the piano can also be heard.
  
• You're looking for a drop in temperatures on the Thermometer. This is not 100% effective.
  
• You're looking for objects that are out of place. With a Poltergeist this is easiest to see and often the first piece of activity you'll notice, but this is usually a dead giveaway that you're near the ghost room. Beer cans on the floor, doors ajar, etc.

If you're on a larger map, you can use the Parabolic Microphone to locate the general location of the room, then try to find clue 1 or 3 to the Ghost's location from there, since you won't have a thermometer. Make sure to close any doors that you open - this increases the odds of the Ghost touching the door and visibly opening it, which'll let you identify the Ghost Room if you missed it on a first pass. Once you've found a room that you suspect to be the Ghost Room, drop the thermometer and photo camera outside of it and head to the van. You're ready for Stage TWO.

You're still trying to stay stealthy - this is where you'll gather the majority of your information. You'll want to return to the scene first with a Ghost Book and a Video Camera + Tripod. Set the Video Camera up in a corner of the room where you can see the majority of the space, or failing that, at the doorway. Place the Ghost Book directly in front of the video camera, or in clear view if you think you know where the ghost's activity is concentrated. Placing the video camera at the door and the ghost book a few feet in front of a light switch to the left or right works wonders in my experience. Return with motion sensors, a Crucifix, smudge sticks, and an EMF to check the room after this point - only bring what you need to get Clues or fulfill secondary objectives. Don't waste time smudging if there's no money in it. In between trips, check the video feed for Ghost Orbs (take at least 30 seconds a viewing) and move the camera if you're not seeing anything. After two camera/book moves, you can be confident that the Ghost is not giving off Orbs.

At this point, you should have at least one piece of evidence and knowledge of the Ghost's behavior that will allow you to make an educated guess. But, if you want to go further, the next Stage will give you the most direct results.

Enter with the Spirit Box, and do a tour of the room (20 seconds) asking 'Where Are You?'. Pick up your photo camera or keep it close while doing this - the EMF should be deployed on the floor nearby. If the Ghost chooses to manifest, you can snatch a photo of it and quickly check the EMF lights.

If there's no response, drop the spirit box (but leave it active) on the ground. You can ask a few more times, but at this point, you should keep quiet and keep rearranging other things - the Ghost will often just speak on the spirit box without your input.

Patrol with the EMF to see if you can't make contact with the invisible Ghost. If you touch it, the EMF should light up and has a chance of proccing a 5.

An Aside About Sinks: Sinks suck. This objective is totally unpredictable and really depends on how the Ghost is feeling. Some Ghosts (such as the Jinn) have an abysmal chance of even touching non-electronics, so this just isn't worth it. If you're at Stage Three and the Ghost still hasn't messed with the sink, just ignore it. It's not worth it.

NOTE: At no point do I recommend using the Ghost's Name unless attempting to provoke a Hunt. If you have the objective to provoke a Hunt, however...

So, you ♥♥♥♥♥♥ up...

Well, not really. The Hunt isn't hard to evade - you just need to be aware of where you're going to hide, as detailed above. Always keep your flashlight on, and you'll quickly notice the flickering. The moment the flashlight flickers, move away from any area where you've interacted with the Ghost directly, find your cover, and close the door behind you. The Ghost will patrol an open area for a few seconds before vanishing, allowing your flashlight to work properly again.

The front door will always be locked during a hunt. Do not use the front door.

Back doors will sometimes remain unlocked during a hunt - it's worth a try, but don't move into the open to use one.

If the Ghost sees you, it will attempt to pursue you. If you don't know what kind of Ghost it is, bet on it outpacing you - certain Ghosts gain speed to catch up to you, and can really make a nightmare out of your day.

Never hide behind a door - Ghosts can travel through doors and see through doors that aren't fully closed. The same applies to thin walls - Ghosts can occasionally see through these and kill you instantly if you aren't careful.

If you're caught in the open, find a dark corner, crouch and face the wall. Don't turn your flashlight on and don't speak. Depending on your proximity to the Ghost Room, this can be particularly dangerous so don't do this unless you have no other choice - in certain places like the school lobby, this is the best and only option for escaping the Ghost.

Now, you've got most of your evidence, you're back in the van - but you're still not sure what it is. Let's talk about...

Spirit

Annoying Rating: 6/10

The Spirit is, fittingly, the most generic of the Ghosts and has no special powers. This kind of becomes annoying when you're trying to guess because the lack of any distinction makes it difficult to rule out. The Spirit Box can be finicky, but the Writing and Fingerprints can help pinpoint this guy.

Wraith
Annoying Rating: 6/10

People make a lot out of the Wraith's flight ability, but it's honestly nothing too special. The Wraith can also travel through walls, but since Ghosts already teleport to begin with, this doesn't have as big of an effect as you'll expect on gameplay or identifying it. You'll hear less footsteps when a Wraith is around, so if you've heard a conspicuous absence of these, you may have one on your hands. NOTE: Just because a Ghost walked into a wall and vanished does not mean that it's a Wraith. This is a graphical bug and does not rule the Wraith in or out as a suspect. Spirit Box is super finicky, but the Wraith will still leave handprints and fingerprints on things.

Phantom

Annoying Rating: 3/10

The Phantom is actually one of the easier Ghosts to figure out, but you have to hit Stage 3 to do it. The Ghost Orbs, EMF, and Freezing Temperatures are super finicky. (And the official wiki says the Phantom supposedly imitates your teammates, although this doesn't ever happen in a solo game, and I've never actually witnessed this behavior.) But, since you'll have a photo camera right there - wait for the Phantom to appear (which it loves to do) and take a picture. If it instantly disappears and you have one of the pieces of evidence, chances are it's a Phantom.

Poltergeist

Annoying Rating: 3/10

Again, this one is pretty easy to bullseye. The fingerprints are easy enough to spot due to how the Phantom's special power works; when the Phantom interacts with an object, it 'swings' and affects multiple objects at once. This means that if you walk into a room and see multiple objects already on the floor before you enter, or if the Ghost whacks a bottle of cream off the sink and turns it on in one go, my money's on the Poltergeist.

Banshee

Annoying Rating: 5/10

The Banshee is annoying. Her weakness doesn't apply since she only has one target in this game mode, making it impossible to tell. Her power does, however, have a tell on larger maps. If you're far from the Ghost Room and a hunt begins, and you nearly-immediately hear Ghost footsteps, chances are you're facing a Banshee - she will always begin a Hunt near you. Not much comfort, since you'll realize this far too late, and pretty useless on smaller maps. The freezing temperatures and fingerprints are a solid tell, too.

Jinn

Annoying Rating: 4/10

The Jinn is actually fairly unique. A hidden passive allows it to nuke your sanity if you run into it, but this may be a bug. The easiest way to tell a Jinn is by what it interacts with - if the only things going off are electronics (lights, cars, stoves, radios, phones), then you're likely facing a Jinn. The Jinn will almost never cut the power, although it's not unheard of.

Mare

Annoying Rating: 7/10

The Mare is tough to spot. Ostensibly, she'll focus on lights - turning them off, killing the fusebox, etc. This doesn't always bear out, and sometimes the Mare will heavily interact with objects as well, as well as sometimes turn the lights on. You will get lucky occasionally and clearly see a pattern of turning the lights/breakers off, but this isn't guaranteed. The increased attack chance in the dark isn't actually that impactful on a Solo game, and you can always turn lights on if you're concerned about a mare.

Revenant

Annoying Rating: 6/10

The Revenant has one tell, but it's hard to spot and requires a Hunt. When the Hunt begins, you can hear the Revenant's footsteps - they'll be relatively quick. Hide in a closet, and you'll hear them slow down to a crawl. Aside from this, they don't have many unique traits.

Shade

Annoying Rating: 8/10

Shades are super annoying, and go one of two ways; either they'll live up entirely to their name, or just totally ignore it. They'll either be super passive and never act, or they'll be super aggressive, rivaling Demons. Since you're Solo, there's very few reliable ways to spot a Shade. Be wary.

Demon

Annoying Rating: 8/10

Demons aren't particularly hard to pinpoint, but a pissed-off Demon will really give you a bad day. Expect near-constant hunts. You can technically check for a Demon with a Ouija board, but being wrong isn't worth the sanity hit.

Yurei

Annoying Rating: 7/10

The Yurei's big tell is the sanity hit - it'll be pretty big, especially if you're in the building for some time. Aside from this, you'll have to do this based on the evidence.

Oni

Annoying Rating: 6/10

The Oni seems to like to move objects around, but only one at a time and long distances. Aside from this, there's not many great tells.


Using this, you should be able to net $200+ on Professional contracts, and hopefully fill up your inventory. Thanks for reading!!