Much like Euro Truck Simulator, Phasmophobia is a job simulator. Except instead of driving a truck, you cower in one while your friends get eaten by dead children with missing faces. Instead of transporting 30 tonnes of frozen chicken nuggets from Marseille to Ipswich, you transport four pitifully ill-equipped souls into horribly haunted places to be tormented and possibly murdered by the sadistic souls of the dead.

I didn't think I'd be very impressed with it, the idea of a co-op horror game just seemed kinda silly to me. I fully expected to be sitting around with my friends laughing the whole time, but before the night was over, I had seen even the bravest of my friends noping the hell out of a house after horrifying close encounters with the dead tenant.

It turns out co-op is still pretty terrifying when everyone is scared half to death.

I think we played something like nine hours in that first session, and I couldn't tell you the last time that happened to me. I don't play anything for nine hours straight, but Phasmophobia is just that good. I went from thinking this was gonna be another lame gimmick, to tossing crucifixes and smudge sticks around like I was US Marine tossing nades in a Viet Cong ambush circa 1968.

It's a really special feeling when you're standing in someones darkened kitchen, e-meters blaring like sirens, house lights flickering, and every player sensing that they're in the presence of some unknown evil that they have absolutely no control over.

I can say without a doubt that this is one of the best games I've played in over a decade, and the awesome thing about that is that it's also easy to see how it could be improved in future updates. Go Kinetic Games, go.

Much like Euro Truck Simulator, Phasmophobia is a job simulator. Except instead of driving a truck, you cower in one while your friends get eaten by dead children with missing faces. Instead of transporting 30 tonnes of frozen chicken nuggets from Marseille to Ipswich, you transport four pitifully ill-equipped souls into horribly haunted places to be tormented and possibly murdered by the sadistic souls of the dead. I didn't think I'd be very impressed with it, the idea of a co-op horror game just seemed kinda silly to me. I fully expected to be sitting around with my friends laughing the whole time, but before the night was over, I had seen even the bravest of my friends noping the hell out of a house after horrifying close encounters with the dead tenant. It turns out co-op is still pretty terrifying when everyone is scared half to death. I think we played something like nine hours in that first session, and I couldn't tell you the last time that happened to me. I don't play anything for nine hours straight, but Phasmophobia is just that good. I went from thinking this was gonna be another lame gimmick, to tossing crucifixes and smudge sticks around like I was US Marine tossing nades in a Viet Cong ambush circa 1968. It's a really special feeling when you're standing in someones darkened kitchen, e-meters blaring like sirens, house lights flickering, and every player sensing that they're in the presence of some unknown evil that they have absolutely no control over. I can say without a doubt that this is one of the best games I've played in over a decade, and the awesome thing about that is that it's also easy to see how it could be improved in future updates. Go Kinetic Games, go.