{"id":1225185,"date":"2026-02-24T12:44:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T12:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aCSgk6AkxB93EKhxfGr7KX"},"modified":"2026-02-24T12:44:00","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T12:44:00","slug":"i-dont-actually-play-horror-games-phasmophobias-lead-developer-had-no-intention-of-making-a-horror-game-but-still-kicked-off-a-whole-new-genre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/i-dont-actually-play-horror-games-phasmophobias-lead-developer-had-no-intention-of-making-a-horror-game-but-still-kicked-off-a-whole-new-genre\/","title":{"rendered":"‘I don’t actually play horror games’: Phasmophobia’s lead developer had no intention of making a horror game but still kicked off a whole new genre"},"content":{"rendered":"
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I’ll never forget the first time my friends and I played Phasmophobia<\/a>. It was like nothing I’d ever played before, absolutely hilarious, and surprisingly terrifying\u2014it still is. So it’s rather funny to me that not only does Phasmo’s creator not really play horror games but he didn’t intend to make one either.<\/p>\n

“I failed to make a co-op puzzle game,” director and lead developer Daniel Knight told my colleague Andrea Shearon during an interview at Summer Game Fest<\/a>. “Or a co-op puzzle horror game. I didn’t really settle to make a ghost-hunting game. It just ended up being the kind of perfect fit.<\/p>\n

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2025 games<\/strong><\/a>: This year’s upcoming releases
<\/strong>Best PC games<\/strong><\/a>: Our all-time favorites
Free PC games<\/strong><\/a>: Freebie fest
Best FPS games<\/strong><\/a>: Finest gunplay
Best RPGs<\/strong><\/a>: Grand adventures
Best co-op games<\/strong><\/a>: Better together<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

“But the main goal was to make a social co-op puzzle game where you actually had to stand next to your friends and figure the puzzle out together. And then the horror is kind of like the secondary part\u2014it just happened to be the perfect fit.”<\/p>\n

Now Knight mentions it, I can totally see where he’s coming from with the puzzle idea. Trying to figure out what kind of ghost it is by working together as a team, using various tools, and having a checklist is just like solving a puzzle. It’s just a scary one which also involves you getting chased around a house by a red-eyed demon child.<\/p>\n

Having a horror game that isn’t necessarily focused on being scary but instead works at being tricky to solve and an immersive experience for you and your friends may be what makes Phasmophobia so memorable. The best moments in Phasmo always come from someone messing up a test or a ghost surprising the team by doing something that we hadn’t accounted for.<\/p>\n

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