Phasmophobia Has Had a Major Impact on Indie Horror

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When listing the biggest indie games of the 2020s so far, Phasmophobia simply has to be acknowledged. The co-op indie horror title from Kinetic Games exploded onto the scene in September 2020 through Steam early access, providing a thrilling game for horror fans everywhere to play together during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Phasmophobia remains packed with atmospheric horror and tense ghost encounters, especially as Kinetic Games continues to add new ghost types, further maps to explore, and other features that make Phasmophobia more layered. However, Phasmophobia's impact on the horror genre is as remarkable as the game itself.

Any smash hit game is likely to spawn a variety of imitators. For instance, ever since Nintendo released The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild in 2017, fans and critics alike have frequently compared other open-world games with lush, colorful maps to BotW. Phasmophobia has impacted indie horror similarly. Since it became a hit, a variety of other developers have released their own horror projects that clearly borrow from Phasmophobia's team-based ghost-hunting simulation in one way or another. At this rate, it only seems like a matter of time before a few AAA games try their hand at some of Phasmophobia's ideas.

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Plenty of games have aimed to deliver very similar experiences to Phasmophobia. One of the most famous examples is Ghost Exorcism INC., a mid-2021 game from StudioGoupil. Ghost Exorcism INC. borrows lots of ghost-hunting tips from Kinetic Games' work, from the slow process of identifying a ghost to the emphasis on voice-recognition mechanics that encourage players to actually talk to ghosts. The game mostly