When it comes to horror games, their purpose is to induce fear in players through whatever means necessary. The easiest method includes the use of jump scares, where an entity appears on screen accompanied by a loud sound in the hope of scaring the victim. While this is considered a cheap method for getting a frightening reaction from someone, it is highly effective, which is why it's often utilized.
However, Phasmophobia, a psychological horror co-op game, is one of the rare titles that does not utilize the scare tactic. It was released in 2020 and became popular due to its gameplay, which mimics real-life ghost hunts. The game's developer, Kinetic Games, focused on building atmospheric tension to deliver the scares, in the hopes of making Phasmophobia one of the best horror games to exist.
While it did provide many memorable and fear-inducing moments with its concept, it fell short of claiming the horror genre crown. The biggest reason it failed to become the amazing horror game it's meant to be, I believe, is due to its decision not to use any jump scares whatsoever.
For the most part, Phasmophobia does its job of building atmospheric horror exceedingly well. Every location feels unsafe, and the unpredictability of the ghosts that need to be researched makes for incredibly tense moments. All of that makes it feel as if the game is leading to something huge that will cause a person's heart to explode in fear. However, that moment never arrives.
In Phasmophobia, if someone were to get caught by any of the Ghosts, what appears on screen are grotesque hands that seemingly strangle the victim, accompanied by mild, horrific choking noises. It is not scary in the slightest, causing a huge negative effect that overshadows the game.
Due to such a mediocre payoff, it basically tells players that there's no real punishment for getting caught. The short and dull death animation undermines the entire buildup to that point, which can also be seen as the game's way of saying that there's really nothing to fear when failing.
Because there's no real consequence for getting caught, it removes all the tension. Players can now enter any area without even the slightest bit of worry, since they know that there's actually nothing to be afraid of.
Now, if it were a jump scare instead of the lackluster death animation, it would have incentivized players to avoid getting caught at all costs. Because of the potentially loud and scary figure that could suddenly pop up on screen, the tense horror atmosphere would have been enhanced, and avoiding it can act as a secondary goal, making for a horror game that people would love to keep playing.
With Phasmophobia's roadmap covering the entirety of 2025 and the game exiting the early access state in 2026, there is still hope that jump scares will be implemented to create the truly frightening experience that was supposed to be there. For now, players will have to deal with what's available, assuming they don't find something else that will provide them with better scares.
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