If you've ever wanted to try your hand at being a paranormal investigator, Phasmophobia is your chance. Stepping into the shoes of ghost hunters, Phasmophobia puts your ghost-hunting and survival skills to the test inside haunted locations where you're not just hunting ghosts — they can hunt you. Fortunately, you get plenty of ghost-hunting equipment to choose from to help you complete mission objectives and find proof of the paranormal. One piece of gear that might leave you scratching your head is the Spirit Box, a device you can use to try to communicate with ghosts in Phasmophobia.
Phasmophobia: Blood Moon Event Guide
The 2024 Halloween event for Phasmophobia is themed around the Blood Moon and runs from October 28th to November 13th.
While the game's tutorial walks you through the basics, learning how to use the Spirit Box can take some getting used to — especially if you're starting as a new player or trying the game on consoles for the first time. For some ghost types in Phasmophobia, you can use the Spirit Box as evidence, so it's a handy piece of kit to get used to and upgrade as soon as possible. There are also a couple of different ways you can use the Spirit Box, depending on your preferred input method. This guide focuses mainly on using the Tier 1 Spirit Box, which is one some players may struggle to use.
How To Use The Spirit Box In Phasmophobia
When entering a haunted house or other building, finding the ghost room is the first thing to do. While other starting equipment in Phasmophobia is more beneficial for doing this, such as the EMF Reader, you might need the Spirit Box to gather evidence of a ghost's presence by attempting to get a response from the ghost. To use the Spirit Box in Phasmophobia, you first need to grab it from the van — or cycle through your inventory if you've got it equipped already, which is the basic Tier 1 Spirit Box to begin with.
With the Spirit Box selected, press the Use button to turn on its power, which switches on the red power light on the left and causes the Spirit Box to constantly emit white noise as it cycles through frequencies. Depending on your setup, you can then issue text or voice chat to ask questions to the ghost through the Spirit Box, as detailed below:
Spirit Box Text Commands
If you're using text input for the Spirit Box, simply turn on the Spirit Box's power with the Use button and select from one of the following on-screen text dialogue options to try to communicate with the ghost:
- Are you friendly?
- Where are you?
- How old are you?
The ghost may or may not respond, as per the possible responses detailed later in this guide, and it also depends on whether certain conditions have been met. For instance, even though you can still have a torch equipped and switched on, you must turn off all the lights in a room for the best chances of success, and use it while standing near evidence of paranormal activity or the ghost itself, like cold breath, in the same room as the ghost. If you are using the Tier 1 Spirit Box, you need to be very close to the ghost (within three meters) to get a response. You can also try using the Spirit Box after using other detection gear first, as shown in the video below, which showcases the ghost hearing but not responding to the Tier 1 Spirit Box after a couple of EMF readings:
Some ghosts only respond to players under certain conditions, such as players who are alone, so it's worth checking these conditions on the van objective board before bringing the Spirit Box along. However, some ghosts will talk to all players.
Phasmophobia: How To Find The Ghost Room
Finding the Ghost Room in Phasmophobia is crucial for gathering evidence and avoiding death.
Spirit Box Voice Chat
You can also use voice chat through a headset or using push-to-talk to try to get a response from the ghost through the Spirit Box. The game lets you ask questions to the ghost in four categories:
- Age - questions like: how young are you?
- Difficulty - questions like: what do you want and are you angry?
- Location - questions such as: where are you and are you in this room?
- Personal - questions like: what is your name?
The Spirit Box is one of the main pieces of starting equipment that you can use to try to talk to a ghost. However, you can also find discoverable Cursed Objects while exploring to try to communicate with the ghost, like Phasmophobia's Ouija Board.
Spirit Box Responses
Although it might sometimes seem like nothing is happening, which is a possibility, keep an eye on the far right Indicator light's color on the Spirit Box — this can signal different responses:
- If the Indicator on a Tier 1 Spirit Box flashes white, it means you've picked up a response from the ghost, and you should hear voice-like sounds through the radio frequencies. Of course, the sounds will vary according to what ghost is haunting the area.
- If the indicator on a Tier 1 Spirit Box flashes red, the game (and thus, the ghost) hears you but does not respond.
- If nothing happens, it may be that the Spirit Box did not register your question. If you're using a headset, make sure the left indicator bulb is white, as this indicates the Spirit Box is picking up your voice.
It is possible to upgrade the Spirit Box in Phasmophobia to improve its range, audio quality, and response rate.
Phasmophobia
- Released
- October 29, 2024
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Kinetic Games
- Publisher(s)
- Kinetic Games
- Engine
- Unity
- Multiplayer
- Online Co-Op
- Number of Players
- 4
- Steam Deck Compatibility
- Verified
- Early Access Release
- September 18, 2020
- PC Release Date
- September 18, 2020
- Xbox Series X|S Release Date
- October 29, 2024
- PS5 Release Date
- October 29, 2024
- PSVR2 Release Date
- October 29, 2024
- Platform(s)
- PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
- Genre(s)
- Survival Horror, Puzzle
- How Long To Beat
- 36.5 hours (solo) / 28 hours (co-op) / 33 hours (vs.)
- How Long To Beat (Completionist Runs)
- T For Teen // Blood, Use of Drugs, Violence
- Supported VR Headsets
- PlayStation VR 2 Headset
