Phasmophobia starting guide by Xyon Gavula Student

As the Blood Moon falls below the horizon, this one of a kind “Phasmophobia” Halloween Event brought the community together for the first time in the game’s history under beautiful graphics that must be addressed.
On Oct. 28, 2024, Kinetic Games introduced the next update to the ghost hunting horror game, “Phasmophobia.” Along with including an events board and two new lasting challenges, the game was decorated for the 2024 Halloween event, Blood Moon Rising.
The Blood Moon challenge is “Phasmophobia’s” first community challenge where players have to pitch in to complete together. There are three stages that bring four overall prizes: A new ID card pattern, an ID card badge, the Blood Moon Trophy and the permanent Blood Moon weather option.
To add to the completion of the challenge, the player(s) must correctly guess the ghost, get photos of all of the Blood Moon totems that are around the map, and complete all of the optional objectives as marked on specific maps. This will add a 10% increase in the reward for that contract and add to the overall completion percentage of the challenge. Once a stage is completed, all players throughout the community receive the reward.
This is a very clever way to bring the community together, encourage players to try for perfect investigations and expand their horizons to maps outside of 6 Tanglewood Drive. Tanglewood is the first map on the list and often the one players start with and know the best.
In previous years, the Halloween, Christmas and Easter challenges had to be completed by each individual person. Players did not receive the rewards (ID badge, ID card pattern and trophy, etc.) unless they completed the challenge themselves.

There are four out of the 13 total maps that are set up for players to participate in the challenge: 13 Willow Street, 42 Edgefield Road, Grafton Farmhouse and Point Hope. On those maps, sanity will drain faster and the ghosts will be faster when they are hunting.
Those four maps are also decorated for the event, such as the lobby. All of them are scattered with witchy drawings, papers, candles and ornamental drapes that compliment the lighting. When the breaker is on, the lights that are in the houses are now red instead of their usual white light.
These decorations make the houses feel like they are adorned for a party or celebration. It’s almost hard to tell when the breaker is on because of how bright the candles and other lights make the house. The lore of the challenge is made to simulate a cult worshiping the blood moon, so the celebration mood is fitting.
On the Blood Moon maps, the special weather type called ‘Blood Moon’ is always active and becomes part of the regular rotation of random weather options once the challenge is completed. The weather option features a red sky and moon while it is raining.
In the lobby, there is also a big moon totem in the center of the room about the height of the player. When a stage is completed, it will pulse a yellow/red glow and players can interact with it to receive the awards.
The Blood Moon totems scattered about the maps are about a third of the height of the lobby totem. They are placed on tables, counters and floors and usually have some drawings and candles decorating their placings. The decorations make the placements feel purposeful and some even feel a little humorous, like the totems placed in bathtubs.
This challenge has brought beautiful, ominous graphics and effects to the game and just barely beats last year’s special effects on the Maple Lodge Campsite for the challenge completion.
With the challenge ending on Nov. 13, the community has earned over 118 million points for the completion of the challenge, according to “Phasmophobia’s” Instagram page. The developers have extended the end of the event over the weekend to give players more time to receive their rewards for the challenge.
There were also two new challenges added to the game on Oct. 28. The Ranger Challenge and the Sunny Meadows Survival Challenge are both challenges that require the players to guess the ghost correctly 50 times on specific maps. The Ranger Challenge being on the two campsite maps and the Sunny Meadows Survival Challenge on the Sunny Meadows Mental Institution.
The progress for both of these challenges along with the Lighthouse Keeper Challenge and the three Apocalypse Challenges are tracked on the events board in the lobby.
“Phasmophobia” has much more to come with a holiday event on the way, which is scheduled to start some time in December. The game can be purchased on Steam and is now available on console as of the Crimson Eye update coming out.
The success of the players has allowed the blood moon to show its face again every so often, and though we may never see the crimson candles burning on the countertops again, the moon’s beams are just around the corner every time someone loads a game.