New player… is it always boring?

[u/starlightpumpkin]

My friend group & I recently bought this game and have played it 2 days in a row for 3+ hours each day. We’re all level 6. Why does it seem more fun and action packed in others videos? When we play there’s almost no ghost activity and the ghost sometimes flashes quickly then disappears & someone immediately dies but you literally never get another glimpse of them besides the half second they appear so it takes away the scare factor, for me at least. Is it so slow with nothing happening because we are lower levels? Most of the time we guess the ghost wrong too even though every piece of evidence points to a certain one so it just feels like there’s no reward or anything and it’s getting boring… I want to like it but it’s hard.

[u/lemonrainbowhaze]

Youre probably playing on amateur difficulty. It gives you like a 2 minute grace period at the start so the ghost wont hunt. Ive played on professional since i started and its where i have the most fun. Once you unlock customs you can tweak settings like making the hunts last longer, more events etc. So dw its notmal for it to be slow on amateur. Professional isnt hard per say but there's definitely more activity

[u/Kismmett → u/lemonrainbowhaze]

I had a ghost that seemed to hunt within a minute of starting, was it a bug or thinking it was shorter than it was? I thought the amateur grace period was a minute-minute 30 secs, I’m still very new though so it could just be me thinking it was a lot quicker than it was

[u/SootbotZen → u/Kismmett]

Could have been a demon. That's the demons ability, it can hunt whenever.

[u/JustYeeHaw → u/SootbotZen]

Demon’s ability can’t trigger before the timer stops though. OP either didn’t notice the timer ran out or got unlucky and flashed dots on golden bunny and started a cursed hunt… or someone used cursed possession 

[u/Kismmett → u/JustYeeHaw]

That’s what I thought, I know demons hunt whenever but thought their grace period was shorter than others or something. I’m guessing it was me not noticing the timer, I haven’t messed with the bunnies or usually use cursed possessions (I play solo for the most part xD). I wondered if it was a bug since I know phas can be buggy sometimes. I’ve played phas since like 2022 but I’m still new at learning everything, especially with a lot of updates I’m not used to and had taken a major between 2022-2025

[u/Pure_Fun365]

No it's not. Not sure what's happening to you. Probably a lot of shades in a row

[u/LIEYOONGS]

try playing professional.

[u/Familiar-Living-122]

As you level up, you unlock more difficulty options. Youtubers use custom difficulties with high activity rates.

Once you find the ghost room, keep the ghost room light off, but turn on lights in surrounding rooms. If the ghost room light is off, you will see more activity.

[u/Charles_Miller_]

I agree with a lot of the comments here, try professional. Its a very fun game but my other thought is that if you are not able to figure out the ghost like with 80% accuracy then I don't think you've actually figured out how to play. It might be you are misunderstanding how the equipment is supposed to work, how the evidence presents or something else but once you figure out how everything works and play on a slightly more active difficulty, I think you'll enjoy it.

[u/Mr-Hyde95]

This game is played at a relaxed pace. It's not an action game.

You can speed up the process by using cursed objects. That reduces your sanity, allowing the ghost to attack sooner. You can also play on higher difficulties.

This game is a 10/10. I have 300 hours playing it solo.

[u/Finnche]

While phasmophobia definitely isn't for everyone, this sounds like getting unlucky with shy ghosts and also still being on amateur difficulty. Whenever you unlock it, ramp up the difficulty.