Game on!
After locking in Phasmophobia, Gus Harper got to work.
He drafted the project based on memory. With his game dev experience, the framework was a breeze.
Days later, his Inspiration Points System hit 50,000 emotional points. Gus swapped them for Phasmophobia's full blueprint in the system.
Plan polished, he kicked off the project with Luke Bennett and Jake Rivers.
First, he had to hype them up. Both had been moping since the horror genre was set.
Gus couldn't let their gloom tank the project.
"Check this out," he said that afternoon, handing them the final Phasmophobia plan.
Luke took it, slumping. "What's the point? Horror games are all the same."
"Main story, some items in map corners. Grab a weapon, open a door, see a ghost, scream, kill it, grab loot. Repeat, repeat, repeat, done."
That's how it always went.
Luke wasn't feeling it. Even Vampire Survivor's 43,775 single-day sales had more spark.
He flipped open the plan, half-hearted.
But the first line hooked him:
"Hello, paranormal investigator, or… ghost info broker."
"Ghost info broker?!" Luke's eyebrows shot up.
What kind of role was that?
Horror games usually cast players as lone heroes, holy priests, or gritty demon hunters like Constantine.
But this? A shady intel dealer for ghostbusters?
"Keep reading," Gus said, sipping tea, waving him on.
"Players lead a team into haunted houses, using high-tech ghost-hunting gear to ID ghost types and sell intel to pro exorcists."
"Ghosts aren't pushovers. Track your sanity, and watch out—they'll hunt you down."
Luke sucked in a breath, stunned, then looked at Gus. "Then what?"
"What?" Gus blinked.
"When the ghost hunts, what do players do?" Luke pointed at the plan.
The intro was done, followed by detailed mechanics. But to Luke, this was where it ended, right?
Like, grab a weapon, banish the ghost, or trap it in some mystic jar.
"Players gotta do something against ghosts, yeah?" Luke asked.
"Oh, that," Gus shrugged. "They wait to die."
Luke: …
Five seconds of silence.
Luke gave a slow thumbs-up. "…Genius."
Couldn't argue.
But other horror games didn't do this!
"No fighting back at all?!" Luke gaped.
"Yup, got options," Gus said, smirking. "If it's too risky, buy an amulet. Costs a fortune."
"What's it do?"
"Delays your death."
"Unreal!" Luke clapped, half-laughing. "So, a ghost's coming, I draw a circle, stare it down, and when the timer's up, I watch it end me?"
This was crazier than those sketchy charm vendors outside St. Mary's Cathedral.
"Or…" Gus leaned in. "You could escape."
Luke's eyes widened. "So I blow cash on an amulet just to run? That's it? I leave empty-handed?"
Gus stared, deadpan. "Greedy gambler. You deserve to die."
Jake burst out laughing. "This is wild! It's creepy and unhinged. Love it!"
Luke chuckled too.
Sure, the game dripped with Gus's twisted humor, but damn, it was clever.
The "no weapons" bit was pure madness, flipping the script on games that treated ghosts like generic monsters.
Gus's ghosts were real—unstoppable, unkillable, untouchable.
Luke and Jake grinned, imagining players trapped, dodging specters, screaming on Twitch.
Pure chaos.
…
As the saying goes, madness spreads fast.
With Gus, a Dark Souls veteran, leading the charge, the team's unhinged ideas snowballed.
"Don't just do adult ghosts. Kid ghosts hit harder…"
"Eyeballs? Not white—pure black, like voids."
"Yo, what if a ghost's chilling on the ceiling?"
"Perfect! Lower the ceiling so it's face-to-face when you look up."
"That's just jump scares again!"
"Nah, jump scares jump. Ours just stare… silently."
"Chills, man. I'm cold already."
"It's spooky now? You shower at night, right? Close your eyes to rinse your hair? Sure nothing's watching?"
"Gus, you're a demon! Why 'thing'?!"
"'Cause you don't know what it is…"
"Stop! I shower daily, man, don't do this!"
"Tch, Luke's freaking out, but Jake, you're a big guy—scared?"
"Maybe your ideas are too dark…"
Laughter and brainstorming sparked like wildfire.
Poor Jake, the team's coward, suffered most.
Drawing creepy art while hearing ghost stories daily? Torture.
Finally, three months later, Phasmophobia—designed by Gus, led by Luke and Jake, with a 100-person outsourced team and a $2,000,000 budget—was done.
WindyPeak's first VR game.
The first VR horror game in years.
Zoey Parker's masterplan for a glorious flop.
Ding!
June, summer solstice.
Zoey's Investment Rebate System pinged, breaking months of silence:
"New investment round open!"
"Project: Phasmophobia"
"Investment: $2,000,000"
"Estimated rebate: $20,000,000"
"Settlement time: 6 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes, 59 seconds"