Money in Phasmophobia is used to purchase equipment to bring on investigations.
Mechanics[]
Each player starts off with $0, and can earn money through finishing contracts, completing tasks, and selling off previously bought items. Money is used solely to purchase equipment, and will not interfere with any other gameplay mechanic or grant any other bonus to players.
The amount of money the player has is listed in the Shop in the lobby.
Purchasing items[]
Players may purchase the following items from the item store:
| Purchasable item | Price | Purchasable item | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| EMF Reader | $45 | Tripod | $25 |
| Flashlight | $30 | Incense | $15 |
| Photo Camera | $40 | Motion Sensor | $100 |
| Igniter | $10 | Sound Sensor | $80 |
| Firelight | $15 | Sanity Medication | $20 |
| UV Light | $35 | Thermometer | $30 |
| Crucifix | $30 | Ghost Writing Book | $40 |
| Video Camera | $50 | Spirit Box | $50 |
| Parabolic Microphone | $50 | Salt | $15 |
| Head Gear | $60 | D.O.T.S. Projector | $65 |
Earning money[]
A contract payment summary on the whiteboard of the server lobby after finishing a custom difficulty game.
Players gain money depending on the objectives they complete and additional secondary evidence that they find:
| Task | Money rewarded | |
|---|---|---|
| Ghost identification | Small map | $100 |
| Medium map | $150 | |
| Large map | $200 | |
| Objectives 1 - 3 | $25 - 30 per successful objective | |
| Investigation Bonus | If the player identifies the correct ghost and escapes alive, $ = Ghost identification + Completed objectives | |
| Perfect Investigation Bonus | $50 | |
| Bone evidence | Small map | $25 |
| Medium map | $35 | |
| Large map | $50 | |
| Photos | Up to $110 | |
| Blood Moon weather | +10% | |
To get the additional Perfect Investigation Bonus of $50, the player must identify the correct ghost, complete all 3 objectives, collect the bone, and fill the journal with 10 3-star photos of any type.
The amount of money gained from ghost identification, objectives 1 - 3, and any investigation bonus(es) is then multiplied by the difficulty multiplier:
- Amateur: 1x
- Intermediate: 2x
- Professional: 3x
- Nightmare: 4x
- Insanity: 6x
- Custom: 0x - 15x depending on settings
If the difficulty multiplier is less than 1x, the photo rewards are also multiplied. Else, the photo rewards are not affected by multipliers of higher than 1x.
If the player does not identify the correct ghost on a custom difficulty, their rewards will be rounded down to the nearest default difficulty (e.g. from 7x to 6x, which is the Insanity multiplier). Difficulty multipliers below 1x are not affected.
If the player is dead when the investigation ends, the difficulty multiplier is not applied if it is higher 1x, and the money earned is halved.
If the resulting money is not an integer value, it is then rounded down to the nearest integer.
A summary of all the money earned in a game will be displayed on the contract payment board after completing a contract.
Insurance[]
If a player is dead when the investigation ends, all equipment that they added to the mission is lost, unless the "Lose items upon death" difficulty setting is turned off. Insurance will reimburse dead players with a portion of the money spent on purchasing those items. The percentage of money paid out is dependent on the difficulty of the contract:
| Difficulty | Money refunded |
|---|---|
| Amateur Difficulty multiplier ≤ 1x |
50% of the value of all the added items |
| Intermediate Difficulty multiplier ≤ 2x |
25% of the value of all the added items |
| Professional Nightmare Insanity Difficulty multiplier > 2x |
Nothing |
Insurance money is not multiplied by the difficulty multiplier.
Notes[]
- Picking up the bone and taking a picture of the bone are not the same. Each one of these actions rewards the player with money but they are not linked one to another. This means that the player can pick up the bone for the money or take a picture for the money without doing the other action. The picture of the bone will be registered in the Pictures section of the game summary, and picking up the bone will be registered in the Bone evidence category.
- Insurance payout is not affected by whether a photo of the dead player's body is taken.
Trivia[]
- Given that the game is set in the United States, it is implied that the currency used is the US Dollar.
- The limit on the amount of money one can have is $2,147,483,647 (231 − 1), the maximum value of a Int32 variable (that is used to store the player money in the save file).
- The theoretical maximum amount of money you can earn from a single contract (excluding Daily and Weekly Tasks) is $10,571, by completing a perfect game on the highest difficulty multiplier with Blood Moon weather on large maps. When additionally completing the 4 daily tasks that award $100 each and 3 weekly tasks awarding $500 each, the absolute maximum money is $12,471.