When taking photos with a Photo Camera, players may obtain photo rewards, or photo evidence. This is primarily used to earn in-game money and experience in Phasmophobia.
Mechanics[]
Most occurrences or objects that imply a presence of ghosts or paranormal activity can be photographed to obtain photo evidence. If a valid subject is registered in a photo, it will have a label of what the subject is, as well as a star rating. These are the subjects that can be photographed for monetary rewards:
- Bone - Separately, picking up the bone will also yield money.
- Burned Crucifix - A photo of a crucifix after it has been used once or twice. Since up to 2 crucifixes can be added per contract, a maximum of 4 crucifix photos can be obtained.
- Dead Body - A photo of a player that had been killed by the ghost.
- Dirty Water - A photo of dirty water in a sink that has been interacted with by the ghost.
- Disturbed Salt - A photo of a Salt pile in which the ghost has stepped in.
- Fingerprint - A photo of a fingerprint left by ghosts with Ultraviolet as one of their types of evidence, when it interacts with its environment. The fingerprint must be visible in order for the photo to be valid. This can be done either by having another player light up the print or by charging it; lighting the print for long enough will leave it visible without UV light for a brief moment before fading, a moment during which photos to be taken. Each instance of Fingerprints (including new interactions on an object that had already had its picture taken) counts in this category.
- Footprint - A photo of a footprint left by ghosts with Ultraviolet as one of their types of evidence. Like fingerprints, footprints must be visible for the photo to be valid and they can be charged like fingerprints.
- Ghost - A photo of the ghost physically manifesting, whether as part of a ghost event or during a hunt. Taking a picture of the ghost's silhouette as it appears through a D.O.T.S projector will also count in this category.
- Ghost Writing - A photo of a Ghost Writing Book after it has been written in.
- Interaction - Most ghost activities count as interactions, such as Ouija Board answers, objects being thrown, etc. For thrown objects, the player must take a picture of the affected item. When a crucifix is used to stop a hunt, the burning crucifix can be photographed as an interaction, as long as the picture is taken within 5 seconds of the crucifix igniting. As a general rule of thumb, most interaction photos will be valid so long as the linked EMF reading is still active.
- Haunted Mirror - A photo of the mirror. Can be taken intact or broken.
- Monkey Paw - A photo of the paw. Can be taken regardless of how many wishes have been used, if any.
- Music Box - A photo of the music box. Can be taken before or after being used.
- Ouija Board - A photo of the Ouija Board. Will not count if the Ouija Board is broken. The Ouija Board does not have to be activated. A picture taken of the Ouija Board after a question is asked successfully is considered to be an Interaction picture instead.
- Summoning Circle - A photo of the summoning circle. Can be taken before or after being used.
- Tarot Cards - A photo of the Tarot cards deck. Can be taken as long as the cards have not been completely used up.
- Voodoo Doll - A photo of the doll. Can be taken regardless of how many pins have been pressed in.
- (Limited time) Forest Spirit Minion - A photo of the Forest Spirit Minion. Must be visible under D.O.T.S to be valid.
Star rating and priority[]
Photos are generally prioritized by the item's distance from the photo camera, and the distance of the item from the centre/middle of the photo. Based on this criteria, the "best"/"top scoring" item is selected and credited for that particular photo.
Deleting photos[]
Missed photos or photos with a rating of less than 3 stars can be deleted from the Journal. Only two photos can be discarded per contract. In multiplayer, an unanimous vote from all players is required to delete a photo.
Rewards[]
Depending on the subject photographed and the number of stars obtained, each photo will then reward a certain amount of money and experience:
| Category | 3 stars ⭐⭐⭐ |
2 stars ⭐⭐ |
1 star ⭐ |
Rewardable photographs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ghost | $20 20 XP |
$10 10 XP |
$5 5 XP |
Once per ghost |
| Bone | $10 10 XP |
$5 5 XP |
$2 2 XP |
Once per bone |
| Burned Crucifix | Once per used stage per crucifix | |||
| Dirty Water | Once per sink | |||
| Cursed possession | $5 5 XP |
$2 2 XP |
$1 1 XP |
Once per item |
| Dead Body | Once per player per dead body | |||
| Disturbed Salt | Once per player per salt pile | |||
| Fingerprint | Once per fingerprint | |||
| Footprint | Once per player per footprint | |||
| Ghost Writing | Once per item | |||
| Interaction | Once per interaction |
If the difficulty multiplier is less than x1, the final photo reward will be multiplied by this multiplier. Otherwise, multipliers of higher than x1 do not affect the final photo rewards.
Only photos that are listed in the journal and labelled in black will count towards the Photo Rewards category. Further photos do not count towards this category.
Non-recognised objects[]
Photos of the following objects are not recognised in the journal and do not reward money:
- Photos of EMF level 5 (or any EMF level for that matter) on the EMF Reader.
- Photos of gore or morbid props (such as the axe on the Farmhouse maps).
- A photo of the van's computer monitor, even if there is a ghost or other possible photo reward on the screen.
- Photos of event-specific objects (such as snowmen or jack-o'-lanterns) unless specified otherwise.
Trivia[]
- The highest amount of money or experience you can earn from photo rewards is 110 ($/XP), by taking the following photos: 1 Ghost, 1 Bone, 4 Burned Crucifix, and 4 Dirty Water. This is generally difficult or impossible to do unless the ghost room or the ghost's vicinity has many sinks.
History[]
| Early Access (Steam) | |
|---|---|
| 27 March 2021 | Photos are now starred according to distance instead of a random reward. |
| 0.5.1.1 | Added a priority system for photo detection. |
| 0.7.0 | Photos no longer give rewards based on a scoring system. |
| Photos are now also starred based on the distance from the centre of the photo. | |
| Photo rewards are now capped at a multiplier of x1. | |