Phasmophobia's latest update introduces a spooky diner, bringing the game one step closer to its 1.0 launch

(Image credit: Kinetic Games)

Between staying up all night, trudging endlessly through potentially haunted rooms, and having your dinner scared out of you by some spectral horror, ghost hunting is hungry work. So it's little wonder that the next stop for Phasmophobia's spook sleuths is an all-American diner. Gastronomic pitstop Nell's Diner is the latest map added to Kinetic Games' supernatural sensation, and you can take a seat in one of its haunted booths right now.

Apparently, Nell's Diner is one of the smaller maps in Phasmophobia, with Kinetic Games describing it as "Similar in size to 6 Tanglewood Drive" in its latest Steam post. On the plus side, they also say that it's "much denser" than Tanglewood Drive, offering "a wide array of new interactable objects for both players and ghosts."

The new map comprises 13 rooms, 11 of which are viable "ghost rooms". This includes the diner's, er, diner-y bit, as well as the kitchen, manager's office, and a walk-in freezer. Kinetic doesn't specify which objects the ghosts will be able to tamper with, though the illuminated jukebox featured heavily in promotional material is almost certainly one of them, while I spotted an arcade machine in the trailer that seems similarly ripe for possession by a poltergeist.

Phasmophobia - Nell's Diner Release Trailer - YouTube

Watch On

Although the new map represents the bulk of the update, the patch also fixes a couple of bugs, such as stopping ghost orbs from going through walls (which, frankly, sounds like something a ghost orb would do) and preventing crucifixes from falling through the map. It also introduces a new "Moneybags" ID card and badge, which players who unlock the 'Break the Bank' achievement can use to show off how minted they are.

The release of Nell's Diner represents another step toward Phasmophobia's hotly anticipated 1.0 release. Phasmo creator Daniel Knight recently spoke to PC Gamer's Elie Gould about leaving early access, and what's left to do before that happens.

"We've got a lot of plans up until then to add a lot more realism and immersion to the game," Knight said in October. "Probably one of the closest updates for that is the player character coming out, basically reworking all the character models and all the animations. It's not very immersive at the moment." Knight also mentioned the potential for offline Phasmo play, letting players scare themselves silly without needing an Internet connection.

Rick has been fascinated by PC gaming since he was seven years old, when he used to sneak into his dad's home office for covert sessions of Doom. He grew up on a diet of similarly unsuitable games, with favourites including Quake, Thief, Half-Life and Deus Ex. Between 2013 and 2022, Rick was games editor of Custom PC magazine and associated website bit-tech.net. But he's always kept one foot in freelance games journalism, writing for publications like Edge, Eurogamer, the Guardian and, naturally, PC Gamer. While he'll play anything that can be controlled with a keyboard and mouse, he has a particular passion for first-person shooters and immersive sims.

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.