Winter’s Jest Event Guide for Phasmophobia

When it comes to celebrating the Yuletide season in Phasmophobia, not even the ghosts take a holiday break, which means neither do paranormal investigators. Kinetic Games’ breakout indie multiplayer horror gem has thrived since its initial launch in late 2020 and has done well to capitalize on its tight-knit player community with seasonal events that continue to get better every year.

That is especially true this year, as Phasmophobia‘s 2024 Christmas event offers some of the biggest spooks and scares yet, courtesy of none other than the fabled Krampus himself. There are plenty of new and returning features in the event for players to try out, and if you aim to collect all of the rewards from under the tree, you’ll need to know where to start.

Phasmophobia’s Winter’s Jest Event Explained

Just in time for the holidays, Winter’s Jest is Phasmophobia‘s 2024 Christmas event that runs for a limited time from December 12 until the last day of the year on December 31st. The theme for this iteration of the event is Krampus, the iconic horned creature that in classic folklore follows Saint Nicholas on his travels and punishes naughty children. This time, however, he’ll be punishing any paranormal investigators that dare tread on his stomping grounds.

Similar to Phasmophobia‘s 2024 Halloween event a few weeks previous, Winter’s Jest is first and foremost a community-based event that requires contribution from the game’s entire player base to unlock unique rewards. Upon entering the game, you can go and check the new Winter’s Jest Event brochure on the bottom right side of the Event Board. Inside it, you’ll find details regarding the requirements for the participating in the event, which include:

• Identify ghosts correctly (even if you die during an investigation, as long as the correct type is circled in your journal, it will still count)
• Complete optional objectives
• Open any Krampus Boxes you find (special items found on qualifying maps)

Fulfilling some or all of the above requirements during each investigation on a qualifying map will earn you Event Points that contribute towards the overall completion meters seen on the right side of the event brochure. After player feedback from Phasmophobia‘s 2024 Halloween event, the total amount of points required to complete each stage of the event has been considerably lowered, easing the grind all around to make it appropriately easier for the community to reach each goal.

In tandem, points earned from completing optional objectives has been increased from 2 to 3 points per objective, and opening Krampus Boxes merits 2 points for each box. Meanwhile, correctly guessing the ghost during an investigation rewards you with 10 points.

The rewards for completing each stage of the community event include:

• Stage 1: Krampus ID Card (badge included)
• Stage 2: Upgrade ID Card (animated version)
• Stage 3: Krampus Trophy (will appear in your HQ trophy case)

There are a total of four qualifying maps for players to choose from when participating in the Winter’s Jest community event. They’re indicated on the Map Board at HQ by small red gift icons, and each one features unique snow weather, holiday decorations, and the special Krampus Boxes that you’re tasked with finding. Each map will have a certain range of Krampus Boxes that spawn, depending on the size of the map itself. They include:

• 6 Tanglewood Drive (1-3 Krampus Boxes)
• Point Hope (2-4 Krampus Boxes)
• Bleasdale Farmhouse (2-4 Krampus Boxes)
• Maple Lodge Campsite (4-6 Krampus Boxes)

Tips for Playing Phasmophobia’s Winter’s Jest Event

As with previous seasonal events in Phasmophobia, there are certain things you’ll want to keep in mind while playing through this special content, and some strategies to help make your investigations a little easier and also help you stay out of Krampus’ clutches.

Hold off on Freezing Temperatures Evidence

While playing on any of these maps, there will be unique snow weather that keeps temperatures throughout the location consistently cold, so be careful about judging the ghost’s location too quickly based on that piece of evidence. Rather than trying to look for freezing temperatures, you’ll want to focus on using other tools to help you track down Krampus. Motion Sensors will notify you if the ghost is walking around in the area where you place them, and Sound Sensors can help you pinpoint the ghost by noise such as thrown objects.

Krampus Boxes in Fixed Locations

While the number of Krampus Boxes that spawn on each map in Phasmophobia will be random, the boxes themselves are in fixed locations. They can also be easy to overlook if you’re not careful, so be sure to have a Flashlight or Headgear on hand to keep an eye out for these boxes, which are a faded red color with a star on the front and a crank on the size. Once you find one, press the appropriate button to turn the crank and Krampus’ head will pop out.

Choose Amateur Difficulty for Quick Clears

While getting the ghost’s identity correct is required for contributing progress to the community event, the difficulty you choose to grind those investigation clears on doesn’t matter. Therefore, if you want to get those clears more quickly regardless of your reward difficulty multiplier, you can knock the difficulty down to Amateur to make finding the ghost’s room and figuring out their identity quicker and easier.

Complete New Daily and Weekly Event Tasks

Another new feature of Phasmophobia‘s 2024 Christmas event that allows you to obtain even more Event Points with each investigation is by completing unique Daily and Weekly event challenges. You can also get hefty money rewards as well for doing them, so there is plenty of incentive to do so.

Hunt Krampus With Your Friends

One last tip for playing Phasmophobia‘s Winter Jest event is that, if possible, bring some friends along to help you tackle all of the event challenges and make your investigations easier all around. It always helps to have extra hands for ferrying equipment, finding the ghost’s location, and now finding those Krampus Boxes and narrowing down your evidence before Krampus himself goes on a hunt. With the game’s release on consoles, Phasmophobia‘s long-awaited crossplay feature allows you to join up with your fellow paranormal investigators regardless of platform.