Phasmophobia: All Monkey Paw Wishes & Effects (2024)

Phasmophobia features plenty of Cursed Possessions that the player can wield to have some terrifying effects. Some of Phasmophobia’s Cursed Items help players find the ghost, troll their friends, or just make matters worse. However, the Monkey Paw will make players careful of what they wish for, as each wish has an undesired effect and a price that could cost the lives of the players.

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When entering an investigation area, players will have a 1 in 7 chance to find the Monkey Paw, which spawns in the same spot depending on the map the players have chosen. The Monkey Paw utilizes voice chat, and players can make a wish come true by talking to it, simply by starting the phrase “I wish” with one of the following phrases.

“I Wish To See The Ghost”

If players utter a phrase similar to “I wish to see the ghost”, then a ghost event will occur at the ghost’s current location. This happens for around 5 seconds, and it can be useful to determine the ghost room if it has not yet been discovered. However, this will obscure the person who wished its vision in darkness.

To make matters worse, uttering this phrase will start a Cursed Hunt, meaning the ghost will begin a hunt that lasts up to 60 seconds, all the while, the player’s vision is still shrouded in darkness, so it’s best to use this wish when in a safe hiding spot.

“I Wish For Activity” / “I Wish The Ghost Would Do Something”

When asking one of the following wishes of “I wish for activity” or “I wish the ghost would do something”, players can activity further paranormal activity from within the ghost room. This will mean the ghost has free rein to throw objects, touch doors, roam, and use its ghostly and scary abilities.

Despite the privileges that could occur with the ghost activity, the troubles will only begin from here. The fuse box will permanently break, and the exit door will lock for 2 minutes, meaning players will be trapped in the haunted location as they await their safety.

“I Wish The Ghost Was Trapped” / “I Wish To Trap The Ghost”

Every ghost has a favorite room, often referred to as the ghost room. On harder difficulties, this ghost has a chance to leave the room and haunt somewhere else. However, with the “I wish the ghost was trapped” or “I wish to trap the ghost” wish activated, the ghost will be teleported back to its room, but with all the doors locked for 60 seconds, meaning players can trap themselves or their friends inside the room with the ghost.

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Whilst this wish is active, the ghost cannot hunt, use its abilities, or even roam around the map. However, it will lock players that are in a room, and also start a cursed hunt once this grace period is over. It’s not a terribly effective wish to use. It’s great for detecting where the ghost is, and for messing with friends by trapping them.

“I Wish For Sanity” / “I Wish To Be Sane”

Sanity plays an important factor in Phasmophobia. The lower the Sanity of the player, the more likely they will evoke a ghost hunt. Some ghosts even benefit from low Sanity, and it makes them stronger, meaning players should do their best to increase their sanity, and they can do just that with the “I wish for sanity” or “I wish to be sane” wish.

Once activated, this wish makes it so that players don’t need to use their sanity pills. Each player will have their Sanity set to 50%, whether that was higher or lower than before activating the wish. Passive Sanity drain will also be multiplied by 1.5, at the cost of the ghost’s room changing to a random location.

“I Wish To Be Safe”

Perhaps one of the most useless wishes in Phasmophobia is the “I wish to be safe” wish. Some players might believe it will help them avoid a hunt, but instead, it will only open and locate the nearest hiding spot for players to use during a hunt, but with a heavy cost attached.

Players that use this wish will have the lights in the room they are in shatter, which isn’t the worst part of the wish. This wish makes it so that the ghost is always aware of the active electronics of the player that wished to be safe, meaning they will be tracked unless they switch everything off.

“I Wish To Leave”

One wishes that players might find useful is “I wish to leave”, which will allow players to open the exit door whenever they wish for it. This can be activated during hunts, which can be a great tool to escape when players are too scared to hide in the house, or just want to get out of there as fast as they possibly can.

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The cost of using this wish will reduce the speed of the player by 5 seconds. This means that they will be slower than normal, so if they have managed to open the escape door, but they are too far away to reach it before the ghost gets them, then it’s best to avoid the wish. Another downside of the wish will be the reduction of vision that the player experiences for a time, making it harder to see the exit.

“I Wish My Friend Was Alive” / “I Wish To Revive My Friend”

Casualties can be part of the parcel of being a ghost hunter. It’s not an easy job to identify a ghost, let alone survive one that is out for murder. When a friend dies, players can feel alone and more scared than ever before, which is why the “I wish my friend was alive” or “I wish to revive my friend” wish could be a great benefit for those players that just can’t survive without a pal.

This wish will resurrect a dead player, but it could come at a grand cost. There is a 50% chance that the player that wished this into existence will die, providing a soul for a soul. Some players can counteract this effect by activating the wish just at the exit, meaning they can escape the clutches of death. Although, it’s unknown if this is a glitch or just an exploit of the ghost’s abilities.

“I Wish For Knowledge”

Intellect is a gift that all seek, and uttering “I wish for knowledge” may help, but at a terrible price. By wishing for knowledge, the ghost will remove 1 incorrect piece of evidence from the list, which will write some ghost types out of the question. This can help players that simply don’t know what evidence they should be looking for, but it should be used under the guise that there is another player that can finish what the wisher started.

After uttering such a wish, the person responsible is basically finished. The ghost will start a hunt near the player who uttered the wish, but that is not what will cause death. The true cause of death, or the uselessness of the player, comes from the fact that their audio will be muffled, and their vision will be reduced, and it will only fix upon death or the end of the contract.

“I Wish For Sun/Rain/Clear Sky/Fog/Snow/Wind”

Multiple different kinds of weather can be experienced at random in each contract of Phasmophobia. However, these weather effects do not matter all that much, as it does not determine the brightness of inside the house or haunted location. However, by uttering “I wish for” followed by either of the words “sun”, “rain”, “clear sky”, “fog”, “snow” or “wind”, players can change the forecast.

There is a 50% chance that players will retrieve light or heavy rain instead of their chosen wish, as well as temporary blindness and a deduction of 25% sanity from the player that uttered the wish. It’s not entirely useful and offers nothing more than a change in scenery.

“I Wish For Anything”

There are a total of 9 wishes that do specific things in Phasmophobia. However, there is one more wish that players can utter which will act as a ‘lucky dip’ of sorts. When players say “I wish for anything”, any of the 9 available wishes will come true. This can be a luck of the draw, and some players might end up suffering from a random wish.

It’s best not to use this wish unless players are just messing around, as there are better and more efficient wishes that players can use instead of just going for a random one that could indirectly result in their death.

Phasmophobia is out on PC, with a PS5 and Xbox Series X/S release scheduled for August 2023.

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