Phasmophobia's Tanglewood Drive remodel caused a stir among fans — but I think it's seriously improved the horror game

Phasmophobia fans were seriously divided when Kinetic Games announced that they were remodeling 6 Tanglewood Drive, the horror game's first-ever map. But after playing several rounds of it, I'm convinced the developers have made things so much better.

As someone with a huge emotional connection to my favorite games, I understand the apprehension when major changes are announced. For many of us, 6 Tanglewood Drive feels like a second, admittedly very haunted, home. It's familiar, and there's a reason fans keep coming back for more.

Despite the fact that it's a horror game, there's always been something comforting about walking through that door and seeking out our favorite spots to hunt ghosts in.

So someone coming in with a digital sledgehammer and remodeling said house was always going to cause a debate. Suddenly, 6 Tanglewood Drive looked different, and that included the removal of the iconic looping spot, the kitchen island.

For months, fans have been looping ghosts around this island to survive hunts, so the kitchen remodel in particular has caused annoyance.

Kitchen Nightmares

It will likely take fans a while to adjust to the new, compact kitchen. But though we're mourning our beloved island, there's still plenty to enjoy about this space. It looks more lived in and less like a sterile show home, so atmospherically, this is a significant improvement.

The new kitchen fits the aesthetic of the rest of the house, too, and it's a much more well-developed map in my opinion. The attention to detail is great; there are so many more props now that make it look like residents upped and left in a hurry, which I think improves the lore. I now believe this was a well-loved house that was abandoned due to paranormal activity.

Tanglewood's new wood-furnished kitchen looks old, used, and the lack of an open plan setting makes for a fun challenge. Yes, it is easy to die here in theory, but its compact nature does mean the crucifix and sage are more effective as you've got less ground to cover. So, despite the fact that you can't loop, you can certainly survive a hunt here through other methods.

Smaller rooms can sometimes be a blessing, and I do prefer them to the large dining room area we found in the game's newest map, Nell's Diner. The diner map is still my favorite due to its mostly small spaces, but the large-size of the main dining room does make me groan whenever the ghost is in there.

There's no denying players will have to adapt their gameplay style to take on the new Tanglewood, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

To the blood moon and back

When I first booted up Tanglewood Drive's remodel, I was greeted with the blood moon and burst out laughing. Seasoned Phasmophobia players will know that a blood moon makes the game harder.

A blood moon is a rare, high-intensity weather event, which results in faster ghosts (+15% speed) and a significantly increased sanity drain, so yes, I was in danger here. Still, it was great conditions to play in before writing this article, as it really enabled me to put the new map to the test and challenge myself in the process.

New Tanglewood on a blood moon is a lot of fun, admittedly. What's the point in playing a horror game if you're not on edge? Let me tell you, I really was. Whilst the overall layout of Tanglewood is the same, I was still walking into a brand new design with new places to loop and hide, so I had to get my head around this while dealing with a particularly violent ghost and my rapidly declining sanity.

It was the most scared I've felt playing Phasmophobia in a while, and with more updates coming soon, I'm excited about the future of the game. There have been complaints that it's becoming too predictable, and that's why Tanglewood's remodel and Kinetic Games' proposed 2026 roadmap should fill us with confidence, not dread.

Kinetic Games has put so much effort into making Tanglewood Drive better, including interactive props like dog squeaker toys and children's noise-making toys to annoy the ghost and your fellow players. This interactivity makes for a fun co-op play style, just like how you can throw eggs at the ghost in Nell's Diner if you really want to, dance to the jukebox instead of doing your job, or honk the car horn outside repeatedly to be a menace.

Silly as it might be, it's things like this that really immerse me in a game. A lot of the maps using old assets felt dated, generic, and frankly, boring, so having locations you can really play around in is a lot of fun. The new maps feel tactile and real, a huge step up in quality.

13 Willow Street is the next map to get an update, per the roadmap, and I'm keen to see how they make changes to this one. They've also teased a horror rework and lore update, so bigger, scarier things should be coming very soon.

Admittedly, it's taken them a while to get here, but as the saying goes, good things come to those who wait.

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