The Artist's Retreat challenge landed in Phasmophobia alongside the 13 Willow Street map rework on July 21, 2026, and it immediately stands out as one of the most demanding long-term trials on the event board. The goal is straightforward on paper: complete 50 successful investigations on the reworked 13 Willow Street. The execution, though, requires patience, map knowledge, and clean ghost identification every single time. Here's everything you need to finish it efficiently.
What is the Artist's Retreat challenge?
To count a run as successful, three things must happen in the same contract:
- You select 13 Willow Street as your investigation location.
- You correctly identify the ghost type before the contract ends.
- You survive to the end of the contract.
All three conditions must be met simultaneously. A correct ghost ID where you die doesn't count. Surviving without submitting the right answer doesn't count either. You need clean wins, and you need 50 of them.
This is a permanent challenge on the event board, not a timed event. There's no deadline pressure, which is worth keeping in mind before you start grinding through runs back-to-back at 2am.
Artist's Retreat challenge board
How to complete Artist's Retreat efficiently
Learn 13 Willow Street before you start counting
The reworked 13 Willow Street keeps the same outer shell as the original map, but the interior has enough changes that muscle memory from the old version will get you killed. Before you start grinding toward 50, spend time in a custom match with the friendly ghost option enabled. Use that session to locate the fuse box spawn points, identify the best hiding spots during hunts, and memorize the looping routes that give you the most distance from a chasing ghost.
Knowing where to run when a hunt starts is the difference between a completed run and a failed one. Check out the 13 Willow Street rework map guide for a full breakdown of room layouts and hiding spots before you commit to your first official run.
Play on Amateur difficulty
Every difficulty level counts toward the 50 required wins. There is no bonus for completing runs on Nightmare or Insanity. Amateur contracts give you more time before hunts begin, longer grace periods, and more forgiving sanity drain, which all translate directly into a higher success rate per run. The challenge rewards consistency, not heroics.
If you're comfortable with the map and ghost identification on higher difficulties, those are fine too. But if the goal is reaching 50 as reliably as possible, Amateur is the correct choice.
Use official evidence to identify ghosts
Every ghost in Phasmophobia has exactly three pieces of official evidence. Relying on behavioral cues and unofficial tells can work, but they're not guaranteed. The only way to lock in a correct identification with certainty is to collect the official evidence. Below is the full evidence table for every ghost type you might encounter on 13 Willow Street.
For deeper identification strategies beyond the evidence table, the Phasmophobia ghost behaviors and secret abilities guide covers all 27 ghost types with speed data and behavioral patterns that help narrow things down faster.
Ghost evidence journal entries
Should you play solo or with a group?
Both work, but playing with friends speeds up the process significantly. More investigators means more equipment deployed simultaneously, faster room sweeps, and someone to watch the ghost while another player checks a different evidence type. On a map the size of 13 Willow Street, that efficiency adds up across 50 runs.
Solo play is completely viable if that's your preference, but expect each run to take longer. The challenge has no time limit, so pace yourself accordingly.
How should you handle Cursed Possessions?
Cursed Possessions on 13 Willow Street are spread across 7 possible spawn locations per contract. They can accelerate evidence gathering, but they carry real risk: using one carelessly can trigger a hunt before you're ready, which ends your run. The general approach for this challenge is to treat them as optional tools rather than mandatory ones.
If a Cursed Possession spawns somewhere convenient and you're confident in your positioning, using it is fine. Just make sure you know where your nearest hiding spot is before you interact with it. Scouting all 7 possible Cursed Possession locations at the start of each contract takes less than two minutes and tells you what tools are available. More details on exact spawn locations are in the 13 Willow Street Cursed Possession locations guide.
Cursed Possession spawn location
What's the Artist's Retreat challenge reward?
Finishing all 50 successful investigations unlocks the Sun Seeker ID Card and Badge. Both items are exclusive to this challenge and can't be obtained any other way.
The Sun Seeker ID Card displays the view visible through the back patio windows of 13 Willow Street. The Sun Seeker Badge features the flamingo floatie that sits outside by the empty pool, visible from the bedroom window. Both are cosmetic items tied to the visual identity of the map itself, which makes them a fitting reward for spending this much time in the location.
Is the Artist's Retreat challenge worth doing?
50 successful investigations is a genuine commitment. On Amateur difficulty with a solid understanding of the map, a single run can take anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes depending on how quickly the ghost produces evidence. That puts the total time investment somewhere between 8 and 17 hours of active play at minimum, spread across however many sessions you want.
The Sun Seeker cosmetics are exclusive, which matters if you care about your ID card appearance. If cosmetics aren't a priority, this challenge is still worth working through gradually since it naturally builds your competence on 13 Willow Street and sharpens your ghost identification speed across all 30 ghost types.
Treat it as a long-term goal rather than a sprint. Log a few runs per session and it stops feeling like a grind. For more strategies to stay alive during hunts and maximize your investigation efficiency, the full Phasmophobia guide collection has everything you need to keep those 50 runs as clean as possible.