One player is the Ghost, the other is the Investigator.
Ghost: How do you know the Investigator? Choose a secret keyword or phrase to encapsulate your unfinished business.
Investigator: What draws you to this place?
Both: What kind of building houses this haunting?
Fill a small clear container with water. Collect several coins and some dark liquid, like ink.
In each scene, the Investigator enters a room, declares the room type, and describes an interesting object in the room. The Ghost then attempts to communicate to the Investigator how this object is related to their death or unfinished business. Flip a coin into the container. If it's heads, the Ghost narrates successful and safe communication through either touch, an image, a smell, or a sound. On tails add a drop of ink into the container. The Ghost narrates how their attempt becomes twisted, smothering, or horrifying. The Ghost cannot communicate with the Investigator in any other way.
Conclude when either: the Investigator frees the Ghost by saying the secret keyword or phrase, or the coins in the container are no longer visible, leading to the Investigator's death. How do the Investigator and Ghost part ways?
A big thank you to Elias Mulhall for feedback and editing.