Management sims which aren’t cross-bred with strategy games aren’t too common nowadays, yet we get some promising new titles like Sanatorium: A Mental Asylum Simulator from time to time. Now, developer Zeitglas and publisher Shoreline Games have set a launch date for this quirky take on early-20th-century mental health treatments.
“Sanatorium has been a passion project for years. Our goal has been to craft a deeply immersive experience that challenges players to question their decisions and reflect on the history of mental health,” said Fabian Hunziker, cofounder of Zeitglas Games. “Announcing makes all of this very real - both scary and exciting - and we can’t wait to see players explore it on November 6.”
The game has been developed by a two-person Swiss team. It all started as “a university thesis on the evolution of psychiatric care” before becoming a full-blown video game. This isn’t a story you hear every day, and the game’s strong style and structure speaks for itself. To celebrate its November 6 release date announcement, a short new trailer has been released:
The game involves “card-based workplace adventure gameplay,” choices between using old methods or trying to find new solutions, puzzle-like gameplay around each patient, a 4-chapter story campaign with branching paths and several endings, and over 100 symptoms, illnesses, and treatment cards to use and upgrade.
As we exit the Spooky Season and brave the AAA storm, it’s essential to have small “breather” games such as this one, especially when they’re so unique and specific in what they do. At the time of writing, however, no console versions have been announced, so you’ll have to boot up a PC, Steam Deck, or macOS to play Sanatorium next month.
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