Set in 1923, Sanatorium – A Mental Asylum Simulator casts the player as a debt-burdened journalist drawn to Castle Woods by a cryptic message from a childhood friend. The journalist enters the infamous institution with a mystery to investigate, while posing as a doctor amid the era’s outdated psychiatric beliefs and tools. The story’s investigation reaches beyond the asylum’s polished exterior: clues connect the patients and staff to the secret behind Castle Woods and the protagonist’s own past.
Its central routine turns patient care into a series of deductions. New files arrive each week as layered card sets, and players choose tests to reveal symptoms before deciding what treatment to prescribe, whether to withhold care, or whether to try experimental methods with uncertain outcomes. Choices can favor compassion or harsh historical practice, and business caution or risk. The game describes consequences for both patient outcomes and the journalist’s fate, while treatment plans can develop toward more humane approaches or protect the player’s cover.
The advertised structure is a single-player campaign spanning four chapters, with branching paths and multiple endings. More than 100 cards cover symptoms, illnesses, tests, and treatments, making the card-based workplace simulation a blend of medical puzzles and narrative investigation rather than a shared multiplayer activity.
