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Sanatorium - A Mental Asylum Simulator

Zeitglas, Shoreline Games

The year is 1923—step inside Castle Woods Sanatorium, where care and cruelty blur together. Disguised as a doctor, you’ll diagnose and treat patients using a deck of symptoms, tests, and outdated therapies. But tread carefully: one wrong move could expose you as an impostor.

AdventureIndieSimulation

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“Sanatorium: A Mental Asylum Simulator Is One of the Most Unique Games I’ve Ever Seen” - VICE

It’s the roaring twenties, an age of technological progress and social upheaval. As the city around you expands, you feel left behind: a weary journalist burdened by debt and drifting purpose. Then, out of the blue, a cryptic message arrives from a childhood friend—perhaps the tip of a lifetime. It points to the infamous Castle Woods Sanatorium. A mystery waits there, and you can’t shake the urge to uncover it. It may be nothing more than a hunch, but it feels like a secret that could change everything. Even you. The decision is made: you pack your bags and set out for Castle Woods.

Test your wit and intuition. Every week, new patient files present new puzzles to be solved as you decide which tests to use to uncover symptoms and which treatments you prescribe to cure them. Decide whether you want to follow the rule book or try out experimental new treatments with unknown outcomes. Do you want to be kind or cruel? Business savvy or risk-taking?

Uncover dark secrets behind the squeaky-clean facade of Castle Woods' walls. Meet helpless patients, ruthless opportunists, and an array of other intriguing characters. Collect clues and piece together the shocking truth about the Sanatorium and your own past.

  • Card-driven workplace sim — step into the role of a doctor in 1923, where every action is bound by the outdated tools and beliefs of the era.

  • Diagnose, “treat,” or withhold — decide whether to follow harsh, archaic methods or act with compassion, knowing both choices carry consequences.

  • Every patient is a puzzle — files unfold as layered card sets, with symptoms hidden, revealed, and misinterpreted through limited knowledge.

  • A full campaign across 4 chapters — uncover the secrets of Castle Woods and the lives caught within its walls.

  • Branching paths, multiple endings — your decisions shape not only patients’ outcomes, but your own fate as an impostor.

  • Over 100 cards to chart — symptoms, illnesses, tests, and treatments drawn from the unsettled history of psychiatry.

Evolve your treatment plan — upgrade treatments toward more humane practices, or double down on methods that protect your cover at any cost.

Join our Discord and follow us on our platforms to get updates, read our dev diary weekly, and become part of the community!

Community Activity

  1. Patch 1.3 - Checkpoints & Ward 4

    Dear Doctors, Since you took up your position, the Sanatorium has continued to improve its procedures. This update focuses on stability, progression, and quality-of-life…

  2. Bugfixes 1.2.3

    Fixed a level transition issue that could remove cards which should carry over into the next ward. Restored previously discovered records that may have disappeared because of…

  3. Bugfixes 1.2.2

    Fixed an issue where NPC dialogue events could fail after a dynamically selected dialogue had already been played. Added an extra safeguard to ensure the Ward 4 ending triggers…

  4. Patch 1.2.1

    Fixed the credits video not playing on some platforms. Adjusted the tutorial window position on Day 1’s Phrenology Chart so it no longer covers the hint diary page on Steam Deck.

  5. Patch 1.2 - Improvements to Clinic Practice

    Dear Doctors, Since you took up your position, the Sanatorium has made several improvements based on your feedback. Thanks to your participation in clinic governance, we have…

  6. Patch 1.1

    Dear Doctors, The Board has approved a small procedure update focused on **Steam Deck** support. These changes improve screen layout, controls, and readability on the Deck, with…

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