From psychological horror staples to melancholic indie games, mental health has always been a part of videogame history. Its involvement could be within a game’s plot or even its mechanics, for reasons that range from a developer’s personal experiences or the understanding that it’s a topic that needn’t be shied away from.
What is Sanity in Videogames?
The definition of sanity is the ability to think and behave rationally, but how does this translate to videogames? Essentially, games would have a sanity metre—visible or not—that indicates if the player character has sound mental health. Throughout the game, witnessing or doing certain actions can potentially harm your sanity. The effects it has on your playthrough range from game to game, so let’s explore how this may be:
1. Elona
Initial release date: August 31, 2007
Genre: Roguelike
Platforms: Android, Microsoft Windows, iOS
Developer: Noa
Elona is a roguelike single-player game, set in the fictional world of Irva. It sets off when the main character survives a tumultuous storm at sea, landing on the continent of Tyris. It’s a land riddled with creatures and Etherwind—a phenomenon that corrupts what it touches. Much like other roguelikes, Elona allows players to choose from eleven (11) fantasy races and ten (10) classes; unlike other roguelikes, this game is set in an open world map and features quest systems.
Sanity in Elona starts at 0, which is the healthiest level of mental health you can achieve. The lands of Tyris are one where insanity is the norm and as you are exposed to the townsfolk’s antics, your level-headed character starts to lose it. Other factors that drive you insane include cannibalism, combat actions and certain monster corpses. Instability can inflict a wide variety of effects like, “dim”, “confusion”, and “fear”, influencing the levels of control you have over your player character. Certain places and items can rejuvenate you, but you do recover as time passes, albeit at a crawl.
2. Amnesia: The Dark Descent
Initial release date: September 8, 2010
Genre: Survival Horror, Adventure, Indie, Puzzle
Platforms: Linux, Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Android
Developer: Frictional Games
Amnesia is a first-person survival horror game, and chances are that if you were anywhere on the internet in the early 2010s, this title is familiar to you. In this videogame, you play as the amnesiac Daniel, who navigates through the halls of Castle Brennenburg in Prussia. In Amnesia, one must avoid enemies and reach the baron of the castle—a set of instructions left by Daniel himself, before his loss of memory. The game features physics-based puzzles and tasks, such as throwing rocks to distract enemies or stacking boxes to reach certain areas.
Sanity is centric to Amnesia’s gameplay—monstrous encounters and the dark can drain your sanity, as indicated by the brain on your inventory screen. As your sanity depletes the sanity meter—or more accurately, your brain—shrivels up and your surroundings grow grotesque. In normal mode, this hinders your playthrough; in hard mode, zero sanity means death. You may increase your sanity by lighting up dark places, making significant progress and drinking potions.
3. Darkest Dungeon
Initial release date: February 3, 2015
Genre: Roguelike, Strategy
Platforms: Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, iOS, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One
Developer: Red Hook Studios, Sickhead Games
Despite what the title implies, the Darkest Dungeon is not a horror game. It is instead a gothic roguelike RPG, where players must manage a band of heroes through the exploration of a procedurally generated dungeon. However, before such, you can visit the in-game town to recruit, upgrade and heal heroes, as well as buy items. In line with the genre of roguelikes, once a character in your party dies—their loss is permanent. Again, staying true to its predecessor Rogue, the Darkest Dungeon’s combat system is turn-based.
Sanity plays a large part in the success of your playthrough. Your heroes can house pent-up stress, mainly during expeditions. Light, food, witnessing the hurt or death of peers and spells can negatively impact their sanity meters. High levels of sanity can result in your characters refusing to eat, use skills or interact with potentially dangerous items—at 100 stress, your characters may randomly become “Afflicted” or “Virtuous”. The former ensures significant stat penalties and eventual heart attacks, while the latter causes players to receive better stats, heal themselves and reduce the stress of all party members. Stress can be relieved in the hub or during expeditions, by using items and inflicting critical heals.
4. Fear & Hunger
Initial release date: December 11, 2018
Genre: Role-playing, Indie, Adventure, Strategy, Horror
Platforms: macOS, Linux, Microsoft Windows, Mac operating systems
Developer: Miro Haverinen
Arguably one of the best releases of 2018, Fear & Hunger is a challenging survival horror RPG, with dungeon crawler elements. The game opens with a player selection screen, where you must choose one to lead your party of four. Options include the Knight Cahara, the Mercenary D’arce, the Dark Priest Enki and the Outlander Ragnvaldr. You can then direct their backstories, equipping you with different skills and items from the start. The dungeons of Fear & Hunger are notoriously difficult to traverse—from hidden rusty nails to gods old and new, everything is out to get you. The game is rich with story, involving complex character backgrounds, societies ancient and modern, and fictional mythology—but the only way to do Fear & Hunger justice is to play and achieve all 5 endings.
The sanity meter in this game can be found in the inventory menu, under the health bar of each party member, labelled as “Mind”. Sanity can be depleted through battles, dark environments and wielding “Miasma”—but uniquely, it is also needed for the use of skills and spells. The battle system in Fear & Hunger is turn-based, where characters must choose a certain appendage on the enemy to attack—weapons don’t cost sanity, but skills do, costing you more of your mind the stronger the special attack is. When your Mind reaches zero, enemies deal more damage and party members may leave—however, certain characters remain unaffected at a fully drained meter. To reinstate sanity, items like tobacco, ale and elixirs can help.
5. Disco Elysium
Initial release date: 15 October 2019
Genre: RPG
Platforms: Windows, macOS, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Stadia, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Developer: ZA/UM
With little to no combat, Disco Elysium is an RPG game that deals with themes of substance abuse, history and politics—it recognises the vile aspects of the world but ultimately prompts players to seek small moments of joy and art in spite of the ugly. The game is dialogue and skill-check heavy, where playthroughs are dependent on the things you say and 24 upgradeable skills of the hard-boiled detective you play as. This protagonist and Lieutenant Kitsuragi, are tasked with solving the mystery of the Hanged Man. It’s a massive case that you may choose to solve any way you please with side quests to pair. With its gorgeous art, fleshed-out plot and extensive world-building, Disco Elysium has earned its litany of praise.
The detective you play as has alcohol and drug-induced amnesia, and regularly hallucinates entire conversations—clearly, sanity is a point of contention. The sanity bar is upgradable; however, players typically start with 3 or 4 units. In Disco Elysium the sanity mechanic is named Morale, which can deplete through failed actions—embarrassments or major blows to your ego kills. When your Morale hits zero, you have only a few seconds to regain it through heals. Items and sleep can aid recovery.
Conclusion
Sanity is a videogame mechanic that transcends genres, proving that mental health is not something to be feared—it is simply something even the unsuspecting experience. It’s a neat feature that pushes players to fully immerse themselves in the world and the characters, adding higher stakes and unpredictable gameplay.
Author Bio
From Malaysia, Leia Emeera is a writer at TESSR and a published author. She has been putting pen to paper ever since she learned how to, and has an anthology to her name, titled 'Ten'. Leia loves music, games and her beloved labrador retriever, George. She aims to further her studies in English Literature and Creative Writing the moment her gap year ends. 'Till then, you will find her sitting behind a desk, writing with TESSR.
Connect with her on LinkedIn: Leia Emeera
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