Tripwire Interactive and Blasphemous developer The Game Kitchen have revealed The Stone of Madness, a new tactical stealth adventure for Switch set in 18th century Spain.
Launching early 2025, the game focuses on the lives of 'five forsaken inmates', who must work together to escape the confines of a monastery that is said to be both a prison and a madhouse. United to overcome corruption, violence, and the threat of their own fears, the five characters will need to solve puzzles, obtain clues, and work to maintain their sanity.
We love the aesthetics with this one, and the stunning hand-drawn art style is said to be inspired by the classic Spanish painter Francisco Goya. Admittedly, some of the animation looks a little bit off - particularly some of the walking/running animations - but we're simply enamoured by the environmental design and level of detail portrayed.
Let's take a sneak peek at the key features:
Escape the Monastery: Control all five characters independently to aid in their escape, taking care to preserve each member's sanity as much as possible. As they explore the corridors and rooms of the monastery they may discover useful tools or clues to aid their escape. They must avoid detection at all times, their jailers are not known for their mercy.
Manage the Madness: Each character carries their own unique traumas and phobias contributing to their own respective madness. Managing their mental health will be crucial to their escape, using a system of character progression and regression. Failing to maintain a character's sanity can trigger new negative traits including paranoia, dementia, or bouts of violence.
Discover the Secrets Within: Choose between two different escape plans, with each campaign featuring unique stories, objectives, and surprises. These plans will play out through a day and night cycle separating daytime actions and nighttime preparations, giving the prisoners time to rest and recover. Most actions will be best performed during daytime, even with the jailer’s presence, however the darkness of night offers unique opportunities, and risks. There is a reason most inmates rarely venture out after dark.
Experience Stunning, Hand-painted Art Style: The visuals in The Stone of Madness have been lovingly hand-painted and animated, drawing heavy inspiration from 18th-century artist Francisco De Goya. An isometric perspective allows players to explore scenes and observe minute details as if they’re adventuring through a Goya painting brought to life.
What do you make of this one so far? Will you be adding it to your Switch wishlist? Share your thoughts with a comment.
Comments 19
Very intrigued to see a really mature game that explorers the worst parts of humanity.
Oh wow that looks like a dream game coming true! I love the idea of the two different escape plans and planning for an escape that is going to take several days and is not just a single puzzle in a level based game. Also having 5 characters interacting together and managing mental health chtuluh style! All of that sounds awesome and I hope the game delivers.
Not sure if it's for me, but it's certainly quite intriguing and I hope it will be good for those interested!
The idea and concept for this game sounds unique, definitely would check it out.
Sounds great. Not entirely sure if it's my thing but going to keep an eye on it. Loved everything they've done from The Last Door down to Blasphemous 2.
This looks awesome!😎
Hey Blasphemous devs, I know you're not distributing Blasphemous 2. In case you don't know this (I think you should, and you probably do), the complete physical version of Blasphemous 2 is only available through a pricey Collector's Edition. The regular retail version needs a download.
https://x.com/NJeisseRevised/status/1825615666256425105
This was confirmed by the Canadian shop, VGP.
Not sure if I'm into the concept, but I trust 100% the developers, so they can count on me!
Definitely on my watch list.
Man the art style and production quality is really really good looking in this. Hope it does well.
@Sveakungen There is a game that does. "This War of Mine". Another can be "Spec Op's the line". Im sure there is more out there too.
Both these games explore the horrors of war and the toll it takes on it's victims.
Don't think it's for me but I sense the tlc put into it. Maybe a demo will come?
@Frailbay30 I bought This War of Mine in a sale once for 2 euros or something. It's a surprisingly deep game and I needed several playthroughs to actually survive until around day 30, when the game's supposed to end. It take meticulous planning and tough decision making.
This game looks like it ticks a lot of boxes for me. It's a tactical game. It's made by Game Kitchen. It has a gritty art style and the story and setting are original. Looking forward to the reviews!
This looks quite intriguing. Love those gorgeous isometric visuals.
If there could be some easter egg that ties this into Cvstodia or to the Grievous Miracle I would be over the moon about this. I'll absolutely be watching this one on the horizon.
Looks great. If it plays half as well as the Team Mimimi games, reviews well and avoids being horribly offensive about mental illness I'm in!
@Pipulitoch The regular retail version HAS a download available for it.
Fixed the phrasing because reading it people might think that you can't play the game if you do not download the patch.
@Zuljaras Thank god! Thank you SO much!
I see others in the comments with the same thoughts I had. The description of the premise and some of the game mechanics make me think this likely won't be for me, but the idea is clever and the presentation looks nice to the point where I definitely am curious how it turns out. Hopefully it ends up being a good experience for those who are interested in what this game eventually offers.
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