ASYLUM

About ASYLUM

ASYLUM is a horror adventure by Senscape, the studio from Buenos Aires behind Scratches and Serena, designed by Agustín Cordes. Announced in 2010 and funded on Kickstarter in 2013, it came out on Steam and GOG on 13 March 2025, and the makers say they kept its storyline secret through fifteen years of production.

You play an ex-patient suffering bizarre visions, returning to the hallucinatory setting of the Hanwell Mental Institute. You explore the intricate layout of the building, research its past and move towards a shocking conclusion. The screenshots show the scale of it: a morgue of rusted body drawers, a long dining hall lit through a broken skylight, wards of iron beds, an old laboratory, a lobby with a grand staircase, and a screaming face behind a cell's wire mesh.

It is played in first person with a point-and-click interface. Your notepad keeps your current task, along with tabs for topics and people, and the puzzles reward wit and observation more than reflexes. There is no fighting and nothing to run from in what the store shows; the fear comes from the place, the records you read and the visions. The makers cite Peter Cushing, Lucio Fulci, Hammer films and H. P. Lovecraft, and a soundtrack inspired by 80s horror and John Carpenter. They promise no jump scares, then admit to a frightening handful. The store warns of graphic gore and blood, and of texts referring to physical abuse, sexual assault and self-harm; the ESRB rates it M for violence and blood.

The makers put it at around ten hours without uncovering all of its secrets; HowLongToBeat players finish the main story in about eight. Critics were split: Metacritic's four reviews average 66, with one praising its cinematic feel and another finding parts of it dated but its story and atmosphere solid. Steam players are kinder. Console versions for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series and Switch, published by SOEDESCO, have been announced for 30 October 2026. It suits players who like slow, literary horror adventures such as The Last Door, Sanitarium or the Darkness Within games.

How to play ASYLUM

1. Buy and install the game from Steam (Windows, Mac, Linux) or GOG (Windows, Mac).
2. Start the story as the former patient arriving at the Hanwell Mental Institute.
3. Explore the building in first person, clicking to look, move and pick up items.
4. Read records and documents to research the institute's history.
5. Use what you find to solve puzzles that open new parts of the building, and follow the story to its end.

Tips

• Check your notepad when you are stuck: it keeps your current task, and its topics and people tabs track what you have learned.
• Take your own notes too: the building is large and the puzzles reward observation.
• Read the records you find; the research is the story.
• Play in the dark with sound up; the makers built it on atmosphere and an 80s-style score.
• Expect a few jump scares despite the slow pace.

Questions