The Town of Light

About The Town of Light

The Town of Light was made by the Italian studio LKA and published by Wired Productions. It came out on Steam on 26 February 2016, on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in June 2017, and on Nintendo Switch as The Town of Light: Deluxe Edition in February 2020. Its asylum is the Ospedale Psichiatrico di Volterra in Tuscany, a place that really existed, rebuilt in detail from extensive research and inspired by real events.

On 12 March 1938, sixteen-year-old Renée is taken from her life and shut away, labelled by the police a danger to herself and others and a cause of public scandal. Years later she walks back into the dilapidated hospital, and as you move through its grounds and empty wards her memories of what happened there return in fragments. Her view of events is not reliable: her own medical files and what you find in the wards do not always agree.

You explore in first person, pick up documents, letters and objects, and trigger memories, some of them shown as black and white scenes of the ward in its working days and some as hand-drawn cutscenes. Renée narrates most of the story. Now and then you speak as her inner self, choosing between a couple of options as she pieces her past together. Push Square's review notes there is only one ending, but some chapters can run differently with your choices. There is no combat and nothing chases you. The makers say outright that there are no zombies or supernatural presences: the only horror is the truth of how patients were treated.

What frightens is the record of what was done to her: restraint, sedation, electroshock, abuse by staff and letters that never reached her. Players describe it as slow, heavy and deeply upsetting rather than scary in the jumpscare sense, and the makers say it is meant for adults only. Push Square praised its heavy atmosphere and the real setting but found the story drifts into confusion at times and the load times long.

It suits players of slow, story-led psychological horror and those who liked LKA's later Martha Is Dead. Players who want a threat to run from will find none here.

How to play The Town of Light

1. Walk the grounds and buildings of the abandoned asylum in first person.
2. Pick up and read the documents, letters and medical files you find; they open Renée's memories and move the story on.
3. Watch the memories that open up, some as black and white scenes of the working ward and some as hand-drawn cutscenes.
4. When the game offers it, choose as Renée's inner self between a couple of options; this changes how some chapters unfold.

Tips

• Take your time and examine rooms closely; the story is in the records and objects you find.
• The game saves by chapter, and one player lost a chapter's progress when it stuck, so try to finish a chapter in one sitting.
• Your choices change some chapters, so play again if you want to see the threads you missed; the ending stays the same.
• Read the content warnings first if abuse or psychiatric treatment are hard subjects for you.

Questions