REVIEW: ‘The Stone Of Madness’ Demands A Methodical Approach (PC)

The Stone of Madness, an isometric top-down strategy game developed by The Game Kitchen and published by TripWire Interactive LLC, follows a group of patients trying to uncover a mystery in an 18th-century monastery that doubles as an insane asylum. Cruel guards, restless spirits, and the traumas each patient carries all try to prevent these struggling souls from finding the truth within the monastery’s walls.

If you were to sum up the gameplay experience in one word, that word would be “demanding.” The Stone of Madness challenges players to think through every action while feeling the pressure of a clock that’s constantly running down, which can sometimes leave players scrounging for what they need. This pressure creates frustrating setbacks and triumphant successes.

The gameplay loop breaks into an endless number of days, with each day split into day and night portions. During the day, players explore the monastery, searching for clues, avoiding guards, and solving environmental puzzles. At night, the patients return to their cells, where they heal, craft items, and do other activities to prepare for the next day. However, utilizing every day effectively is crucial, as just living within the monastery’s walls is taxing for its “guests.”

One of the key resources The Stone of Madness makes use of is the party’s sanity. Each party member has something related to the trauma they carry. Whether it be violence, fire, or the haunting gargoyles that dot the monastery’s walls, each character’s sanity slowly drains away whenever they are in its presence. On top of that, when each night comes, the characters will lose some sanity automatically, as the thought of another night within the stone-cold walls creates dread.

The Stone of Madness has plenty of variety for players.

Even though the party’s sanity applies pressure to get things done, it can be replenished. When night comes, each character receives action points they can spend. Some can restore sanity by playing a violin or horsing around with the young compatriot Amelia. However, losing far more than you can gain is easy if you aren’t careful.

While nights are used to recover from the day’s exploration and prepare for what comes next, the days are when the bulk of the game happens. Three of the five party characters will be chosen to set out into the monastery when the day starts. These cannot be changed till the day ends, and each has unique talents only they can use. With time pitted against you, it’s important to try to preplan as much as possible, lest you waste time letting a day run out so you can change your party out.

For most of the game, the party will explore areas of their unwilling home, searching for items or individuals. By default, there is little guidance on how or where these objectives will be found, leaving it up to the player to figure it out. The location of some objectives will be apparent based on concept, though others are much more ethereal. However, there is a hint system that can be turned on, one of several difficulty adjusters that can be used to make things run a bit smoother if needed.

A wide variety of challenges are confronted throughout the game, with many having multiple ways to solve or circumvent them. One character discerns clues he finds that can point the way, one character’s incredible strength allows him to move blocks around or position planks to make passages, and one can scamper through holes in the walls only they can utilize. There is enough variety in The Stone of Madness’ challenges that it never becomes tedious or repetitive. They even manage to make the standard issue guards enjoyable to overcome.

Utilize several options to distract or incapacitate your enemies.

Like most stealth-focused games, this one has areas filled with guards and other individuals who won’t take kindly to the party doing things they shouldn’t. At first glance, these roaming obstacles seem to bear the standard visual cone players are used to. Still, The Game Kitchen incorporates many nuanced elements into the basic feature, making these challenges far more interesting.

The first noticeable thing about The Stone of Madness’ visual cone is that they are split in the middle. Close to the enemy is light, and the further away half is dark. Some effects only work while a character is in the dark half of the cone. A disguise only holds up when an enemy doesn’t get too close, and crouching can be more effective when the character is farther away. This creates more leeway with how much the antagonists can block a player’s progression.

Players can utilize several options to distract or incapacitate their enemies when sneaking is out of the question. Mouse traps can be left in a path to distract a target, the party’s priest can preach about God’s glory, allowing others to sneak by, and a disposable wooden plank can be brought down on a target’s head when all else fails.

Another interesting game element is how it splits exploration between day and evening. When evening comes, ghosts called Animus will appear, creating a new challenge for the party to avoid. These poltergeists are dangerous, and players always have the option to retreat to their room once the sun goes down. However, some of the guards retire in the evening, making the proposition appealing at times.

There are frustrating flaws in The Stone of Madness.

The biggest flaw with the gameplay is identifying interactive elements. Most objects that can be interacted with stand out thanks to colored highlights surrounding them, but a few do not. This is not overly frequent, but it is frustrating when it occurs.

In the same vein, there were a couple of times when an element on a wall needed to be interacted with but was hard to notice. This was due to an interplay with the camera. For the isometric angle to work in a setting filled with arches, overhangs, and elevated walkways, obstructing elements frequently vanish so the player can keep their party in view. These settings sometimes have important game elements. If not approached from the right angle, it is easy to miss them because they are frequently rendered invisible.

I also ran into some technical issues in the game’s early portions. The thumbstick on my controller would frequently stop working, making me release the direction and push again. While only a momentary hurdle when it happened, getting caught in a guard’s sights due to it got old fast.

The party characters needed more fleshing out. 

While the gameplay offers much to chew on, that is the only element that pulls you in. The story is threadbare at best. Someone is doing bad things, and you have to figure out who. Virtually every dialogue moment is dedicated to setting up the next step in the process, with little attention paid to why. The party characters also get little fleshing out. We learn a bit about them when they first join, and the action they can utilize helps build out their personalities, but nothing beyond the bare minimum ever comes to light about them.

This latter element is especially disappointing, given the lovely animated art style the game teases players with. Recreating a classic animated look, the “blink and you’ll miss it” animation sequences feel like the perfect medium to bring its cast to life if they were given the time to do it. The visual design of the setting is a bit of a mixed bag. While it sells the look of a dreary stone monastery effectively, there isn’t a lot in that design space that sticks with a player. A couple of secret areas stick out as exceptions, but by and large, each stone-grey room tends to blur in with the rest.

The Stone of Madness delivers a puzzling experience that forces players to be creative and quick. Its gameplay elements largely succeed at providing a unique challenge, while its world and characters are easily forgotten.

The Stone of Madness is available to purch on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S/X, and Nintendo Switch.