Meddle with brains in Mind Scanners today
It's like a dystopian (and arguably even more sinister) Papers, Please
If you fancy some dystopian brain-meddling that's considerably more in-depth than Cyberpunk 2077's braindances, you might want to take a look at Mind Scanners. Released today, Mind Scanners is a colourful, yet oh-so dark, sim about diagnosing and treating "insanity" in the citizens of a retro-futuristic city. It looks like Papers, Please, but instead of detaining people at a border you're forcefully trying to make them "sane". Cheery.
In Mind Scanners you work for an institute in The Structure, a dystopian metropolis where "insanity is on the rise". It's your job to "analyse, diagnose and normalise" The Structure's citizens, and maybe one day this institute will let you see your daughter again - did I mention they're holding her hostage?
Mind Scanners is a disturbing concept, but one I'm intrigued to play. Like Papers, Please, you'll earn money from diagnosing people, and fiddling with their hearts and minds with various arcadey puzzles. You'll need to pay bills, as well as develop new brain-poking devices to treat patients. You'll have choices to make about who you help too: do you want to take down The Structure, or earn the trust of your "employers"?
Alice Bee played a bit of Mind Scanners last year, and thought it was one of the best demos from Steam Autumn Game Festival. She particularly liked all the weird medical machines which have "all sorts of wires and suckers and close ups of eyes".
Mind Scanners is out now on Steam and GOG for £13/€15/$16. It's developed by The Outer Zone, and published by Yes, Your Grace makers Brave At Night.