Psychiatric Evaluation

Psychiatric Evaluation was created for the 24th Ludum Dare competition with the theme "evolution" where it took fifth place. The player controls a patient confined against his will in an asylum. He wants to escape, but has become a clinic case and he does not find a way out. The evolution theme is apparent in various gameplay elements. At the start of the game, at the lowest level of sanity, it is played as a text adventure. Nothing but a console is shown and the player inputs text commands to proceed. By talking to doctor the amount of sanity is raised, altering the visual presentation. The game keeps the same environment, but changes into an environment with ASCII characters, next into an 8-bit style game, and finally in the most polished version with retro pixel art. The game's music is adapted accordingly as well.

By talking to other patients or ghosts, or by standing or walking around, the sanity level drops and the game returns to a lower visual presentation. The technique of switching styles needs to be applied to progress in the game, as certain actions are only available in specific sanity stages. For instance, only in the text adventure mode is it possible to look around and receive information about the surroundings and the type of room the patient is in. It is a short game and the player has to find a way to leave the asylum by bending the rules.