Roots of Insanity is a Psychological Horror Game by Crania Games.
Dr. Riley McClein is a doctor who's been dealing with epileptic attacks all his life. One night, while he's sitting in his office, he hears a scream coming from somewhere in the hospital. Deciding to go investigate, he soon walks into a nightmare he needs to differentiate from reality if he wants to find out what's happening.
The game was released on April 5th, 2017. A major update to the game, billed as a "remake" but actually just an overhaul of the game to bring it more in line with modern standards (i.e. key remapping, 4k and ultra-widescreen resolutions, a save system, and the ability to use the revolver indoors), was released in October 29, 2020. It is followed by a semi-sequel, A Way To Be Dead, an Asymmetric Multiplayer game following the exploits of 4 patients in the hospital during Riley's journey.
Roots Of Insanity contains examples of:
- Apocalyptic Log: What kind of horror game would it be without one?
- Ax-Crazy: Riley gets a fire axe as a melee weapon after exploring a few floors of the hospital. It's much better than the steak knife he starts out with. The ending indicates a decent number of the "zombies" he chops up with it were actually normal people.
- Hollywood Psych: Riley, a medical doctor, blames his epilepsy for numerous bizarre symptoms that have nothing to do with epilepsy, including hallucinations and major delusions. Granted, Riley does seem to note that these symptoms are highly unusual and not typical for his condition.
- Lock and Key Puzzle: One of the first puzzles in the game is finding the key to enter B Block.
- Missing Mom: It's stated via a text viewable in a loading screen that Dr. Riley's mother died of a brain tumor in 2004. The endgame reveals she was Patient Zero of the zombie outbreak, as Riley's father and his partner attempted to bring her back from the dead through science. You can Mercy Kill her in her isolation cell, or just move along and escape.
- P.O.V. Cam: The game is viewed through Dr. Riley's eyes.
- Psychological Horror: Scary images flicker in and out of Dr. McClein's eyesight regularly due to his epilepsy.
- Resources Management Gameplay: You have to manage a limited number of health drinks, batteries for your nightvision camera, stimulants for your stamina, and later in the game bullets for your revolver.
- Self-Made Orphan: Riley kills his father after learning he had turned his mother into a zombie in an attempt to bring her back to life.
- Through the Eyes of Madness: It's pretty clear early on that what Riley is seeing might not necessarily be what's actually happening. The ending indicates that there was indeed a zombie outbreak, but a decent number of the people he killed were normal humans who he hallucinated were zombies.
- You Have Failed Me: Riley's father, the hospital's director, murdered his partner after learning he had botched the resurrection of his wife, resulting in her coming back as a zombie instead of a human.
