Ice-Pick Lodge’s original Pathologic released with three intertwined campaigns: the Bachelor, the Haruspex, and the Changeling. Pathologic 2, which is in some ways a remake, only launched with one campaign (the Haruspex’s), and a prologue to the Bachelor’s.

The Bachelor’s campaign remains in development. Ice-Pick Lodge described the central mechanic that will drive his story.

Pathologic is the story of a small town beset by a strange illness, almost invariably fatal, that is afflicting a small town. The town has elements of the distant past, the Victorian era, and science fiction. Everything is a mystery, many of which can be solved.

In his campaign, the Bachelor will interview unusual patients and observe their symptoms, seeking to collate this information into a vaccine.

The Hospital is a new gaming mechanic that challenges the protagonist’s intellect. It comprises several stages: in the first stage, the player interviews the patient, and in the second, conducts a physical examination.

Daniil Dankovsky is a medical science savant. He’s not wasting his time on ordinary patients dying from Sand Pest; there are dozens of them and there’s no treatment. He’s called upon to observe rare, peculiar patients who refuse to die within the five hours, like the rest of them. They exhibit unusual symptoms that shouldn’t be there.

It’s similar to solving a mathematical equation where the sum represents the present symptoms. There are several known variables (such as various circumstances of the patient’s life) and several unknown. The task is to thoroughly study everything to uncover the truth.

A patient may disclose some details that will clarify their symptoms, or they may lie, perhaps out of embarrassment or due to a hidden motive. After the medical interview, the player needs to examine the patient’s body. The player marks the present symptoms in the doctor’s ledger: unusual skin discoloration, darkened veins, ulcers, and so on. In some cases, the physical examination alone is sufficient to determine the correct diagnosis.

Ice-Pick Lodge

The mystery does not end there. The body itself may not provide the truth. If the player suspects this, they can explore the patient’s home and connections. The developers describe this as something that can “become a detective story on its own.”

There is no scheduled release date for the Bachelor’s campaign.

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Source: Ice-Pick Lodge

Featured Image: Ice-Pick Lodge

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