Mind Scanners Creates A Future Where Order Is Protected At The Cost Of Humanity

Mind Scanners is a dystopian game where the player is tasked with guarding normalcy. Patients must be corrected, but doing so permanently erases their personality. There are two opposing groups who want these threats taken care of. Players must choose between upholding the status quo or helping create a new future. And they must do so knowing their daughter’s life hangs in the balance.

Each patient will be scanned and answer a few questions. This is where it’s determined if the patient is insane or not. This isn’t simple though. Players will get choices before they can offer a diagnosis. Each wrong choice undos the previous correct one. It also takes away the time left to offer treatment and see other patients. Failure to complete treatments, or not categorizing enough patients as “insane”, will lead to a game over. 

Some patients will undoubtedly deserve the label. Others will be considered threats since they reject The Structure. Due to a general distrust of authority or by wanting to open the city’s gates to Outlanders. There will be multiple scanners you can use for treatments. Finding a balance between these will allow players to help while doing the least harm.

That’s if they choose to help Moonrise. This organization offers to help players rescue their daughter. But only if none of the citizens are harmed in the process. This is a harder task than it might appear. Your default machine breaks after its first use. Red spaces appear randomly and landing on any of these causes stress to the patient. Sometimes this leads to their untimely demise. 

The biggest hurdles are the time and maintenance fee at the end of the day. This can force players to sometimes treat a sane patient to have enough money. It ultimately depends on how quickly a player figures out the sometimes-vague instructions and patient dialogue. Mind Scanners has an interesting story but throws too many characters at the player. Fans of light puzzles may enjoy this if they can get past the repetitiveness.