Mind Scanners (2021)

Developer: The Outer Zone
Publisher: Brave At Night
Platforms: Windows, macOS
Genres: Adventure, RPG, Simulation, Strategy
Rating: 3.8 of 5, 1,436 player ratings
Typical playtime: about 6.5 hours
Where to get it: Steam

The 3D catalog: game boxes on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalog in 3D

The same catalog has a room you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real games from it when you tell them what you feel like playing. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this game is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

You are a psychiatrist in a bleak retro-futuristic city, using arcade-like machines to treat troubled citizens while carefully balancing your limited time and resources.

retrofuturisticdystopianatmospherictime managementresource managementpsychologicalstrategicstory rich

What players say

Players compare it to Papers, Please but set in a dystopian psychiatry office. The game is short at 2-4 hours per run, with nine endings requiring multiple playthroughs. Some find the timed minigames frustrating and tedious, while others enjoy the narrative and moral choices. Steam Deck controls are criticized as unusable.

Screenshots

More games like this

More by The Outer Zone

This page is from Underplayed Gems, a catalog of older and overlooked games. Not quite it? You can browse by platform and genre, or take this one into the 3D catalog and ask the Catbot for something closer.