The Stone of Madness

The Stone of Madness is a fantastic real-time strategy game with a fantastic gameplay loop. It effectively combines strategy mechanics with roguelike elements to create an engaging experience I wouldn't want to get away from. I like how distinct the five protagonists are, both in terms of their abilities and fears and the amount of planning and moving parts required to get through each level. The ...

Once it clicked, I could hardly put The Stone of Madness down. The game’s detailed Goya-inspired art direction is just gorgeous. When everything works, all the hard work you’ve put in to make it to the next plot point pays off. It’s so much easier to list out negatives instead of quantifying success, but The Stone of Madness is a compelling, largely successful stealth challenge.

The Stone of Madness isn’t a game for everyone, but it’s hard not to request that even the more discerning player give it a try. The game's somewhat bizarre and disturbing art style remains a high point, and even those unaccustomed to real-time tactical strategy titles may find the game’s story and setting compelling enough to stick with it until the end. Despite some finicky controls, it’s clear ...

Isometric real-time stealth elevated by a unique approach to time, mental health, and a resplendent monastic setting.

The new title from Spanish developer The Game Kitchen, previously known for their ‘Blasphemous’ series, is simultaneously new and familiar terrain for the studio. The religious iconography of their previous titles is alive and well, but gone is their Metroidvania action to be replaced by the tactical stealth of trying to escape an 18th-century monastery. Besides some frustrations with its resource...

For all its sins, there’s the makings of a stealth-tactics classic in The Stone of Madness. Its grisly sensibility, rock-hard difficulty, and inconvenient bugs at launch mean it’s not a game for the weak-hearted, but 20+ hours with its rich, system-driven drama produced many delightful escapades worth admiring - even if a good number ended with us back in our cell miserably plotting our next attem...

The Stone of Madness delivers a puzzling experience that forces players to be creative and quick. Its gameplay elements largely succeed at providing a unique challenge, while its world and characters are easily forgotten.

The Stone of Madness innovates on tactical stealth and charms with the detailed art, but its survival mechanics bring too little to the table to sell me on this new formula.