Roots of Insanity

About Roots of Insanity

Roots of Insanity is a single player survival shooter game with horror, mystery, violence and erotic themes. It was developed by Crania Games and was released on April 5, 2017. It received neutral reviews from both critics and players.

As Dr. Riley McClein, you have to figure out what is real and what is not as you try to uncover the mysterious happenings at the hospital, while also trying to deal with your epileptic attacks that have haunted you all your life.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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Reviews

59%Audience ScoreBased on 110 reviews

story14 positive mentions

grinding3 negative mentions

The game features a compelling and immersive atmosphere, enhanced by good graphics and sound design.
The story includes psychological elements and unexpected twists that keep players engaged.
The combat system allows players to fight back against enemies, which adds a unique twist to the horror experience.

The game suffers from optimization issues, leading to frame rate drops and occasional bugs that disrupt gameplay.
Combat mechanics are clunky and unbalanced, making encounters frustrating and repetitive.
The story is often predictable and lacks depth, with many plot points feeling generic and unresolved.

story
73 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
19% positive mentions, 70% neutral mentions, 11% negative mentions
The story of "Roots of Insanity" has received largely negative feedback, with many players describing it as generic, predictable, and filled with clichés typical of the horror genre. While some found moments of intrigue and appreciated the atmosphere, the overall narrative was criticized for being incoherent, lacking depth, and failing to deliver a satisfying conclusion. Despite its shortcomings, a few players noted that the story's simplicity did not detract significantly from the gameplay experience.
- “The base story idea was okay, not the most original one here, but had some interesting thoughts behind it.”
- “The story is there, it has serviceable voice acting but it's nothing new.”
- “Although the plot isn't the strong point of Roots of Insanity, where it does shine is within its creepy, tense atmosphere.”
- “The story of 'Roots of Insanity' is absolute garbage.”
- “The story was predictable and mediocre at best (the game's weakest point besides the combat); much of the plot was left unanswered and parts of the narrative made no sense.”
- “After about an hour, I realized absolutely nothing made any sense; I had no idea what was happening, where I was, why I was there, what anything was, etc. The attempt at a plot is completely lacking.”
gameplay
35 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17% positive mentions, 69% neutral mentions, 14% negative mentions
The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with many players criticizing its janky mechanics, repetitive combat, and lack of polish, often comparing it unfavorably to titles like "Outlast." While some appreciated the survival elements and atmosphere, the overall experience is marred by bugs, uninspired design, and a tedious progression that detracts from the potential enjoyment. Players noted that the game could benefit from significant refinement in its mechanics and storytelling to enhance engagement.
- “Gameplay consists of finding your way around, picking up notes, fighting off enemies, and getting to the end.”
- “It’s still an interesting gameplay mechanic and it hasn’t been done to death as in the case of the zombies themselves.”
- “This title does have a camcorder mechanic, complete with the survival element of needing to find batteries to use it.”
- “Horrible plot, ugly graphics, terrible audio design, and uninspired and janky gameplay makes this a really tedious experience.”
- “Honestly, they could have just removed the combat mechanics altogether and turned it into a haunted house experience, and it would have retained the same value.”
- “Due to some bugs and occasional lack of button/clicking response, the gameplay isn't all that good.”
graphics
34 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
35% positive mentions, 56% neutral mentions, 9% negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some praising the crisp visuals and realistic lighting made possible by the Unreal Engine 4, while others criticize them as generic or reminiscent of older console graphics. Many players note that while the graphics can be visually appealing, they are often marred by performance issues and a lack of polish. Overall, the graphics are described as decent for an indie title, but not without significant flaws.
- “The mood and the setting are really good, from the visuals to the sound effects and music.”
- “This game is made on Unreal Engine 4 where the textures, lights, and utilities look realistic in high graphics.”
- “A rather short, minor glitchy gameplay but aside from that; awesome feels, awesome story, good on terrifying you, great graphics and sound is extraordinary.”
- “So yeah, graphically this definitely looks generic as they come.”
- “The graphics look like they are trapped in the PS2 era, with no way out of their visual purgatory.”
- “Graphics are pretty bad and still the game runs terrible.”
music
27 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33% positive mentions, 56% neutral mentions, 11% negative mentions
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with some players praising its ability to create a creepy atmosphere and enhance tension, reminiscent of titles like Outlast. However, issues with audio mixing have been highlighted, as certain tracks are overly loud and can drown out sound effects and voice acting. Overall, while the soundtrack contributes positively to the game's ambiance, technical flaws in mixing detract from the experience.
- “The mood and the setting are really good, from the visuals to the sound effects and music.”
- “The soundtrack and effects that Crania Games chose for this title are superb, and they help to keep a constant feeling of tension within the player even when no danger is readily present.”
- “After playing half an hour, I admit I'm surprised how intense the atmosphere in this game is and the music definitely needs attention; such a great soundtrack which builds the tension and shapes the ambiance very nicely.”
- “It's nothing too horrible, but it's also just not very good. There's a vast difference in the audio mixing for the music (and the sound effects for that matter) where some music tracks are so loud they drown out everything else.”
- “Music mixing is terrible and sometimes drowns out everything else.”
- “The base mixing isn't great; I couldn't hear the voices over the music, and when I turned my volume up, my speakers were nearly broken by the loudness of random noises and jump scares.”
atmosphere
27 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
56% positive mentions, 33% neutral mentions, 11% negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its creepiness and tension, enhanced by a strong soundtrack and effective sound design. Many reviewers noted that while the game successfully creates an immersive and intense ambiance, some elements, like jump scares, may detract from the overall experience. Overall, the atmosphere is considered a standout feature, contributing significantly to the game's psychological horror appeal.
- “It started with good potential: a creepy atmosphere and a great soundtrack that was building up tension and shaped ambiance very nicely (you can see that the developers are good at this).”
- “The atmosphere is extremely well done and though not particularly scary, was enough to keep me on the edge of my seat in some parts.”
- “The atmosphere was pretty creepy.”
- “Although the plot isn't the strong point of Roots of Insanity, where it does shine is within its creepy, tense atmosphere.”
- “Having played lots of half-baked indie games over the course of many years, despite its few flaws here and there, I can say Roots of Insanity can quickly find its niche among the indie horror games for its dense atmosphere.”
grinding
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
0% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 100% negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and unenjoyable, citing a combination of a poor plot, unattractive graphics, subpar audio design, and uninspired gameplay as contributing factors to the overall negative experience.
- “Horrible plot, ugly graphics, terrible audio design, and uninspired, janky gameplay make this a really tedious experience.”
- “The grinding feels endless and monotonous, making it hard to stay engaged with the game.”
- “I found myself repeating the same tasks over and over, which quickly became frustrating and boring.”
optimization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100% positive mentions, -33% neutral mentions, 33% negative mentions
The game's optimization is polarizing; while some players report severe performance issues that hinder gameplay, others praise it for excellent optimization without any major bugs or crashes.
- “The game features excellent optimization and doesn't suffer from any game-breaking bugs or crashes.”
- “The performance is smooth, allowing for an immersive experience without any noticeable lag.”
- “I appreciate how well-optimized the game is; it runs flawlessly even on lower-end hardware.”
- “Looked like a promising game, but I couldn't even beat the first part because of how badly optimized it is.”
emotional
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
0% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 100% negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is criticized for its lack of engagement, with users describing the story as boring and unimpactful, leading to a diminished emotional connection with the characters and narrative.
- “The story was incredibly boring and failed to evoke any emotional response.”
- “I found the narrative to be dull, lacking the emotional depth I was hoping for.”
- “The emotional impact was nonexistent; it felt like a chore to get through the story.”
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions
Players find humor in the game primarily through unexpected bugs, such as a comical glitch where a character's head detaches while the body continues to move, adding an element of absurdity to the experience.
- “So there's a funny story with this game.”
- “I only experienced one hilarious bug where my head came off and I could see my body walking around.”
stability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
0% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 100% negative mentions
The game's stability is noted to be somewhat problematic, with certain achievements being particularly buggy, requiring multiple playthroughs to unlock. While this issue is acknowledged as typical for indie games, it may frustrate players aiming for a complete experience.
- “The 100% journey will take at least 2 playthroughs, with a possible third or fourth, as two of the achievements are very buggy (Zombie Hunter and Let Us Know If You See Anything) and can take multiple attempts.”
- “-- a bit buggy, although understandable since it is an indie game.”

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Critic Reviews

50%Critics’ scoreBased on 1 critic reviews

Roots of Insanity Review – Hospital Horror Struggles to Find a Pulse
Cogconnected.com
50%

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Play Times

2h Median play time

3h Average play time

2-5h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 4 analyzed playthroughs

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Frequently Asked Questions

Roots of Insanity is a survival shooter game with horror, mystery, violence and erotic themes. Common tags for Roots of Insanity include first-person, indie, trading, psychological and psychological horror.

Roots of Insanity is available on PC and Windows.

On average players spend around 3 hours playing Roots of Insanity.

Roots of Insanity was released on April 5, 2017.

Roots of Insanity was developed by Crania Games.

Roots of Insanity has received neutral reviews from both players and critics. Most players liked Roots of Insanity for its story but disliked it for its grinding.

Roots of Insanity is a single player game.

Similar games include DreadOut, The Beast Inside, The Forgotten Ones, Husk, Welcome to Hanwell and others.

Roots of Insanity

Platforms

Games Like Roots of Insanity

DreadOut

The Beast Inside

The Forgotten Ones

Husk

Welcome to Hanwell

Beyond Hanwell

The Evil Within

The Story of Henry Bishop

Dementium II HD

Industria

Reviews

story

gameplay

graphics

music

atmosphere

grinding

optimization

emotional

humor

stability

Critic Reviews