The Stone of Madness: Health and Sanity Explained

As a real-time tactical stealth game, The Stone of Madness places you in tense situations where death or insanity seems unavoidable. Your characters are trapped in a mental asylum filled with relentless guards and mysterious nurses. However, you’re not doomed to this grim fate. With the right approach, you can heal, restore Sanity, and complete each chapter of The Stone of Madness in the top physical and mental shape. This guide will show you how.

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HP and Sanity Explained

In The Stone of Madness, each character has two health metrics: HP and Sanity. HP represents the character’s remaining life, while Sanity reflects their mental health, and it decreases as characters encounter their fears.

• HP: Indicates how many hits a character can take from guards before being sent to the Cell. If your character has enough HP, being hit by guards will only send them back to a checkpoint or safe area. However, if a character runs out of HP, they will be unavailable for the remainder of your current session.
• Sanity: Characters lose Sanity and risk going insane if left near their phobias for too long. When a trigger is nearby, a red icon will appear in the top-right corner of the screen, signaling that your character is in fear. The table below lists each main character’s phobia, helping you identify what to avoid.

How to Recover HP

There are two ways to restore teammates’ HP: 1) Using Alfredo’s “Caring for Everyone” skill, and 2) Healing each member with Agnes’ “Healer” ability. However, both methods can only be performed in the Cell. Healing is not available during missions while completing objectives.

Healing also comes at a cost. You’ll need sufficient action points to use the healers’ skills, as well as HP recovery items like Bandages or Poultices. If you’re out of these items, you can find them in loot boxes or have Eduardo craft them.

How to Cure Insanity

Sanity can be restored in the Cell by using Chocolate. Alfredo can prepare chocolate drinks to lower the team’s insanity levels. Alternatively, you can cure insanity by having Leonora play her violin (Evening Recital skill) or by playing with Amelia (Having Fun skill).

Leonora’s violin is the most effective way to cure insanity. However, overusing it may cause the instrument to break. If that happens, you’ll need Eduardo to craft a replacement.

What Happens if You Go Insane?

When a characteSanitynity drops to zero, they go insane and acquire a Disorder. Characters typically start with one or two Disorders by default, but repeated insanity can worsen these conditions, severely limiting their abilities and movements.

For example, Agnes can develop Rheumatism Disorder, which prevents her from sprinting and causes back pain. Fortunately, there is a specific ability you can use to cure all gained Disorders across your team.

How to Remove Disorders

To cure Disorders, you need to unlock Agnes’s “Cure Disorder” ability. This is a Night Phase skill, meaning she can only use it while in the Cell. Keep in mind that the affected character will need some time to recover from their Disorder, so the effects won’t be immediate.

How to Heal Group Traumas

If your group has been traumatized, you should use “Penaca.” Agnes is the only character who can craft it, provided you give her ten Plants, two Dead Man’s Fingers, and one Chicken. You can also find bottles of Penaca in loot boxes.

Game

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Strategy

Real-Time Strategy

Released

January 28, 2025

Developer(s)

The Game Kitchen

Engine

Unity

ESRB

Mature 17+ // Violence, Blood, Sexual Content, Nudity

Steam Deck Compatibility

Unknown

X|S Optimized

Yes

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