A doctor simulator should be about healing patients, right? While it’s the truth in most cases, a demo of Do No Harm offers a dark twist on the genre, putting you in the shoes of a village medic who has to deal not only with the impatient and ungrateful locals, but also lovecraftian horrors threatening his sanity.
The main gameplay loop focuses on analyzing patients' symptoms
Do No Harm utilizes solutions from profession-related simulators and games that test your decision-making under pressure, offering an unique blend of strategy and horror. You take on the role of a village doctor in the 19th century, diagnosing and treating patients using ancient and often cryptic medical procedures. The goal is to navigate the pressures of treating the sick while also surviving for 30 days in an increasingly hostile environment. Will you save the villagers, descend into madness, or uncover the truth behind the horrors?
We get to play only for 7 days in the demo, though there’s still a lot to unpack. The gameplay loop is focused on analyzing patients’ symptoms and then figuring out the cure. At first we’re equipped with one syringe, four different medicines and a book full of instructions. However, as the time passes, our tools and methods become more and more complex: we need to administer right amount of doses, watch out for allergies and physical symptoms, keep in mind all written restrictions, as well as invest in new diagnosis tools such as magnifying glass.
We practically get something new each day, which turns routine procedures into complex and rich investigation. There’s only one mechanic that I dislike, which is a humor circle – it is introduced quite late and adds confusion to already elaborate pattern.
Do No Harm is simply a game you must not miss
Having players take on the doctor’s responsibilities is an interesting choice, however I believe that the circumstances surrounding it make the whole experience even more absorbing. Not only we have to spend our savings cautiously, but also take care of our sanity and reputation in the village. I really enjoyed finding anomalies and fighting hallucinations, as it forced you to be more cautious about your surroundings.
Moreover, the demo version also showed us the possibility to form alliances with the residents, which would explain multiple endings. Will you help a local priest by treating the members of his parish? Or maybe you’ll deliberately send people to their deaths, because of your deal with a gravedigger? You can also just descend into madness and enter the darkness – remember that each moral decision impacts the final outcome.
While talking about the narrative in this game, I can’t skip over its really atmospheric aesthetics. The beautiful hand-drawn cutscene in the beginning introduces us to the world full of shadows and mysteries. This impression stays with us also during appointments, when the room is lit by a single oil lamp so every patient emerges as a dark figure that quickly approaches your desk.
I truly adore designs of the characters: they’re both cartoony and twisted, which fits the Lovecraftian style this game is incorporating (and also makes the monsters appear more gloomy.) I think that this game shouldn’t be overlooked, especially since it’s going to release in few days, and based on what I have seen from the demo, it’ll take you on a wild adventure into the world where everything depends on your choice: who to save and who to kill.
English (UK) 
Hrvatski