Today, HypeTrain Digital and Ice-Pick Lodge announced Pathologic 3, a new installment in the peculiar series that began with 2005’s indie cult and continued with 2019’s reboot. Pathologic 3 will be launched next year on PC (Steam).
In the new game, players will again find themselves in a small, remote town struck by a mysterious and deadly disease. This time, however, they will take on the role of The Bachelor, a town doctor known for his relentless battle against death. Invited to the town by the late Isidor Burakh, The Bachelor must navigate the unfolding mystery, striving not only to save the town but to defeat death itself.
For the first time in the series, Pathologic 3 introduces a new time travel mechanic that allows players to revisit key events and alter them to their advantage. While the player still has only 12 days to save the city, this innovative mechanic allows them to explore and influence events in ways that reshape the unfolding narrative.
Game Director Nikolay Dybowski said:
We are making a game about how a person develops their mind to learn how to work with things they previously couldn’t or didn’t know how to notice. Our goal is to understand what this means for the player. Right now, the most pressing issue for me seems to be rethinking our habitual understanding of how our mind works—how to use it without getting into trouble or losing ourselves. That’s why I want to create gameplay that touches on this theme. The Bachelor sees himself as a man of intellect.
We can describe the concept of this time travel mechanic as surrealist time management. Our goal is to give the player a sense that time is more complex than we typically perceive it—as a linear path. We want to show the player the possibility of existing in a world that is disassembled and functions in a way quite different from what we’re used to expecting.
Pathologic 3 will also let players immerse themselves in the role of a physician. They will get to diagnose and treat patients based on examinations, use a microscope and research pathogens to develop treatments and save patients, and even fight the rampant epidemic by implementing quarantines and deploying patrols to lock down the spread of disease.
