We take a look at World of Horror, which has now left Steam Early Access! This stark black-and-white horror RPG is inspired by Junji Ito and H.P. Lovecraft. Otherworldly horrors promise to test the sanity of Shiokawa, Japan. In the game, your character has a “Reason” meter, which measures their ability to mentally cope with the incomprehensible things they encounter. Once the meter is depleted, your character suffers a mental breakdown and the game ends with them admitted to a psychiatric institution.

We talk about the game and how we measure mental health with scales even in real life. We also discuss the nature of Lovecraftian/cosmic horror, and what fear of the unknown and existential fears might mean for our mental health. Also: is it a big deal that both the creator of World of Horror and Junji Ito both worked in the field of dental health?!