Not a butcher: Pathologic 3 developers show Bachelor gameplay and explain their gameplay vision

In Pathologic 3, playing as the Bachelor will require mastering the mechanics of practicing medicine.

Ice-Pick Lodge continues to introduce the community to Pathologic 3. Recently, the developers decided to hold an extended gameplay showcase:

“A first look at doctor gameplay — mechanics unique to the Bachelor’s story.

Examine, question, and diagnose patients. Try not to lose your mind when you realize they lied about their symptoms. Investigate their lives to uncover the truth and save them.”

The creators of Pathologic 3 explained their vision for Bachelor gameplay — he is not a “butcher”

“Every game in the Pathologic series is the story of a person in a town gripped by plague. And if that person is the Haruspex: a self-taught healer who relies on instinct, a scalpel, and knowledge of the steppes — you get Pathologic 2. A game centered on survival, where the surgeon literally plunges his hands into human flesh.

If our protagonist is Daniil Dankovsky, a medical celebrity, an observant man who analyzes and only resorts to laboratory testing in the most exceptional cases... then the story turns out different, and the gameplay must change accordingly.”

The players’ goal in Pathologic 3 is to treat local residents for the strange disease known as the “Sand Pest,” so the town can hold out until Day 12. Players will have to formulate vaccines, introduce quarantine measures, and study symptoms (while remembering not every complaint should be believed — wounds on a hand could be signs of a street fight or developing ulcers).

The Bachelor’s work is complicated by the “human factor” — go too far and terrify the residents, and the protagonist will face consequences:

“Be careful when issuing town-wide edicts and imposing quarantine measures. Frightened residents won’t tolerate restrictions that are too severe — push too hard, and they will hunt you down and kill you before you save the town. Alas, the doctor from the Capital must fight not only the plague and death, but his own patients as well: the Bachelor may risk his life to save them, yet still end up looking like nothing more than an autocrat, a tormentor, and a tyrant in their eyes.”

Video: https://youtu.be/CX6g47MFhU8

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Cover art: Ice-Pick Lodge, HypeTrain Digital. Image source: store.steampowered.com