Dr Hysteria | Vooska Art Portfolio

Dr. Hysteria Game

In my solo developed Ren'Py game Dr. Hysteria you get to play as a Victorian hysteria doctor, treating the "female disease" patients. I created this visual novel upon learning about the long history of women's neglect in the medical sector, feeling compelled to share it in an interactive format. The goal was to present my research through a unique and unsettling narrative by forcing the player to follow the misogynistic standards of medical practice at the time and seeing the direct effects of their chosen treatments.

The game follows a linear storyline, with each choice having two outcomes for each of the 5 patients. The player can take on a role of a period accurate practitioner, by following the advice of their colleagues and harming the women in the process or attempt a modern, empathetic approach to try and help the patients.

Download the game on itch.io

Characters

In order to showcase different kinds of treatments given to hysteria patients in Victorian era, I designed characters of various social standing, appearance and age. Except for their gender these women have nothing in common, which shows just how vague and pseudoscientific the diagnosis of hysteria was. As is common for visual novels each character has variants portraying different emotional reactions.

Character variations

Choice outcome sketches

"Positive" choice outcomes

"Negative" choice outcomes

Game endings

The game has three endings, which trigger based on the player's play style. By following the rules of the oppressive system they get rewarded and welcomed to the team, by defying the medical standards of treatment they get fired and by having a combination of the two they get a warning regarding their unconventional approach.