
Syntherapy
If an AI were sentient, how would you know if they were malfunctioning, or experiencing a mental health problem? A story-rich game that explores mental health and AI ethics in the form of therapy sessions with a sentient AI.
Developer
Publisher
Release
October 15, 2020
5 years and 291 days ago
Steam Reviews
Positive40 reviews82.5%
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Game contextLatest: IGF Team
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Updated: Jul 13, 2026Release statusWhether and how the game has been released. | The game was released through a separate publisher. |
Media
8 itemsAbout the Game

Syntherapy is a visual novel adventure game that thrusts the player into the heart of a challenging psychotherapy case where their choices, both in conversations and types of treatment chosen, will have powerful consequences.

Syntherapy sees you play as Dr. Melissa Park, a psychotherapist called to Petrichor University by research student Tara Northrop. Tara has created an experimental therapy AI that is showing signs for concern.
Willow is so advanced that its creator needs to ensure its mental well-being. Dr. Harold Freeman, the President of the university, is worried that Willow's sentience could have wider ethical ramifications for the university, and has been fighting to have it shut down.
Syntherapy sensitively looks at the ethics surrounding advanced AI, and explores a variety of topics related to mental health. The game asks wider questions of its audience and the moral behavior of humans, as they design and construct artificially intelligent beings.
Syntherapy is not recommended for children, or those who may be affected by such subject matter.

- Challenging and thought-provoking dialogue choices.
- Complex loyalty management system that takes player choices, play style, and topics chosen into account.
- Your choices and how to choose to interact with others will directly affect how the game story progresses and ultimately, the ending.
- A variety of in-game music to select during session planning.
- Over 37 possible endings!
- Explore a variety of topics related to mental health and mental illness while uncovering the mysterious backstories of all the main characters.