You awake suddenly in the middle of an abandoned sanitarium. You are slightly drugged and have no idea how you've gotten there. A voice in your head speaks: I can help you get out, but first you're going to need to locate three items...

Sanitarium is played with a deck of cards. On the back of each card are hallway spaces making up the map of the Sanitarium, providing a different layout for each game. On the front of each card are items, actions, and hallucinations.

At the start of the game, each player is dealt three (of 13) secret items. Each item enhances player abilities in some way. Players may locate and use other items, but may carry only three at any given time.

On a turn, a player draws a card and adds it to the growing map. However, if the card shows a hallucination, the player must deal with its negative consequence until he can dispel it with the actions and items he finds along the way.

The first player to find his "quest" items and escape out of a room wins the game!

Players also control monsters that roam the halls searching for souls to torment. Beware the yellow-eyed demon.

Sanitarium is a fast-paced light horror card game and plays in about 30 minutes. A co-op version and a collection of scenarios are also available.