Syntherapy

Syntherapy is a visual novel adventure in which you play as Dr. Melissa Park, a psychotherapist facing a challenging case at Petrichor University. Your dialogue choices and treatment decisions affect the people you work with, the course of the story and its ending.

The case at Petrichor

Research student Tara Northrop calls Dr. Park to the university because an experimental therapy AI she created, Willow, is showing signs for concern. Willow is so advanced that Tara needs to ensure its mental well-being. University President Dr. Harold Freeman worries that Willow's sentience could have wider ethical ramifications for the university, and is fighting to have it shut down.

As you work through the case, you uncover the main characters' mysterious backstories and explore topics related to mental health and mental illness. The story also considers the ethics of advanced AI and the moral behavior of people who design and construct artificially intelligent beings.

Choices and treatment

You make challenging dialogue choices and choose which types of treatment to use. A complex loyalty system takes your choices, play style and selected topics into account. Your decisions and how you interact with others directly shape the story's progression and its ending; the game has over 37 possible endings.

During session planning, you can select from a variety of in-game music.