The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker

The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker is a 2017 full-motion video murder mystery adventure game from D'avekki Studios, with writing by Tim Cowles and Lynda Cowles. The player takes on the role of a psychiatrist who must solve the murder of the previous Doctor Dekker by interviewing his former patients. It first launched on Microsoft Windows and macOS through Steam, and later came to consoles via British publisher Wales Interactive. A follow-up game from the same studio, The Shapeshifting Detective, arrived the following year.

In terms of gameplay, the player watches full-motion videos of Doctor Dekker’s patients. The objective is to uncover details about his death by acting as his replacement and asking questions. Players can freely switch between characters to learn more about them. During sessions, interactions happen by typing questions or comments into a text box, and the game responds by playing a video reply. A log tracks responses, with one asterisk indicating an unanswered question and two prompting a follow-up. Questions are generally free-form, and hints are available but have a cooldown.

The story keeps the player character’s identity unknown, except that they are a replacement psychiatrist brought in to investigate why Doctor Dekker was murdered. They must interview his patients, who include a woman who blacks out and wakes up at the beach, another who relives the same day repeatedly, and a man who believes he gains an extra hour each day when time freezes, allowing him to act unnoticed. The player’s questions shape the game’s events, leading to various responses and multiple endings.

Reception was mixed across platforms. On Metacritic, the PC and Nintendo Switch versions got positive reviews, while the PS4 version received mixed ones. Adventure Gamers and Rock Paper Shotgun both compared it to Her Story. Adventure Gamers noted it adds new twists and more dialogue, while Rock Paper Shotgun said it doesn’t always elegantly meet its goals, with reviewer John Walker pointing out that the parser sometimes misunderstands obvious questions, though he found the game “often very interesting.” Adventure Gamers called it “engrossing, disturbing and erudite,” though a bit lacking in plot. Digitally Downloaded’s reviewer was inspired to read H. P.