The Stone of Madness Showcases Priest Stealth Gameplay [EXCLUSIVE]

Summary

• Tactical stealth game The Stone of Madness shared new gameplay footage and details about a priest called Alfredo Martin, one of its five playable characters.
• Alfredo’s skill set includes the ability to illuminate dark spaces, uncover hidden secrets, and wear a disguise. His crucial weakness is fear of death, making him lose Sanity in the vicinity of corpses.
• The Stone of Madness releases for PC and consoles on January 28, 2025.

Game Rant can share exclusive new footage from The Stone of Madness showing how its stealth sections involving a fearful priest will work. Called Alfredo Martin, the holy man will be one of several playable characters in the upcoming indie game.

Made by Spanish indie developer The Game Kitchen, The Stone of Madness is a tactical stealth game with an aesthetic inspired by Francisco De Goya’s art. It challenges players to manage the sanity of five prisoners while navigating a day-night cycle that alternates between preparation and high-risk exploration, all with the goal of escaping an 18th-century Spanish monastery, which houses everything from a madhouse to an inquisitorial prison.

One of the five playable characters from The Stone of Madness is a priest called Alfredo Martin, who stars in a new promo video that Game Rant can exclusively reveal. The minute-long clip features new footage of stealth and exploration gameplay starring Alfredo, emphasizing his two key skills: uncovering hidden secrets—such as passageways—and disguising himself as a (non-imprisoned) priest in order to evade guards. So, while someone like Leonora will avoid patrols in The Stone of Madness by climbing to high ground and staying in the shadows, Alfredo will be able to hide in plain sight—up to a point, as suggested by what looks like a guard suspicion meter seen around the 36-second mark in the video.

Alfredo Can Illuminate Darkness But There Are Things He’d Rather Not See

Alfredo has one more trick up his sleeve in the form of an oil lamp, which helps illuminate dark spaces and aids in exploration. His toolset hence has some overlap with The Stone of Madness‘s Agnes Santos, who can also manipulate light by igniting and extinguishing things like torches and chandeliers. While his lamp can illuminate spots that Agnes cannot, it’s naturally only useful to Alfredo rather than all members of the team. That said, there are some things that the holy man would prefer stayed in the dark, such as dead bodies. His fear of death will make him lose Sanity every time he’s in the vicinity of a corpse, so players are advised to steer clear of such sights if they don’t want Alfredo to break down.

Managing characters’ phobias and traumas is one of the central mechanics of The Stone of Madness, equally vital as pulling off feats of stealth, exploration, and conducting prep work. Combined with the ability to alternate between characters who must work together, the upcoming game promises to deliver innovative stealth gameplay.

The Stone of Madness: Alfredo Martin Overview

The Stone of Madness will release for the PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, and PC on January 28, 2025, published by Tripwire Interactive. Steam users can currently download the game’s demo via Valve’s storefront.