Psychonauts (2005)
Psychonauts is a 2005 platform game by Double Fine Productions, published by Majesco Entertainment for Windows, Xbox, and PlayStation 2. Set in retro-futuristic 1980s, the story follows Razputin (Raz), a psychic boy who flees his family’s circus to join a summer camp for psychic training. Aspiring to become a “Psychonaut,” Raz uncovers a diabolical scheme threatening the camp. Players explore minds of characters, helping them confront past traumas while Raz gains psychic abilities for combat and puzzle-solving.
The game originated from an unused idea by Double Fine founder Tim Schafer during Full Throttle’s development. Initially backed by Microsoft, development faced setbacks, and after Microsoft dropped support, Majesco stepped in, allowing completion after 4 and a half years. Though critically acclaimed, Majesco’s financial losses limited its impact at launch.
In 2011, Double Fine regained the rights, re-releasing the game digitally with modern updates. Its popularity grew, selling 1.7 million copies by 2015. A sequel, Psychonauts 2, launched in August 2021. (Source)
Characters
Raz
Born with psychic powers but forbidden to use them by his strict father, Raz ran away from home to train to be an international psychic secret agent. In other words, a Psychonaut. This has been his life's dream, and nothing is going to get in his way now. Not the threats of the camp bully, not the apathy of his cynical but cute girlfriend, not the hideous monster that comes out of the lake at night to eat children's brains - nothing.
Coach Morceau "Morry" Oleander
Oleander is the camp's Head Coach — a pint-sized Patton. He believes that the mind is a muscle meant to be exercised. The Coach considers it his duty to toughen up the young minds that come to camp and turn them into fighting machines. The Coach is very, very short.
Lili Zanotto
Lili has already passed every psychic test at camp, run every course, won every Merit Badge, and now... she's over it. She's over camp, over the Psychonauts, over the whole thing. Or, at least she was until the day Raz came to camp. Now she finds herself wrapped up in his excitement, caught up in a mystery and concerned about being a Psychonaut for the first time in a long while.
Ford Crueller
Janitor, Admiral, Ranger, Chef, and more, Ford is the man behind the scenes at Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp. He keeps it running smoothly, knows all the shortcuts, and somehow manages to be everywhere in camp at once, including a few secret spots where Raz discovers there's more to Ford than his brooms.
Sasha Nein
World famous super agent, the cold and logical Sasha is constantly striving to uncover the mysteries of the human psyche through science. He is so focused on his studies that he doesn't have the time to realize that he is a celebrity and hero to the thousands of kids like Raz who read True Psychic Tales magazine.
Milla Vodello
The Mental Minx. International secret agent. Brazilian levitation instructor. Party girl. Wherever Milla goes, there seems to be an upbeat soundtrack. She loves working with children and worries about their safety. She teaches them how to use their thoughts to fly, float and keep bouncing.
If you would like to learn even more about these lovely characters, read their full backstories here.
Enemies
Censors
An important part of any sane person's mind, the censors roam our psyches, stamping out any thoughts that don't belong. Their job is hunting out manias, delusions, and waking dreams, then smashing them to bits. And since Raz is a foreign body in the minds he enters, he is fair game, and the censors will not rest until he is stamped out.
Shouting Censors
These censors are bigger and smarter than normal censors, and can fire a deadly blast of "NO!" at Raz from far away. Raz will have to master the fine art of Mental Focus Lock to nail these guys with his PSI Blast.
Strong Arm Censors
Just run away. That's all I'm saying. These guys are much tougher than your average censor and if you see one you should just run. Or hide somehow. Probably should write a letter home to your mom and tell her you love her, and goodbye.
Personal Demons
Even though they look small, you have to deal with Personal Demons before they blow up in your face. And by "deal with" I mean, "PSI Blast them into oblivion." Don't let them get too close because when they go, they take out everyone around them. Mostly you.
Hand of Galochio
This evil claw of water is a phenomenon only Raz and his family can see. Long ago, they were all cursed by a rival circus family — the Galochios - cursed to die in water, every one of them. So whenever a deep body of water is nearby, Raz gets understandably freaked out. He is literally gripped with fear, sometimes even paralyzed and pulled under. Do not take Raz swimming.
Concepts
Real and Mental Worlds
There are both real and mental worlds in Psychonauts. The real world is the world in which Raz pursues his dream of becoming a Psychonaut while exploring the mysteries of the camp and his immediate surroundings. These are the environments where he develops his physical and psychic talents. The mental world is the world as imagined inside the psyches of the various characters he encounters in the real world.
Mental Health
Maintaining adequate mental health is vital for any aspiring Psychonaut and it's also necessary for Raz to perform his psychic skills. Initially, Raz will have three brains' worth of health. When he takes damage, the brains start to lose their cranial fluid, 1/4 brain at a time. If Raz ever loses mental health completely, one layer of his astral projection into this mind will peel off, and he will be sent back to the last checkpoint he crossed in the area, as long as he has enough astral layers left. If Raz is out of mental health and astral layers, he will be kicked out of the mind he is in and sent back to the real world. If Raz loses all his health in the real world, he will return to a respawn point in the real world.
Story Overview
Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp
Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp is a secret government training facility for children with psychic abilities set atop a Psitanium-rich meteorite crater in Whispering Valley, near Lake Oblongata. Operating under the guise of a summer camp, it trains young psychics to become Psychonauts, exploring and enhancing their abilities in a safe environment. The area’s Psitanium boosts psychic powers, making it ideal for training, though most abilities fade after leaving unless reignited through training and muscle memory.
The valley’s history includes Native arrowhead crafting from Psitanium, a boomtown called “Shaky Claim,” and the Thorney Towers Home for the Disturbed for paranormal hysteria, leading to the camp’s founding five years before the game takes place.
Raz’s Journey to the Psychonauts
Razputin “Raz,” a 10-year-old with psychic abilities, escapes his family’s circus to join Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp. His father’s disapproval of his powers drives Raz to prove his worth as a Psychonaut. At the camp, he discovers a fiendish plan involving stolen camper brains and psychic tanks. Determined to stop it, Raz trains with Psychonaut agents Sasha Nein and Milla Vodello, unlocking psychic abilities and delving into the mysterious minds of others. His journey to becoming a hero begins as he faces the challenges of his powers and the dark secrets of the camp.
Uncovering Oleander’s Scheme
After excelling in his initial training, Raz gains access to advanced lessons with Sasha Nein using the Brain Tumbler. Through it, he foresees a dark tower, a deranged dentist, and stolen brains. Learning Dogen’s brain has been removed, Raz uncovers a scheme involving Coach Oleander and Dr. Loboto. With Lili kidnapped by a mutated lungfish, Raz faces his fear of water to rescue her. Assisted by Ford Cruller and the freed lungfish, Linda, Raz ventures to Thorny Towers asylum, unraveling a deeper plot and encountering surreal challenges in the minds of its patients.
Rescuing Lili and the Psychonauts
At Thorny Towers, Raz helps patients confront their traumas and gains a disguise to infiltrate Loboto’s lab. He rescues Lili and restores Sasha and Milla’s minds but discovers Oleander’s plan to dominate the world using brain-powered psychic tanks. Amid explosions and chaos, Raz and Lili share their first kiss. When Oleander returns brainless, a brain tank attacks, forcing Raz to merge his psyche with Oleander’s. Raz navigates the “Meat Circus,” confronting his fears and Oleander’s traumatic past. His real father helps Raz overcome personal demons, defeating the final monstrous fusion of their fears.
Triumph and New Adventures
Raz separates his psyche from Oleander, resolving both their inner conflicts. Promoted to a full Psychonaut by Ford Cruller, Raz is ready for new adventures. Raz and Lili solidify their bond despite Raz’s family life. Suddenly, the team learns of Truman Zanotto’s kidnapping. With his father’s blessing, Raz joins Sasha, Milla, Lili, and Oleander to embark on their next mission. In an extra scene, Linda, Sheegor, and Pokeylope reunite at the asylum, hinting at a mysterious connection from their past, as they embrace newfound peace.