MADiSON is the name of a first-person psychological horror that makes use of an urban environment for maximum scares. The house that protagonist Luca finds himself in is unfortunately limited in scope, but provides a great runtime for players to be immersed in scares and a haunting atmosphere.
MADiSON can be considered a spiritual successor to canceled titles like PT/Silent Hills and Allison Road, as it features a large urban household with plenty of intense horrors lurking in the darkness. Here, Luca has been unwittingly possessed by a demon that torments the family, and must complete a bloody ritual to be free from the curse before time runs out.
How Long To Beat MADiSON
A lot of the psychological horror comes from the distortion of reality thanks to the possessed camera that Lucas acquires partway through the game, and MADiSON's fiendish puzzles lie in wait to trap players. Occasional jump scares are used to break the flow of concentration (especially after incorrect puzzle solutions), which horror fans will simultaneously love and hate to encounter.
A player's first playthrough of MADiSON is set to last approximately 8 hours. While that is not a tremendous amount of time, MADiSON was developed by an indie team primarily made up of 2 people and sees the player visiting multiple new locations over the course of the game. The economical use of space and re-visited environments means that players will still be wary of each step and new direction even when re-treading old corridors.
How Many Chapters Are In MADiSON
The length of the game can be divided up into different environments that Luca gets lost in while trying to make sense of who or what MADiSON is. While it isn't split up evenly into chapters, the gameplay can be divided into the following sections:
Chapter 1: Arriving at the House
Chapter 2: The Well
Chapter 3: The Attic
Chapter 4: The Mausoleum
Chapter 5: The Four Virgins
Chapter 6: Red Light
Chapter 7: The Clock
Chapter 8: Chest
Chapter 9: Blue Knees
Chapter 10: The Ritual
Each chapter is somewhat uneven in terms of length, with the puzzle/exploration sections likely to take the longest for first time players. These include the Mausoleum and the Blue Knees chapters, which feature terrifying creatures that can kill the player if they get too careless.
Additionally, some of MADiSON's puzzle solutions change across playthroughs. This prevents players from rushing past the fiendish puzzles, but also means roadblocks may be frequent for horror fans.
One trophy/achievement for the game mentions beating MADiSON in under 2.5 hours. Therefore, MADiSON's runtime can vary based on how much of the game has been memorized by the player already, ensuring that seasoned players are able to speed-run the spooky series of events with enough practice.
MADiSON is available on Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
