Sanitarium vs Dawn, P.I.
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Sanitarium
Embark on a dark adventure as an amnesiac in a creepy asylum. Solve puzzles, uncover a complex plot, and escape this morbid universe. This enhanced mobile version offers new features for an immersive point-and-click horror experience.
- Amnesiac protagonist
- Morbid and creepy universe
- Puzzle solving
- Complex plot
- Touch and pad controls
- New inventory system
- Achievements
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In Sanitarium you play an amnesiac thrust into a morbid, really creepy universe. After a car accident you wake up to find that instead of lying in a hospital, you’re in an asylum with your head wrapped in bandages. Who the hell am I? What am I doing here? How do I escape? There endless questions eating away at you, and so too are the many puzzles you’ll need to resolve throughout this immersive, captivating adventure. Featuring a rich, complex plot set in an intense world where a very thin line separates reason from madness, Sanitarium is a masterwork suitable for point-and-click beginners, experts and everyone who enjoys captivating storylines and horror games. This version has not only been authentically recreated for mobile, but also enhanced with brand-new features: • Choose between touch mode and pad mode • A new easy-to-use interface specially adapted for touch devices • Automatic save system • Dynamic ON/OFF hint system • New inventory system • 20 Achievements to unlock • Choose between full screen mode & original mode • 3 languages available: English, French, German (voices and text) Originally released in 1998 for PC and Adventure Game of the Year Winner, this timeless point-and-click horror game is a must-have for adventure game fans. Discover or rediscover one of the scariest games of all time with this mobile version you can play anywhere! MORE ABOUT DOTEMU facebook.com/dotemu twitter.com/dotemu youtube.com/dotemu
Dawn, P.I.
Step into the shoes of a high school detective in this hand-drawn, point-and-click adventure game. Explore a mysterious high school, find clues, solve puzzles, and interrogate characters to uncover the truth behind strange occurrences.
- Point-and-click gameplay
- Investigative puzzles
- Character interrogation
- Hand-drawn animation
- Mystery solving
- Explore school environment
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What mystery lurks in Marlowe High? Become a detective in this point-and-click adventure game and solve the case! If you enjoy detective stories, escape games and puzzles, Dawn, P.I. is the game for you. Become Dawn, a high schooler with a penchant for investigation and occasional property damage. Explore the school to find clues and solve puzzles to ultimately get to the bottom of the case: why is Meg's horoscope suddenly working? Is someone interfering with the school paper? Why are people missing? Why is the librarian so annoying? And what in the world is "The Guiding Wind"? Fully hand-drawn and -animated, Dawn, P.I. will transport you to a cartoon noir world, where you'll have to be sharp and creative to advance in every step. Sweep rooms for objects to help you on your investigation and interrogate everyone to uncover their hidden secrets.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Dawn, P.I. at Free against Sanitarium's $3.99. Dawn, P.I. also leads on rating (4.6 vs 4.2) and update cadence (monthly vs every 73 months). Sanitarium's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and ratings volume (131 vs 16). On review sentiment, ads, monetization model and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Dawn, P.I. is free to download; Sanitarium costs $3.99 up front. Dawn, P.I. sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Sanitarium asks for nothing beyond the download.
Dawn, P.I. holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Sanitarium has 131 ratings behind it against 16, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 70% of Sanitarium's written reviews are positive against 67% of Dawn, P.I.'s, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Sanitarium ships an update every 73 months, Dawn, P.I. monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 27, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Sanitarium | Dawn, P.I. |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $3.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.2 (131 ratings) | 4.6 (16 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 70.5% of reviews — better | 66.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 131 — better | 16 |
| Update frequency | Every 73 months | Monthly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 9.0 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 887 MB | 68 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 12+ |
| Developer | DotEmu | Bruno Maestrini |
Customer experience
Sanitarium
Dawn, P.I.
Bugs and requests
Sanitarium
Reported bugs
3 issues- Game freezes or crashes in certain levels
- Dialogue skipping and desynchronization issues
- Unresponsive interactions and missing prompts
Requested features
3 requests- Add Russian language support
- Improve touch controls and UI for mobile
- Provide more instructions and tutorials
Dawn, P.I.
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Sanitarium
No in-app purchases
Dawn, P.I.
- Full Game$2.99
Questions
Is Sanitarium free?
Is Dawn, P.I. free?
Which has better reviews, Sanitarium or Dawn, P.I.?
Do Sanitarium or Dawn, P.I. have ads?
Which is updated more often, Sanitarium or Dawn, P.I.?
Other comparisons
