Sanity

“I get crazy when I don't sleep.”

–Wilson

Being alone in the wilderness will take its toll on the character's mental state after a few days. The effect it has can be seen through Sanity, represented by a meter. It is measured numerically. When  ≤ 30, the character is insane; when  ≥ 35, the character is sane. Players can gain and lose sanity in various ways.

Sanity HUD icon

A small animated arrow appears in front of the , showing when sanity is increasing or decreasing. A bigger arrow means that sanity is increasing / decreasing faster.  As sanity decreases, strange things start to happen: the player's vision becomes shaky, over-saturated, and bright, whispers are heard, and Shadow Creatures start to appear. When the character becomes completely insane, these creatures become aggressive and start to attack.

Generally, being in close proximity to Monsters, Darkness, Rain, or eating bad Food decreases sanity - while wearing dapper clothes, eating Crock Pot food, being near friendly Pigs, and sleeping increases sanity. See the Sanity Table below for a complete list.

Due to the fact that several magical items decrease sanity when used, it could be thought of as a sort of mana that is depleted by magic use. However, having little sanity brings about its own benefits (for example getting Nightmare Fuel for powerful weapons and armor.)

Instant Sanity Table

Action	Sanity
• Sleeping in a	+50
• Sleeping in a • Killing a	+33
• Repairing a	+20
• Killing a • Eating • Eating Gears as WX-78 • Prototyping a new item on  File:Ancienticon2.png or from	+15
• Eating  • Shaving Wilson's Beard	+10
• Eating most Crock Pot Dishes except for  • Picking	+5
•Using a File:Icestaff.png	-1
• Eating  • Picking • Using a  while playing as Wes.	-5
• Eating and Spoiled Food • Digging up a	-10
•Eating • Going through a  •Using	-15
• Eating • Night Monster attack • Using a File:Green Staff.png	-20
• Reading • Getting hit by lightning as File:WX-78 portrait.png	-33
• Eating • Reading • Using •Spawning File:Abigail.png	-50
• Using a	-55 Max Sanity
• Resurrection via	Set to 1/2 of maximum

Temporal Sanity Table

Name	Sanity (/min)	Notes
• Sanity aura of aFile:Star Stafflight.png	≤+25	The Star that can be summoned with a Star Caller's Staff gives a boost if stood near, but costs 20 sanity to summon.
• Sanity aura of a friendly  or	≤+25	Must be very close to gain maximum effect. Best way is chopping the same tree or standing near a sleeping pig
• Playing as Maxwell	+20	Constant due to his dapperness, a Nightmare Amulet, Codex Umbra, or raw Green Caps are recommended to induce insanity for Maxwell
• Wearing	+6.7	This is the most dapper clothing for sanity regain as it lasts for 25 days and restores a large portion of sanity per minute
• Being near the fire while playing as	+≤?	Amount depends on strength of fire, very weak with lighter, this perk can negate nightime sanity loss completely
• Wearing	+3.3	These clothings can replace umbrellas to prevent sanity loss from rain (not for WX-78 as he loses health in the rain)
• Wearing File:Magiluminescense.pngFile:Green amulet.pngFile:Lazy Forager's Amulet.png	+2	The 5 amulets will restore sanity until they are used, making it a slow but effective way of sanity regain
• Wearing	+1.3	Garlands are the cheapest way of increasing sanity, but the worst
• Rain • Wearing	≤-3.3	Sanity drain from rain depends on the precipitation rate
• Wearing • Insanity aura of File:MinoClop.png	-2	For One-Man Band this is the insanity aura  if there are no pig followers
• Insanity aura of	-3	It will only drain sanity if it is fueled, but it will always drain 3 sanity, no matter the fuel level
• Dusk, night and caves	-5	This is the insanity rate in pure evening light. Even If you make a fire, it remains -5/m
• Wearing	-10	Maxwell's sanity bonus means that he recieves +10 sanity per minute
• Wielding	-20	Maxwell's sanity bonus cancels this insanity aura completly
• Insanity aura of	≤-25	Being near Evil Flowers is a very good way of going insane as they will not hurt you
• Wearing and having befriended	-2 + ≤-25×followers	-2 for wearing and -25 for each follower
• Insanity aura of File:Beard Monster.png, ,File:Ghost.png,	≤-40	None of these creatures are a good way to go insane
• Total darkness	-50	As long as you stay just out of the light from your light source, you will lose a lot of sanity without the threat of Charlie
• Insanity aura of	≤-?	Losing sanity around these structures is safe only when nightmare cycle is in "warning" state.
• Insanity aura of	≤-?
• Insanity aura of	≤-100	Fighting these bosses and monsters can make Shadow Creatures appear/go more insane
• Insanity aura of	≤-400	Fighting these bosses can cause Shadow Creatures to attack you as well very quickly

Character Specifics

Monsters drain more sanity when playing as Wolfgang (+10%) and less as Wendy. Willow has less maximum sanity (120) and Wickerbottom has more than average (250). WX-78 has variable amounts of maximum sanity, depending on how much he is upgraded (starting at 100 and can be upgraded to a maximum of 300). Wilson, Wendy, Wolfgang, Woodie and Maxwell all have a maximum of 200 sanity. Wes has 150 sanity. Maxwell's sanity is restored at a rate of 20 points per minute by default.

Wendy (because she loses less sanity in darkness and when near monsters) and Willow (because she can negate nighttime sanity loss when near fire) are characters which have the potential to stay sane longer when compared to other characters if used correctly.

Insanity Effects

• 

  Complete insanity reached on Day 1.

  Lighting starts to become desaturated in overworld and caves. In ruins, lightning brightens instead. ( ≤ 100% sanity) Near total insanity, lighting even dims.
• Mr. Skits starts to appear  ≤ 160
• Eyes will appear in darkness. ( ≤ 60% of max character's sanity)
• The screen starts to shake (nausea). ( ≤ 60% of max character's sanity)
• Shadow watchers and night hands start to appear at night.  ≤ 130
• Crawling Horrors and Terrorbeaks will become visible ( ≤ 100).
• You start to hear the insanity ambience ( ≤ 50% of max character's sanity) but it's so quiet, you can only hear it with headphones or by turning the volume up. It gets louder when your sanity drops.
• Rabbits will turn into beardlings. Bunnymen turn into Beardlords . ( ≤ 40% of max character's sanity)
• You begin to hear whispering. ( ≤ ?% of max character's sanity)
• The screen is surrounded by black tendrils. When insane ( ≤ 30), the tendrils turn red, presumably indicating a headache.
• Crawling Horrors and Terrorbeaks will start to attack ( ≤ 30).
• Your character starts holding his/her head in their hands and nod back and forth.
• In the options you can turn off distortion, resulting in the blurry effect on the edges not playing.

Trivia

• Sanity was first introuduced in the "Insanity!" update.