The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan is a horror themed video game played from a third-person perspective in which single or multiple players assume control of five different characters that become trapped on board a ghost ship. Players are required to make decisions based on their character's "head" or their "heart", or can choose for them to do nothing, while selecting between different options when interacting with other characters. The selection of options are stylised as a compass, which is both representative of the characters' "moral compass" and reflective of the game.