Theme Hospital 1997

Is it still worth playing?

Bullfrog Productions' 1997 business simulation for MS-DOS and Windows, in which you run a privately owned hospital and cure patients of comical, made up ailments. Each level starts from an empty plot, where you place a blueprint and add doors, windows and furniture, and most rooms have to be researched first. Then the rooms need staff. Doctors, nurses, handymen and receptionists have performance stats, and some rooms need doctors with specialist skills. Patients go to a GP, who diagnoses them or sends them to a diagnosis room. Things go wrong too: emergencies have to be cured within a time limit, and a neglected machine, such as the Inflator, can explode and kill everyone in the room. Each level sets goals for finance, reputation and patients cured, while negative funds or too many deaths fail it. Rooms to place, staff and research still make each hospital a plan to carry out today.