Theme Hospital

Cartoonish graphics, immediate gameplay and funny soundtrack: this game is both challenging and rewarding, if you are into this genre. Have fun!

Bullfrog/EA Games were synonymous with childhood fun back in the day. One of their most classic titles was Theme Hospital. Here, you'll be building rooms, and designing an efficient layout for your Hospital as you treat a variety of humorous illnesses. The games charm and graphical style hold up perfectly, and any gamer who had a PC back in the late 90's will feel comforted and fuzzy inside as you revisit this all-time classic. There are a few "dumb AI" issues as you get into the later stages of the game but even through some frustration and nit-pickiness I never wanted to shut the game off.

Never have I played a game that is both fun to play, but also educational about the American private healthcare system, portrayed in a funny, comical, cartoonish way. I was only a teenager when this game came out and it was addictive, but it had me thinking? "Wait!.. What? I don't pay for the Nhs? There is hospitals that treat healing like a business?? Scary!" I remember being soo fascinated, yet so naive to the realities of private healthcare, growing up in socialised medicine.. This game helped me to understand in a silly, comical way.. What it was about to later see growing up, that it's just as insane as the game portrays it now and why it's a hot topic amongst American voters. But.. Politics aside.. In the game? You own a space that you must turn into a thriving hospital and most importantly.. Make it profitable. You are playing a campaign where you are given a set of challenges to complete to unlock the next level. Build key buildings, hire staff, Doctors, Nurses, Janitors etc. and treat certain diseases, ensuring you make large amounts of profit to expand and have a high satisfaction level in a given amount of time. Each new level? The challenges get harder, you get more patients, you get new diseases you have to research/cure; and some of the diseases are hilarious, Elvis Syndrome, feeling invisable etc. Failure to cure them builds dissatisfaction or worse? Patients die! You know which ones are dying with the skull symbol above their head .. Send them Away!! They can easily cost you the game. All in all, like Rollercoaster Tycoon, you hire staff, research tecnology, build, treat patients and make lots of money to expand your hospital. Great fun! Highly recommend! The price is a steal!!

Nostalgia is one thing, but really, this game is still great and I can't complain about neither the graphics nor gameplay. Theme hospital ages very well, still one of my favourites!

Good (And Hard) as it ever was