Theme Hospital

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Description

Theme Hospital is a level-based hospital management simulation where players have to start on an empty building, and then assemble rooms with all kinds of material, from desks and file cabinets for the general diagnosis to the expensive ultra-scanners and x-rays to diagnose such bizarre diseases such as Bloaty Head, Slack Songue or Alien DNA, and treat them with with even more bizarre machines like an Head Inflator or a DNA fixer. There several additional rooms, such as a staff room for your employees to rest, a toilet so that patients don't have to relieve themselves in the corridors, a research department to get the most advanced diagnostic and treatment technologies and a training room where consultants can teach a thing or two to rookies, making them capable doctors. The size and layout of each room can be set by the player, according to the available space. In addition to rooms, the player must provide radiators, seating for patients and drink machines.

However, rooms don't run by themselves. Most diagnostic and clinics can work with regular doctors, but others like the operating theater and the research room require specialized staff while the ward, pharmacy and the fracture clinic require an attending nurse. At the same time, the hospital can't run without handymen cruising around the hospital to water up dry plants, clean up litter and vomit (after all, people go there because they are sick) and fix machines, while receptionists direct patients to the proper rooms.

As levels advance, the player faces increasingly harder situations: VIP visits, emergencies, epidemics and earthquakes, which can either take a toll on reputation or on the bank account. On the other hand, as more and more equipment is required, additional plots of land are available for purchase in later maps.

Screenshots

Alternate Titles

• "Частная клиника" -- Russian spelling

Part of the Following Groups

• Electronic Arts' Theme series
• Genre: Simulation - Medical

User Reviews

"Doctor required in inflator room..."	Windows	Paul Varley (13)
Starts fun, then gets too hard to enjoy	Windows	kvn8907 (180)
Very simple, but still highly addictive!	Windows	Reborn_Demon (124)
One of the best management sims out there	Windows	Mike Hanson (284)
Bullfrog getting everything right	DOS	Martin Smith (63209)
well, what can you say really?	DOS	Michelle (163)
It all started like a game...	DOS	Accatone (5186)
This one is a great game.	Windows	Tomer Gabel (4416)
Great Game Play...annoying sounds	Windows	Horny-Bullant (56)

The Press Says

Jeuxvideo.com	PlayStation	Sep 17, 2009	17 out of 20	85
PC Games (Germany)	DOS	Mar, 1997	81 out of 100	81
PC Player (Germany)	Windows	Apr, 1997		80
Computer Gaming World (CGW)	DOS	Aug, 1997		80
Adrenaline Vault, The (AVault)	Windows	May 25, 1997		80
Power Play	Windows	Mar, 1997	78 out of 100	78
JeuxVideoPC.com	Windows	Aug 22, 2006	15 out of 20	75
Reset	DOS	Jun, 1997	7 out of 10	70
IGN	PlayStation	Apr 15, 1998	7 out of 10	70
All Game Guide	DOS	1998		50

Forums

Topic	# Posts	Last Post
Purchase Steroids	1	rubi mathus Aug 11, 2007
Theme Hospital Classic	5	Indra was here (18578) Jul 26, 2007

Trivia

Cheats

Like Theme Park, if a player cheats the game makes a point on telling everyone that, but instead of just displaying a pop-up box, the announcer can be heard saying "Warning: a cheat is running the hospital" and "Hospital administrator is cheating", among others.

Custom music

It's possible to play custom midi files in Theme Hospital's jukebox using the executable sound\midi\hospmidi.exe under the installation directory. Look for more information in the readme file located in the same directory.

Diseases

According to producer Mark Webley, originally the game was going to use real ailments and diseases. However, it was pointed out that this would mean dealing with a serious subject, with the potential to offend someone, so the design switched to include the comical diseases.

References

In the intro, some characters from other Bullfrog games can be spotted; a Horned Reaper from Dungeon Keeper and a Eurocorp Agent from the Syndicate series. A doctor can also be seen playing Dungeon Keeper on his PC.

If these Bullfrog product tie-ins aren't enough, the arcade cabinet placed at the staff room plays no other than Hi-Octane.

Information also contributed by Accatone, Luis Silva, Yeah No, and Zovni

Related Web Sites

• Theme Hospital clinic -- this sites aim is to help people play the game
• Wikipedia: Theme Hospital -- Information about Theme Hospital at Wikipedia