THEME HOSPITAL BY BULLFROG PC
THEME HOSPITAL BY BULLFROG SIMULATOR
THEME HOSPITAL BY BULLFROG WINDOWS

The game was re-released on GOG.com in 2012 and Origin in 2015, and the PlayStation version was released on the PlayStation Network in Europe in 2008, Japan in 2009, and North America in 2010. A Sega Saturn version was in development, but cancelled. Theme Hospital was a commercial success, selling over 4 million copies worldwide, and was ported to the PlayStation in 1998. The game received a generally positive reception, with reviewers praising the graphics and humour in particular. Multiplayer support with up to four players was added in a patch.

Designers originally planned to include four distinct gameplay modes corresponding to historical time periods, but this was dropped due to time pressures on the team. Peter Molyneux and James Leach came up with the idea of creating a Theme game based on a hospital, but Molyneux was not directly involved in development due to his work on Dungeon Keeper. The game is noted for its humour, and contains numerous references to pop culture. Build and manage the best and most profitable. It combines the same crazy humor and fast-paced gameplay of its predecessor, but features hi-res SVGA graphics and much more complex and realistic AI. The game is the thematic successor to Theme Park, also produced by Bullfrog, and the second instalment in their Theme series, and part of their Designer Series. Theme Hospital is the latest brain-child of the team that brought you Theme Park.

THEME HOSPITAL BY BULLFROG WINDOWS

Lecturer in Leadership and Human Resources Ph.D.Theme Hospital is a building developed by Bullfrog Productions and published by Electronic Arts in 1997 for MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows compatible PCs in which players design and operate a privately owned hospital with the goal of curing patients of fictitious comical ailments. Learning and Organisational Development Specialist, Simulated environments of course come with the added benefits of replayability and the ability to introduce novel challenges in a safe way – like if your simulated hospital falls victim to an earthquake!ĭoes that mean I was moulded into an effective HR manager by deciding whether to provide bonuses, pay rises and enhanced training to Theme Hospital doctors to avoid resignations? Absolutely!ĭoes this mean that playing a surgery simulation makes me qualified to perform open heart surgery? Definitely not, although clinical simulation is an essential part of surgery training.Īs the world of business simulations and serious games becomes more accessible for unlocking all of our future potential, May the Flow be with you. a state of Flow is achieved) can be just as good as the real thing in terms of skills development. You start with an empty building and the goal is to design and operate a hospital.Ī growing body of research would suggest that simulated activities which are immersive in nature (i.e.

THEME HOSPITAL BY BULLFROG SIMULATOR

Theme Hospital is a humoristic hospital management simulation game developed by Bullfrog Productions and published by Electronic Arts in 1997. Theme Hospital is a building simulator developed by Bullfrog Productions and published by Electronic Arts in 1997 for MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows compatible PCs in which players design and operate a privately owned hospital with the goal of curing patients of fictitious comical ailments. Yet, for somebody who later spent years in senior management positions in hospitals, many of the management challenges can be eerily realistic.Ĭlick here for a nostalgic hospital visit: The game will also benefit from the vast experience of members of the development team, who worked at Bullfrog, Lionhead and Mucky Foot. In practice, the diseases patients present with are comically whacky, such as ‘corrugated ankles’ ‘golf stones and ‘3rd-degree sideburns’. We were also unaware of the benefits this would lead to in terms of strategic thinking, prioritization skills, and resource management.įor anybody who has not (yet!) played the classic 90’s video game Theme Hospital, the premise is simple: you are a Hospital Administrator tasked with ensuring your hospitals (and patients) survive and thrive through waves of challenges. As young people we played these games simply for fun, blissfully unaware of how the game mechanics impacted the reward centers in our brains making all of this so enjoyable. If you are anything like me you spent much of your youth immersed in virtual worlds and simulations, playing video games such as Theme Hospital, The Sims, Harvest Moon, Mass Effect, and Fallout.

THEME HOSPITAL BY BULLFROG PC

But where does this thinking come from? More importantly, does this mean that losing all concept of time in front of your PC or games console can make you a management pro? Increasingly advancements in technology and pedagogical thinking point to considerable rewards associated with serious games and simulations for developing business skills. How could spending hours sitting in front of your games console be good for you?

Theme hospital by bullfrog