Two Point Studios’ spiritual successor to Theme Hospital will introduce new scenarios, including managing a state-funded hospital.
For a thorough look at Two Point Hospital’s first scenario, check out our preview.
Theme Hospital was a decidedly capitalistic endeavour. Patients were easy marks, paying hand over fist for diagnoses and treatments that they potentially didn’t even need. Profits were used to expand the hospital, leading to ever greater profits. But with Two Point Hospital, creative director Gary Carr and technical director Ben Hymers wanted to introduce new challenges, such as facilities with space and equipment restrictions, and a hospital with a budget.
Speaking with PCGamesN, Hymers said the latter will be “like a state-run hospital, like an NHS company”. You’ll be issued a budget, and will have to make sacrifices to equipment and staff in order to get the job done. “You’re not going to get senior, superstar, rockstar consultants coming anywhere near you”, Carr explained. “You can pay them, but that’s your budget, and then you can’t afford the machines they need”.
It’s “a crazy thing for balance, because it’s a whole different mechanic”, says Hymers, but it’s part of a broader effort to be more than just a remastered version of Theme Hospital. “We’re trying put in these scenarios which changes it up, so you don’t think ‘this is the same game’”, adds Carr.
Are you excited to approach a business sim like a bureaucrat, rather than a businessperson? Let us know.