as benches, fire extinguishers, and plants in the open corridor spaces provided. The player is given time to build the hospital at the start of each level before patients start coming. Patients see a GP in his office who either provides a diagnosis or sends them for further evaluation in a specialised diagnosis room. Once a diagnosis is made, the patient will be sent for treatment. While a few rooms are available at the start of the game, the rest must be researched. Some rooms, such as the Inflator room—where patients with Bloaty Head are treated—contain machines which require regular maintenance by a handyman: if neglected for too long, they will explode, killing all occupants of the room. Doctors must have acquired certain specialist skills to practise in certain rooms, such as the Research room (used to research new rooms and cures, and improve existing ones) and Operating Theatre. There are rooms that only staff use, such as the Staff Room and the Training room, while patients also require certain rooms such as toilet facilities. Diagnosis and treatment cost patients money, and the player can change hospital policy, including the amount of diagnosis patients require. This can be set to over 100 per cent to force patients to have further unnecessary diagnoses. Other policies include when staff can go on breaks and whether they can leave rooms, and loans can be taken out. From time to time, events such as emergencies (in which patients arrive and must be cured within a time limit or they will die), and epidemics (in which a disease spreads rapidly) occur. During the latter, the player can attempt to cover it up by curing all affected patients before a health inspector turns up. If the player fails, they are fined and must face a damaged reputation, a statistic that shows how well the hospital is doing and affects the flow of patients. VIPs may also occasionally ask to tour the hospital; if impressed, the player is granted a cash bonus, a reputation increase, or both. There is an advisor who keeps the player informed about what is going on. Rats may infest the hospital, and the player is able to shoot them with the cursor. Although the player has no direct control over the patients, they have some influence over whether to evict them from the hospital and in determining what to do with them