Today we’re going to talk about the new hit game Animal Hospital on Roblox and dive into what parents can expect from it. I’ll have my daughters Q & A first and then follow up with my take on some of the heavier points of the game. This article isn’t the everything about Animal Hospital or anything like that, it’s just a simple look at a new game you might be unsure about.
Q & A with my 12 Year Old
Q: What is Animal Hospital?
A: Animal Hospital is a multi-player and solo game.
Q: How would you explain it to someone whose never played?
A: Animal Hospital is a game where you have to treat patients, avoid anomalies etc.
Q: What kinds of illnesses, injuries, or problems do you have to treat?
A: There are all kinds of illnesses, off the top of my head, dehydration, dried eyes, low sugar, flu, stomach ache, headache, bleeding, bruises, fever, rash. There is also a sickness called “Canadian” where you have to give the patient maple syrup.
Q: Does the game actually teach you anything about animals or taking care of them?
A: No.
Q: What is sanity and how do you keep it up while playing?
A: Sanity is a makeshift health bar where you have to get “healing items” such as chocolate and coffee. When you lose sanity things start to change. Such as the posters changing colors or different images. If you lose too much sanity you die.
Q: Are there any special characters that need specific things for the game to progress?
A: You don’t need this to progress but it is good for the story or lore. If you give Barney coffee eventually he will give you another coffee machine which helps significantly when you reach the higher shifts.
Related: Q & A With my 7-Year-Old: A Parent’s Guide to Huggy Wuggy
Q: What age do you think Animal Hospital is best for?
A: Probably around 8 and up. If you’re sensitive to hospital stuff I don’t recommend it. Although my little sister plays and she’s only almost six. You don’t have to read that much to know what’s going on. A lot of it is symbols and matching pictures.
Q: Who is your favorite character in Animal Hospital, and why?
A: Personally secret agent because he’s an overall good class and I love his design. He starts with a gun in his inventory which helps a lot with long shifts and getting rid of anomalies. But don’t waste all your bullets because you only get 20.
Q: What are the classes and is there a benefit to any that you like best?
A: Classes are different roles you can play as such as Head Nurse which has an extra slot which helps significantly when you reach higher shifts. With the psychologist you start out with 100% sanity helping with people who need it most. Because they require nothing to top up their sanity the coffee is free to take to those with less of it.
Q: Are the anomalies scary? How do you know when an anomaly is trying to check in?
A: Personally anomalies aren’t very scary but they can shock you if you don’t know what’s going on. There are a couple ways to check if a patient is an anomaly. You can check the security cameras, if they are distorted that means they are one, they can also just stare back at the camera or appear as a void of black. You can check to see if the picture matches or not.
Q: Are any of the patient check in rooms harder than the others?
A: Yes, such as room 8, 6 and 7. Room 8 is a time challenge where you have to perform surgery by giving the patient all of the items that appear on the screen.
Q: How many players can play at each time?
A: You can have up to four players in a game at a time. You can also just play it by yourself.
Q: Is it something the whole family can play?
A: It depends on if your family is busy or like to play games.
Q: Do you need Robux to enjoy the game, or can you have fun without spending anything?
A: Robux isn’t needed but it is nice to have some so that you can get items while the game progresses. You can also buy some classes and skins.
Q: What is the most frustrating part of the game?
A: Probably just getting to the higher shifts. Or teammates that don’t listen.
Q: When you progress how much harder does it get? What shift gets the worst?
A: There is no specific shift that is the worst, but at shift four you get introduced to the ambulance where all the patients run into the hospital. You have to spot check them when they run in to make sure none are anomalies. The only thing you can check to see if they are anomalies is the camera or other visual clues like faces with hollowed eyes or three eyed ones.
Q: If you had to rate Animal Hospital from 1 to 10, what would you give it and why?
A: I would give it personally a 9.5 because it has room to progress and it’s a fun fast-paced game. It’s one you don’t get bored with and they also have updates. One came out today.
Q: Finally, what tips do you have for a new player?
A: Make sure to treat patients right and make sure your sanity doesn’t get under 20%. If you kill a patient a ghost will haunt you and you lose sanity faster.
Mom’s Take
Animal Hospital has honestly been a blast to play with my kids. I have one 12 year old as you know, but I also have a 6 year old who plays. I’ve broken down some things below that I thought were the questions other parents would most ask, but if you have anymore please hit me up on bluesky.
Mom’s View on the Anomolies
From what I’ve seen the characters aren’t too scary, the anomaly’s I mean. There are some jump scare moments but nothing crazy and they’re usually only attributed with a sound and a quick flash on the screen. That’s not including the eye monster in the “Don’t Look Up” rooms though. Those are scary and stick to the ceilings. What I don’t like or what I find creepy personally is when you check the camera’s for the animals checking in and they’re either looking back at you with creepy eyes or all distorted. The ones inside the hospital, for example the stalker and the under the bed monster aren’t that bad except they come with an added sound that makes it scarier if you play with the volume up.
Mom’s look at Gameplay
The mechanics are simple enough. You have the left stick to move and the right stick to look around. There are markers for what to press as well as highlighting of the games next moves. So say for example I took blood from an animal to test in the machine, after I poke the animal the blood sample machine highlights itself blue. Then the sample analyzer will glow. Then you get your info on what ails them and you get the remedies from the shelves in the hall.
The remedies are shown on a big screen behind the patient so that you can match the pictures with the patients illnesses. Which makes it great for my six year old who can’t read yet. She knows her letters but she’s not quite past identifying symbols and some sight words. So having those images for her to know what she needs exactly is a great way to get her involved in the game. She also likes to check in the anomalies and shoot the ones that try to check in even though she could just close the shutters. But I just learned that shooting an anomaly is a great way to get sanity too.
What is it like playing with the kids with an age gap of 6 years?
It’s actually very nice to play with both kids at the same time. They get along just fine and are able to communicate who has what room with what patient etc. There’s only a few rules that I’ve seen them implement. One is they have to switch off on who’s checking in patients since they both like to. I mean I like to too, but as a mom sometimes you just have to step back and let them handle it.
Also the character Ratthew is my 6 year old’s favorite so when he comes to check in you have to let her check him in and treat him. Other than that and the obvious meltdown you’re going to have with the younger one when it’s time to stop playing it’s a pretty fun experience. Also re: meltdowns, she is Audhd so we’re currently teaching her how to manage her emotions, so we’re working on it but it takes a while. If you know you know.
Mom’s take on whether or not it takes robux to play
The thing about this is it DOES NOT cost robux to play the game. You can play for free and there are a few starting classes that you can choose from to start. You earn Animal Coins in Roblox’s Animal Hospital by treating patients (2 coins each), preventing anomalies (0.5 coins each), admitting visitors (0.5 coins each), completing shifts and achievements. But if you want to unlock classes and skins and don’t have enough coins saved up you can spend robux to gain coins. That’s where it becomes difficult because there are some super cute variants in the game.
It is also par for the course to say that if you’re kid likes to change their avatar’s clothes, there are a number of Animal Hospital items in the shop they will probably ask you for. I have already bought the little one the ratthew character model and she’s gotten a few other Animal Hospital accessories as well.
So basically no you don’t have to pay, might have some whining, and might have some pretty strong cases pled to you as to why they need these things. All typical kid stuff.
Mom’s final judgement
As a game that I can engage with my children playing? 10 out of 10. It’s rare that I find a game as nice as this that I can play with both kids. Not only that but you don’t really get bored. At one point the game gets pretty intense, when the ambulance arrives things get a little crazy. But that’s good. It’s also teaching my older one management skills because she’s calling out who does what in each room when there is a critical patient. It’s funny to think that kids today will gain experience in the workplace just by playing games.
I fully recommend playing this with your kids if you’re trying to gently nudge them into the horror genre of games.
