How to Play Animal Hospital — Shifts, Treatment & Lives

Animal Hospital is a co-op night-shift survival game. Here's the core loop, how treatment works, and how long a run lasts.

The core loop

You work night Shifts at a hospital. Each shift, patients (randomised animals) arrive — you check them in, run diagnostics on the computer, then apply the 1–3 correct treatments shown on the screen above the bed.

You have 3 lives per run. Treating a patient wrong kills them and costs you a life.

How treatment works

After diagnostics (DNA analysis, then diagnostics, then a recovery timer), the screen tells you which treatments the patient needs. Apply exactly those. Advanced rooms add minigames:

• Room 6 (X-ray) — memorise and repeat a 4-colour sequence.
• Room 7 (Heart scan) — tap the icons that appear, avoid the red skulls.
• Room 8 (Surgery) — a 45-second timed treatment with exclusive tools; finishing grants +1 Sanity.

How many shifts are there?

Shifts don't "end" at a fixed number — the game escalates. The first four shifts are tutorials, and every 5th shift after that triggers an Ambulance Event: six patients rush in "On Fire" or in "Critical Condition" with timers you have to beat.

Watch two things at once

While treating patients you must also watch for anomalies (see our anomaly guide) and keep your Sanity above zero (see our sanity guide). Lose all 3 lives or hit 0 Sanity and the run is over.