Dreamjob Kid's Doctor - My Little Hospital Review

Ah, the glamorous life of a pediatrician. Spending all day calming panicked parents, treating typical bumps and scrapes, and occasionally dealing with a more legitimate medical issue like Chicken Pox. I suppose it might make for a fairly rewarding experience in the real world, but in iOS Game World it’s not all that exciting.

Dreamjob Kid’s Doctor - My Little Hospital is a kind of simulation of what happens when a med student fresh out of school takes over an aging doctor’s private practice. Things start out slowly with only one examination room, a treatment room, and a few chairs for waiting patients. Players will spend the bulk of their early moments simply diagnosing problems such as when a baby is teething or if a child is overexerting their muscles, then either prescribing treatments or referring them to other doctors with a larger pool of resources. Little by little the cash starts to build up, and before long budding pediatricians will have inoculations, stethoscopes, bandages, and all other manner of supplies to deal with the “ouchies.”

There’s a steady, almost soothing flow to My Little Hospital’s progression. Patients come in, they’re directed to a seat in the waiting room, then directed to the proper office once it’s free. From there players must decipher their problems via a checklist of questions, then either treat things directly (i.e. removing a bee’s stinger or rubbing ointment on a bad sunburn) or select a series of treatments from a different list and sign off on it. Then they can use the money earned to buy more medical supplies or expand the practice with better furnishings and extra rooms.

The problem with all of this, aside from the somewhat grating and always constant sound effects, is that there’s no real challenge to any of it. Diaper rash is diaper rash, and it boils down to the same exact gameplay process each and every time it comes up. And it will come up often. In fact, there’s very little variation to patients’ medical problems throughout. New diseases and complications might appear steadily as players gain experience, but by the time it happens they’ll already be able to handle pretty much everything else on autopilot. I hate to say it but being a virtual children’s doctor just isn’t that much fun.

It might help to try and view Dreamjob Kid’s Doctor - My Little Hospital as more of a time management game than a simulation, but even then it’s kind of middle-of-the-road. It can be strangely hypnotic for a while though, even if the overall experience feels somewhat sterile.