If you've ever wanted to step into the shoes of a doctor saving lives in the ICU, Critical Care offers that experience — minus the stress of medical school.
Created by physicians with a passion for board games, Critical Care invites players to take on the roles of health care professionals balancing patient care, medical complications and hospital emergencies.
“The game actually began as a during pandemic hobby for one of my co designers, Lakshman Swamy,” said Dr. Vincent Chan, UBC alum and co-creator of Critical Care.
Burnt out from working in an ICU during the COVID-19 pandemic, Swamy started to design the game as a way to remind himself why he loved working in an ICU in the hospital. Chan joined the team later, also bringing in his experiences of working in a hospital during the pandemic to the science communication aspect of the game.
“When I joined the team, my goal was to try to come up with a way to try to simplify some of the most common terms that we use in the hospital, especially in critical care medicine, and how we can make that more accessible and make that more fun and engaging,” said Chan.
The game can be played solo or with up to four players. Players work as a team of doctors caring for ICU patients over seven days (rounds). The goal is to collaboratively heal patients and get them out of the ICU before the week is up. But there's a twist: if any patient experiences a "Code Blue" — a life-threatening emergency — the game ends, and everyone loses.
Learning medicine through play
Beyond being a board game, Critical Care has a commitment to education.
The game’s mechanics are rooted in real medical procedures and therapies. And the cards contain descriptions of common ICU interventions like endotracheal intubation, where a tube is placed into the windpipe through the mouth or nose to keep the airway open and give oxygen, medicine or anesthesia.
Chan compared the accessibility of terms in the game to medical TV shows, another way people get exposed to medical jargon.
“The difference is that on a medical TV show, the terms don't necessarily get explained to you,” said Chan, “In the game, you can actually stop at any time and read the descriptions and try to learn more.”
The creators partnered with Sara Merwin, author of The Informed Patient: A Complete Guide to a Hospital Stay, to help ensure the game’s language remained accessible without compromising on accuracy.
Chan highlighted the glossary on the Critical Care website, which contains definitions for all terms used in the game, as a resource players can trust for explanations of medical jargon as well as a source of knowledge for individuals in the hospital.
An inclusive approach to health care
Critical Care works to represent the full experience of working at a hospital, including the roles of doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists, dieticians and environmental workers.
“For people to be exposed to how many people are involved in the care of a patient is just an amazing concept that hopefully we can bring to the world and inspire other people to know about the different fields within medicine too,” said Chan.
The game also touches on palliative care — a field of medicine focusing on patient pain relief and comfort in cases of serious illness — showing that not every ICU case ends in recovery. In some scenarios, players focus on guiding patients to hospice care for more comfortable end of life care.
“[Palliative care is] actually a separate pathway we've created in the game for you to also, 'win', because we think that's just as important a concept as taking care of medical illness itself,” said Chan.
In hospital settings where doctors and other medical professionals may struggle to explain medical concepts and procedures, Chan hopes Critical Care can bridge the gap and make what goes on in health care more accessible to all.
“It's a fun way to learn medical content in a more simplified and engaging manner.”
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