About Department Store:
Personally I’d recommend the DLC, but ultimately while the concept is cool it does feel like it’s missing something. The game hasn’t really coded in the infection risk from patients, sure if you put a infectious person in the wrong ward everyone is forced to wear masks for a day. But there isn’t really an “outbreak” risk other than staff getting a negative — “infection” status to their mood. The game is such a great concept, but ultimately they haven’t really moved past the core game mechaninics. Which it’d be nice if new DLC’s would properly expand mechanics, give us access to more data. Personally I’d buy the DLC for the concept, it’s kinda fun. But a lot more can be done and that is proven by the fact the publisher is pushing out DLC constantly, which shows they have the time, they’re just wanting to make some £££. Amazing content from an amazing developer, definitely adds a lot to the game and really helps support a developer that truly cares about their game and their community. EDIT: I just want to touch on some aspects people might have expected or wished for with this DLC and why it is a lot better than you might think at first, this DLC can not really be compared to a mod, I would know 😉 A lot of work went into this DLC, a lot of core changes were needed to make various aspects of this DLC to work and game design is not always flexible. Rigidity often results in stability and it is difficult for a small team to build a highly complex API to allow for easy DLC/Mod integration to core elements. This might be why this game is a bit harder to make major changes too and why certain elements might not be as complex as you may wish. Does this DLC fall short? Personally, no, this DLC adds more elements than a mod ever could at the moment, it adds a decent chunk of content for a small price and helps fill the game a little more. If we see another 3 DLC’s that are exactly the same? I’d understand negative reviews but this is a developer that actively works with the modding community and changes their game so modders can add even more (Small games like RimWorld might do the same but massive modding communities like Kerbal Space Program or Stellaris don’t seem to get the time of day from the developers, this is a major factor and will really prolong the life of a game especially when Project Hospital doesn’t have a massive modding community at the moment). So while I’d understand some pushback, I do hope players see how much this developer cares about their game and their community, unfortunately making games isn’t free and there is only so much a developer can do to raise more funds. A DLC goes a long way to helping push this game even further, supporting this developer helps them (and the modders) go even further. I am not suggesting you blindly follow this developer either but if something doesn’t feel right, give them real constructive feedback and do so publicly so other users can see your point of view and help push this game in the direction it needs to stay. These do appear to be developers that will actually take notice to what you have to say.