Life & Death

Life & Death is a computer game published in 1988 by The Software Toolworks. It is one of the few realistic medical computer games ever released. In the role of a resident abdominal surgeon at fictional hospital Toolworks General, the player must diagnose and treat a variety of maladies including kidney stones, arthritis, appendicitis, and aneuritic aorta. The last two require the player to perform surgery.

A sequel, Life & Death II: The Brain, was published in 1990. In this game, the player is a neurosurgeon.

Modern critics continue to praise the game for its attention to detail and the way it offers significant depth and challenge despite only using one input, the mouse.

Reception

Compute! complimented Life & Death's graphics and sound, stating that the game effectively used CGA's four colors and the PC speaker, and stated that the game's warning to those queasy of blood was accurate.

Life & Death was nominated for Software Publishers Association (SPA) awards in the following categories: