Sophistication is often a term thought of whenever you talk about well-made simulators, but sophistication may not be what you think of when you play Surgeon Simulator 2013. This little gem can be one of the most entertaining games you've ever played, but it can also be one of the most frustrating if you're not willing to put in a little practice.

About Surgeon Simulator 2013

Surgeon Simulator 2013 is available on Steam for just $9.99. The name of the game is surgery simulation, but don't expect this to be a serious simulator such as the likes of a flight simulator. Instead, it takes inspiration from the principles of the online flash game "QWOP". In QWOP, you are an Olympic runner where you can only move by using the buttons Q, W, O, and P. These buttons move each half of each leg in order to make the runner go forward. At least, that's the idea, but it's much harder than it sounds -- it's quite the silly game.

Surgeon Simulator 2013 is just like QWOP in that you explicitly call every single movement that you want to perform. You can only use one hand (because all surgeons only use one hand, right? Oh wait.), and you can move it by moving your mouse. The hand stays at its maximum elevation automatically, but you can slowly lower your hand by holding the left mouse button. You can hold the right mouse button and move left or right to turn your hand accordingly. You also use the A, W, E, R, and space bar buttons to curl each individual finger for the purposes of grabbing objects.

Gameplay

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When you first launch the game, you'll find yourself at your desk (called the reception area). This also doubles as a practice area, as you have your hand ready to control. The computer screen also reminds you of the controls, and there are various objects on your desk which you can manipulate. It'd be advisable to take this time to try everything out and see how the game reacts to your input, especially if this is your first time playing.

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Once you feel like you're ready to give it a shot, go to your clipboard and choose "Missions". Here you'll find a list of various surgeries that you're slated to perform. At first, you're only cleared to perform the first surgery, which is a heart transplant. Sounds like the perfect first surgery, doesn't it? Sure.

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In no time at all, you switch over to the operating room, where you have your patient all prepared and ready for surgery. The patient has already been cut open (rather largely), but is covered by a cloth which you must remove before you do anything else. To the left and right you have tables set up that contain various tools which you can use for your operation. Of course, there are many different scalpels and other common surgical tools available. But there also some more unusual tools available, such as a small saw, a rotating saw, a hammer, and a drill. They're certainly not typical surgical tools to use, but they're easier to pick up and use than little scalpels. Whether you want to use them is up to you -- if you want to beat the mission, probably not; if you're looking for entertainment or just throwing a fit in frustration, then absolutely.

The mission is successfully completed whenever you have done the specified operation. You have as much time as you possibly need to perform the operation carefully, but a mission can fail if the patient loses all of their blood. If you inflict certain wounds on the patient, they will start losing blood at a constant rate. Once their blood is gone it's game over. The game still has a timer, however, so you can compare completion times with others to see who's better.

Conclusion

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZO10bAn_8M8

If you can't already tell, this game is a lot of fun to play. Again, to sound like a broken record, the game certainly won't be easy, but you'll get a kick out of all the nonsense you can do during your surgeries. The game does offer a lot of missions, and it occasionally gets updated with new ones. In fact, one of the latest updates has included a surgery mission that involves an alien. If this game sounds interesting to you, get it! Steam also has occasional offers where the game is even cheaper.

What's the funnest simulator you've played? Do you like Surgeon Simulator 2013's game mechanics? Let us know in the comments!