Press kit

Code Blue Idle — a medical idle game where one outpatient clinic becomes a hospital that runs itself. Built by a one-person studio.

This page is the canonical press kit. Last updated 28 August 2026.

Fact sheet

Title	Code Blue Idle
Developer	Sulcus Games (one person)
Platform	Windows
Price	$7.99 USD
Release	Coming soon — date to be announcedOut now
Genre	Idle / incremental / management
Engine	Electron + React + TypeScript
Languages	English
Steam	store.steampowered.com/app/4686090
Contact	eli@sulcusgames.com
Community	Discord · @sulcusgames.bsky.social

The pitch

Code Blue Idle is an idle hospital simulator with depth. You start with a single outpatient clinic and grow into a medical center that runs itself — eight departments, seventy patient cases, dozens of upgrades, a research tree, a skill system.

Where the genre usually peaks at watching numbers go up, Code Blue Idle adds seven scripted endgame scenarios that gate prestige: paused decision flows where the game stops, hands you a preparation budget and a developing hospital crisis, and asks you to choose. Excellence outcomes unlock named consultants who persist across every future run — the only thing in the game that compounds past a prestige loop.

Features

8 departments — Outpatient Clinic, Emergency Department, Operating Room, ICU, Pediatrics Ward, Psychiatric Unit, Specialty Center, Rehabilitation Center
70 patient cases with mechanically distinct treatment paths
47 upgrades across the hospital
30 live events that buff, penalise, or hand you a choice
7 prestige tiers, each gated by a scripted endgame scenario
7 endgame scenarios — preparation budget, three decision phases, Excellence / Pass / Fail outcomes
17 named consultants — 7 unlocked through scenario Excellence outcomes, 10 hireable during normal runs. Once earned they persist across every prestige.
8 hospital specialisations chosen at prestige — General Hospital, Level I Trauma Center, Academic Research Hospital, Community Health Network, Specialist Referral Center, Children's Hospital, Integrated Mental Health Center, Rehabilitation & Recovery Network
7 skills with case mastery — Clinical Medicine, Diagnosis, Procedures, Surgery, Critical Care, Pharmacology, Administration
Research tree, 31 nodes, opening case complexity and unlock paths
Daily goals with scaling rewards, and offline progress with a return summary

Design notes

Idle, but with depth. The reference points are Melvor Idle and NGU Idle: long pacing targets, real strategic decisions, and a medical theme accurate enough to feel real without being a textbook. The endgame scenario system is the differentiator — it puts narrative decision points into a genre that usually rewards purely numerical optimisation.

The studio

Sulcus Games is one person. The developer is a practicing physician who built this on nights and weekends. Real name and clinical affiliations are not public; happy to talk craft and design, not identity.

A sulcus is the groove between two folds of the cerebral cortex.

Quotes

I wanted a hospital idle that respected the medical side without being a quiz. Code Blue Idle is what I couldn't find on Steam, so I built it. — Sulcus Games

The endgame scenarios are the part of the game I'm most nervous about and proudest of. They're not boss fights. They're decisions you make when the game freezes and asks you what kind of hospital you actually want to be. — Sulcus Games

Assets

Screenshots and capsule art, free to use in coverage. Originals at higher resolution on request.

The Departments screen with the Intensive Care Unit selected, showing live stats and an active event. — Departments / ICU

A Chest Pain Workup case selected, showing payout, treatment time, complication risk and the Treat Patient button. — Core loop

The research tree, 8 of 31 nodes complete. — Research tree

The Prestige screen showing the path to a fully autonomous hospital, the requirement for the next prestige, the specialization choice, and six upgradeable permanent bonuses. — Prestige screen

Logo and capsule art: wordmark · header capsule · main capsule · icon

Trailer: download MP4 — also embedded on the home page.

System requirements

OS	Windows 10 64-bit or later
Processor	Dual-core 2 GHz
Memory	4 GB RAM
Graphics	Integrated graphics with OpenGL 3.3
Storage	~400 MB

Worth knowing

No microtransactions, no DLC at launch, no battle pass, no advertising
No multiplayer, and no online requirement to play
English only at launch; localisation is being considered based on demand
No real patient data, real hospital names, or real clinical cases depicted verbatim

Content notes

The game depicts medical scenarios including chest compressions, surgical procedures, mental-health treatment and end-of-life care. The tone is informative rather than graphic — no blood or gore visuals, and no depiction of identifiable real people or institutions.

Review keys and interviews

Email eli@sulcusgames.com with a link to your channel, publication, or curator page. Replies occasionally take a day or two because of the day job; every message gets read.

— Sulcus Games