On Call: Paging Your Board Game Nights
Forget saving the world. In this new cooperative strategy game, the challenge is keeping an overcrowded emergency department from descending into complete chaos.
There are never enough beds, the waiting room is filling up, supplies are running low, and somebody really needs a coffee. Welcome to On Call, a cooperative board game from King and the Pawn Games that puts players in charge of an emergency room where every decision could make the difference between a successful shift and a complete disaster.
Currently on Kickstarter, On Call has already attracted thousands of backers and raised more than 46 times its original funding goal, according to figures reported on 22 October. With the campaign due to close on 29 October, this medical-themed strategy game is certainly getting people talking.
One hospital, one team and far too many patients
Designed by husband and wife team at King and the Pawn Games, On Call is a cooperative game for two to four players, with sessions lasting around an hour. Rather than competing to build the biggest hospital or accumulate the most money, everyone works together to manage an increasingly demanding emergency department.
Players take on specialist roles and coordinate the doctors, nurses and resources needed to keep patients moving through the hospital. New arrivals need assessing, urgent cases require treatment, beds must be made available and infectious patients need to be isolated before the situation gets even worse.
It sounds straightforward enough, until several problems demand attention at once.
Fans of Pandemic will recognise the familiar pressure of trying to contain a growing crisis while working with limited actions and resources. But where Pandemic has players travelling between cities to control outbreaks, On Call brings the challenge into a single hospital, where staffing, room capacity and the order of your actions are crucial.
And just like any good medical drama, there's always the possibility that everything will go wrong just when you think you've got things under control.
Every action counts
The clever part of On Call is how it will handle actions. Players will select numbered action tokens, with each action offering two effects. Some actions are shared across the team, while others are unique to particular characters, making it important to understand everyone's strengths.
You might need to move a doctor into the treatment room, restock medicine, test an unknown patient's condition or get a nurse into the right place before another patient arrives. The problem is that staff can't be everywhere at once. Sending resources to one room might leave another dangerously understaffed.
There is also a catch: once you use an action, you cannot repeat it until you rest. Taking a break restores your available actions and gives you coffee, which can be spent on skill cards to improve your future turns.
Yes, coffee really is part of the strategy. Anyone who has played a long game of Ark Nova or Spirit Island will understand the appeal of having a plan, only to discover that the next few turns require considerably more thought than expected. In On Call, however, the pressure comes from knowing that while you're planning your next move, patients are still arriving.
The game will include around 20 scenarios, each introducing different objectives and challenges. That should give teams plenty of reasons to return to the emergency department and find out whether they've finally learned how to manage a shift without everything going sideways.
Think alike, or prepare for disaster
If your group tends to spend cooperative games debating every possible move, On Call will have an optional mode that could prove particularly interesting.
Limited communication mode allows players to discuss their plans during a morning briefing. Once the shift begins, however, talking stops. Everyone must select actions and rely on a limited set of signals to communicate their intentions.
All the information remains visible, so there's no hidden traitor or secret objective. The challenge is working out whether your teammates are thinking along the same lines as you.
It offers a different kind of tension from games such as The Crew, where players must communicate indirectly to complete shared objectives, or Magic Maze, where everyone has to coordinate under strict communication restrictions. In On Call, the silence represents the difficulty of coordinating an overstretched team when everyone has different priorities and there simply isn't enough time to discuss every decision.
Of course, you can stick with the standard mode if you'd rather talk things through. But for groups who think they're particularly good at reading each other's minds, the limited communication option could provide a memorable challenge.
A different kind of cooperative challenge
Cooperative games have become a familiar part of modern board gaming, from the outbreak management of Pandemic to the fantasy battles of Gloomhaven. What makes On Call stand out is its focus on the everyday logistics of a hospital emergency department.
Victory isn't simply about defeating an enemy or completing a single objective. It's about juggling multiple demands, deciding which problems need attention first and making the best possible use of the staff and supplies available.
The setting also gives the game a distinctive personality. Its animal characters bring some light-hearted charm to what could otherwise be a rather stressful theme, while the constant arrival of patients keeps the pressure firmly on.
For groups who enjoy discussing tactics, combining character abilities and celebrating a perfectly timed team effort, there's plenty here to get excited about. Equally, the limited communication mode offers a way to make familiar cooperative gameplay feel fresh again.
Can your team save the shift?
On Call is currently seeking backers on Kickstarter, with the campaign scheduled to end on 29 October 2026. The game is expected to arrive around August 2027, although delivery estimates can change during production.
With its mix of resource management, specialist abilities, scenario-based challenges and optional communication restrictions, On Call looks set to offer a different take on cooperative strategy.
The real question is whether your group can keep its cool when the waiting room is overflowing, the medicine cabinet is nearly empty and everyone needs to rest at exactly the same time.
There's only one way to find out. Just remember to bring plenty of coffee.
