Guide

How to Play Animal Hospital (Anomaly)

A first-person beginner guide to the reception loop, anomaly checks, treatment, and safe admit decisions in Animal Hospital.

By Jim Liu · Last updated 2026-07-03

Last updated 2026-07-03

ⓘ How we know this: our own reconstruction of the anomaly list, put together from public community write-ups. It is not an in-game audit, it is not complete, and it can be wrong. A clear result here is not a guarantee the patient is safe — finish every check yourself.

Our working method

Animal Hospital works best treated as a reception routine first and a horror game second. The safe loop is simple, but it gets stressful because the patient is standing in front of you while the shift timer keeps moving. The rule this site recommends is to slow the desk down until every patient passes the same three checks. We look at the body and face, we take the photo, and we confirm the feed on CCTV. If any one check shows a known anomaly, we reject.

The first check is the window. This is where Appearance anomalies are easiest to catch. Three Eyes, Hollow Face, Human Teeth, Creepy Smile, Googly Eyes and Sharp Teeth, Twitching, and Head Banger all have tells that can be noticed before you touch another tool. There is no reward for being clever when the sign is obvious. A glowing third eye, human-like teeth, or empty sockets means the patient is not getting through the door. The shutter is the correct call.

The second check is the photo. This is where a normal-looking patient can betray itself after the image processes. We compare the picture against what we just saw at the glass. Different In Photo is about changed ears, eyes, colour, or shape. Photo Static is exactly what it sounds like, a photo that comes back distorted. Cursed Photo is worse because it can cost sanity when we look at it. If the image changes the story, we reject.

The third check is CCTV, and it is mandatory: some anomalies are designed to hide from the desk view entirely. Void Body, Deformed Body, Skinwalker, Different Ears, The Starer, Black Eyes, Black Body Red Eyes, and CCTV Twitching belong here. The camera can show a black body, a warped body, a giant mouth, or a patient that turns to stare directly at the feed. When the monitor shows the truth, the patient fails.

After the checks, clean patients go to treatment. The treatment room is not a second chance to identify an anomaly. By then the admit decision is already made. If we send in a bad patient, the run can collapse fast, especially when the team is split and someone is away from the desk. That is why the reception player should call out the result clearly, such as "clean on photo, checking camera" or "reject, void body on feed."

Sanity matters from the first shift. A bad photo, a scare, or a bad interaction can drop the bar. When sanity gets low, our team changes pace. Stop rushing borderline cases, use recovery items when available, and avoid staring at cursed evidence longer than needed. The goal is not to win one dramatic desk call. The goal is to keep enough sanity to survive the next ten calls, because the game punishes teams that let panic set the rhythm.

For new players, the biggest mistake is trusting the first clean view. The animal at the window can look fine while the photo or CCTV exposes it. The second mistake is over-treating every weird movement as new information. Only the anomalies in the database should drive a reject. If the tell is not in our list, we keep checking instead of inventing a new rule mid-shift. That protects the team from fake certainty and from accidental admits.

The beginner routine is one sentence: look, photograph, monitor, then decide. Keep the Anomaly Checker open beside the game and click the sign as soon as you see it. If it returns REJECT, close the shutter. If it returns ADMIT, finish the remaining tabs before you let the patient in. That small delay is worth it, because the site is built for the exact moment when you are unsure and need a fast call.

Quick steps

• Watch the patient at the reception window.
• Take the photo and compare the processed result.
• Check CCTV before admitting the patient.
• Reject any confirmed anomaly with the shutter.
• Send clean patients to treatment and preserve sanity.

FAQ