How to heal colonists in Rimworld Console Edition

Rimworld is a cruel game wherever you play it, but the control scheme in the console version makes it particularly difficult to understand how to perform even the most basic tasks. The game’s tutorial only gives you the bare minimum amount of knowledge required to survive, meaning you’ll figure many things out through trial and error. This guide explains how to heal colonists in Rimworld Console Edition, so yours don’t die from a rat attack or hitting their thumb with a hammer.

Related: How to build a basic killbox in Rimworld – Killbox design ideas

How to heal colonists

To heal your colonists in Rimworld Console Edition, you need first to construct a bed. Any bed will work, so if you’ve already built a few as part of your main base, you can use one of them for now. You need to select the bed and then press the Interact prompt, which is square on PlayStation. This brings up a new mini menu of options. The one you need to select is Hospital Bed. By clicking on this option, you’ll turn the bed blue and designate it as the place where all colonists can receive medical treatment.

Once you’ve set your medical bed up, select the injured colonist and Draft them. Then select the medical bed and have them rest until they’re fully healed. This will cause them to sleep or lie in bed until they’re well, meaning you’ll be down a colonist in the meantime, but they won’t pass away as a result of a rat bite or something equally silly.

You can instruct other colonists to tend to their injured friends, but it’s best to always have healing as a high priority on your work assignment screen. Ensure that at least one colonist has the Doctor work task set to 4 when a colonist is injured, or no one will ever get around to giving them the care they need. Severe injuries may require an operation. These can only be performed by skilled colonists, and even then, they can go wrong and cripple your colonist further. Sometimes it’s better to leave an injury alone and let someone heal by themselves. As you progress through the game, it’s a good idea to build a hospital so that you’re ready for the fallout of any encounters with major factions nearby.