Ticks are an enemy creature introduced in Amateur Surgeon 2's Circus Freak-Out. They later reappear in Amateur Surgeon 4: Re-Generations.
Amateur Surgeon 2's Circus Freak-Out[]
Ticks appeared in Manfredd's surgery and the final surgery of the Ringmaster. The solution to defeat them in this installment was to shake the iPad/IPod device so then the ticks would fly off from their perch. This would leave them vulnerable to the car battery. Ticks could be considered rather dangerous if left flying around for too long, for they would bite the patient, leaving behind small cuts and poison. However, this would allow players to rack up more points. Once killed, the ticks would explode in green and red blood.
The boss "Queen Tick", found in the Ringmaster's surgery, would be hidden in the brain. When located with the Ultrasound 5000 and sliced out with the cutter, she had to be sawed out with the chainsaw. Then the player would have to shake the device to flip the queen over, leaving her body exposed for the car battery.
Amateur Surgeon 4: Re-Generations[]
Ticks have been downgraded in this installment, for now all they do is fly around the body without any further action. However, they do drain a patient's heart rate at a considerably fast pace the longer they're left alive. In order to make a tick move from its perch, the player now has to flicker the lighter over its body. The same must be done for the queen once she has been sawed from her perch. In both installments, the normal ticks take a single hit from the battery to defeat while the queen takes three.