Two Point Campus, the campus management simulator game by Two Point Studios, brings in the aspects of its predecessor and adds new things that make it unique and enjoyable to play. This lets it have its own feel and personality despite being technically the same game, but that’s what made Two Point Campus more enjoyable.
In case you’re still on the fence, here are my full thoughts on Two Point Campus.
My Elegant Academia
As a school administrator, your job is simple (or so I thought) — it’s to make a fine academy that will shape students to become outstanding honor graduates in their three-year courses. To achieve this, you have to set up a plan to make facilities that will accommodate the studies of the future Scientist, Cook, Knights, Clowns, and Wizards of our society. On top of that, you must make them relaxed and feel comfortable, for no student can focus on studying on a dirty campus. All this while having a small budget that you must turn into a profit in a limited time. Sounds simple right? Yes, it is simple, at least in the first few stages of the game.
Now, let’s talk about goals first.
Two Point Campus is all about meeting the personal goals of your students and your own goal to make a bunch of cash because education ain’t free y’know. To make money out of students, they must enroll in your Academy, requiring you to have that specific course in your curriculum for that school year.
This is the easy part as every course is readily available at each stage. The challenging part is how to increase your student satisfaction to keep them on your campus. You have to put the necessary stuff for their studies, hygiene, or things that just makes them happy. Increasing their satisfaction means more money for you. It could be quite tricky at first, but most of their requests are sent to your inbox you just have to plan out which request you’ll prioritize first.
Just keep in mind that some requests can affect either the hygiene or health rating of your campus, so try not to put random stuff around the campus. My advice: prioritize events and homework accessories since those will help students to socialize and pass their subjects, and they will pay themselves essentially during the end of the month.
Running an Academy ain’t cheap
It appears that I kept talking about the budget because without money you won’t be able to buy stuff and give salaries to your employees. And compared to Two Point Hospital, it is much easier to go under the red in this game, and that hits me harder than anything else.
Here, everything will cost you just to deliver that quality education that these students need. From your monthly rent to employees’ wages, money flows like sand in your palm as if it was a reflection of real life when it comes to running a business, so asking for financial assistance from institutions is a huge help. Plus, like what was mentioned above, keeping your students happy will turn into profit so you’ll eventually get to pay your debt. Perhaps this is the most overwhelming part of the game, but once you get through this, you’ll find yourself enjoying your progress.
Progression can be hectic but never overwhelming
Progressing in Two Point Campus is never boring and is well-paced as it takes its time to let you learn the ropes on how to properly manage the necessary stuff to run your Campus. There are objectives for you to make your Campus a three-star rating academy, making it a good way to challenge yourself.
On top of these, how you customize your school grounds and meeting these objectives unlocks more stage areas for you to build yet another Campus for you to manage. The only difficult thing that may impede your progress is how to learn some specific needs that require you to check out some graphs that, thankfully are not hard to look at since the graphs are presented in a simple UI. Though most of the time, the in-game assistant will remind you what is lacking on your Campus, so the game itself has your back.
Find your space here
But perhaps the biggest highlight of these types of games is their customization. It is always so endearing to have the freedom to create and Two Point Campus nails it. The easy drag and drop controls in the PC help a lot to make it feel natural. It is much easier to manage spaces and decorate stuff with the mouse and keyboard.
Not only will you have to decorate rooms on your campus, but you also have to manage spaces such as where to build rooms in a building, since it would be a problem if you don’t have a proper space to build the necessary classroom for students to study. Placing items can be tricky sometimes, so you have to properly organize spaces inside rooms too. Progressing further will also help you unlock more items, adding attractiveness to your campus and widening your options to decorate.
What I like the most about Two Point Campus’ customization is even the school ground itself can now be decorated. You can now place items like benches or move pre-existing items around the school grounds. It’s a nice addition since it furthers the customization options unlike in the previous game which is limited only to the interior building. It can feel a bit repetitive for every new area with the routine of placing and decorating rooms that can be a bit tedious, but thankfully, you can save templates to ease it up. But again managing your spacing can be quite challenging if you’re opening a new school.
This Radio is Groovy
The relaxing radio is back with its wonderful tracks to help you chill during your long hours of managing your Academia. Combine that with the Aardman-like character design, you will not get tired of the shenanigans happening on your screen. Although the humor thrown by the PA can fly over your head; it still adds that trademark quirkiness that Two Point studios have in their brand of games.
Final Verdict – 8.5/10
Two Point Campus is definitely a great improvement from its predecessor as it gives a proper challenge while having a nice pace so as not to overwhelm players with information on how things work. It still delivers its comedic tone from its aesthetics and choice of sound that will give you a great time. I just wish that the customization could get even options. Hopefully, we will get future updates, but it can wait since I’m already invested in making my elegant campus even in the game’s current state.
This game was reviewed with a PC game code provided by the publisher.