Two Point Campus
When Two Point Hospital was announced before its release in 2018, I remember it was met with fairly mixed reactions at the time. It was of no fault to the developers but because of unfortunate circumstances. It was labeled as a surprise new game via SEGA and many had assumed it was a revival of one of their IPs, including a "Sega Dreamcast mini" of all things. What Two Point Hospital really was, however, was a spiritual successor to Theme Hospital, a game the devs at Two Point Studios worked on. The sim game was a success and a college spinoff was in the works with Two Point Campus.
I hadn't played the original Two Point Hospital but from looking at gameplay footage I was treated to a hospital building sim that didn't take itself seriously. It reminded me of the older titles in The Sims series where comic relief and ease of attention to detail helped players ease into the genre. Based in the town of Two Point County, players will take the reigns of building a campus to make students come from all over the world to attend. Armed with 500k, a Scientology class, and a dream, the player gets to work immediately.
The game's tutorial doesn't bog down the player nor does it feel like it's adding extra objectives to do outside of what it gives you. An example of what I'm talking about is when I covered Jurassic World Evolution 2. Sure you build a park of dinosaurs by neutralizing and hunting them down. Then you were expected to maintain the dinosaurs, ensuring fights didn't break out on your watch and drive a Jeep to inspect them closely.
In Two Point Campus, your goal is to keep money flowing in by ensuring that the campus staff and students are happy. There are no "bonus gameplay" elements, just simply point and click to build and maintain establishments. Unfortunately, the students seem to be as automated as one would expect them to be. I mean, they have to study and pass right?
Hygiene takes a back seat to knowledge if it means passing the class. That said, adding facilities like a shower room, bathroom, and dormitories will help remind the students of basic living priorities as well as keep their morality high. Maintaining the happiness of the staff is also important just as students need something to relax. Student and staff lounges are important to ensure everyone does their job properly.
Libraries are useful to increase the student's studious levels, which in turn increases their grades. The better your campus is maintained, the more plots are open and the more students are enrolled. There's an advice tracker that helps players maintain their goals and prevent them from being overwhelmed.
The in-game time for Two Point Campus moves considerably fast as a year is finished in about 30 minutes. This means that players will always need to keep track of certain events in real time. If the campus is dirty, the player may need to higher more janitors to pick up the pace. Other things like adding a waste bin will help considerably as it will ensure students clean up after themselves. Basic necessities like a sink and a hand dryer help tremendously although things are prone to breaking down.
It's up to the player to keep track of these while class is in session. Overall, it's rare for me to praise games of this genre as I feel it's too redundant or too difficult to get involved in. Thankfully, Two Point Campus offers enough leniency to bring players of all kinds to enjoy life on campus. From a "building campus" perspective and not necessarily an "attend classes" one.
Two Point Campus is available on Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, Sony PlayStation 4, Sony PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Series S