Game: Two Point Campus
Genre: Simulation, Strategy
System: Nintendo Switch (also on Steam, Windows, macOS & Linux)
Developers | Publishers: Two Point Studios | SEGA
Age Rating: US Teen | EU 3+
Price: US $39.99 | UK £34.99 | EU $ 39,99
Release Date: August 16th, 2022
No review code used; I purchased the game myself.
Developed by Surrey-based (UK) Two Point Studios, Two Point Campus is the second game in the Two Point series, the first being the mad and wacky simulation of Two Point Hospital.
Back to School
Two Point Campus, as the name suggests, is a university management game that allows you to construct and run your own hallowed institution of higher learning. First, you’ll want to attract students who’ll pay tuition fees. Then, the better your students perform, the more XP they earn to level up in their chosen course.
The XP then gives you additional funds to enable further university expansion. Of course, you must attract many students and ensure they perform well to keep your finances in the black. Like most simulation games managing your money is always tricky, as students can stop paying tuition fees when they’re unhappy.
Students must Thrive
You’ll be running courses such as Internet History, Virtual Normality and Knight School, where the students wear armour. Your task is to create the right conditions for students to thrive.
You’ll build dorm rooms for the students to sleep in, bathrooms, lecture halls, and a host of other rooms. You also decorate the rooms with rugs and posters to increase your star rating and keep the students happy.
You unlock the next campus on the map once you get a campus up to a one-star rating. At that stage, you can move on to the following campus or choose to stay at the campus you’re building to earn a maximum of three stars. In addition, each new campus offers a fresh challenge and new ideas. There are twelve campuses in the main campaign mode, with a Sandbox mode opening up after you complete a few levels in the campaign mode.
Variety of Classes
There is plenty of variety in the classes your students will take, each with its own zaniness. There’s a spy school, an archaeology school that Indiana Jones fans will love, and much more. You’ll watch student knights strut around in armour or dressed as Wizards in the wizard school, think Hogwarts.
Students take Gastronomy classes where they build mouth-watering concoctions like giant pizzas and enormous pies. Once you’ve unlocked a course on another campus, you can use them on any campus. There is always something to see in the game, and the students are hilarious to watch as they move around the campus.
Similar but Different
At first, when I started to play Two Point Campus, I did think that it was just a reskin of Two Point Hospital. However, as you play more of the game and it opens up some, it’s evident that although there are some similarities between the two games, Two Point Campus is a fresh take on the Two Point theme.
Unlike Two Point Hospital, where your patients come and go from the hospital, on campus, the students stay for the year and return the following year. That gives you more incentive to make your University a three-star haven for the best students.
Build Outdoors
The game also introduces the ability to build outdoors rather than confined inside buildings. At some point, you will run out of space and have to expand by buying a neighbouring plot of land. You can construct a building on the plot or let the game do it for you at a higher cost.
Those of us who have played Two Point Hospital will feel right at home in the game, and for new players, there is a good tutorial explaining the game well to the player. However, the game gets progressively more challenging; the further you go, the less the game holds your hand.
Nevertheless, Two-Point Campus certainly has good depth, especially in the later levels, where you have to start figuring out how to effectively manage your floor space to offer lessons in multiple subjects rather than just focusing on one or two classes.
Claymation Style Visuals
I don’t have any significant issues with the game, there are a few frame rate judders in the Switch version of the game, but overall it runs well. One problem I did have at the start of the game was having to rebuild the same room each time is somewhat repetitive. However, I discovered copy room’ and ‘room templates’ features for each room, so you don’t have to keep rebuilding rooms; this alleviates the issue.
The claymation style visuals are still present, along with the Two Point radio that plays in the background. You’ll find yourself chuckling along with some of the radio announcements. The music is excellent, and the sound effects are all appropriate and well done. The controls on the Nintendo Switch take a little bit of getting used to, but once you do get used to them the controls work as they should.
Conclusion
Two Point Campus is an enjoyable game that will scratch an itch for any management simulation fan. I love clicking on a student or teacher and watching as the camera follows them through their daily business. From power napping clubs to vampire and Goth pupils to student rock gigs complete with laser light shows: there is always something entertaining and fun to see. A fun game and a must-buy for any fan of the simulation and strategy genre.
Final Verdict: Two Thumbs Up 