From the artist of Prison Architect, here Academia: School Simulator, a new management software that has long since landed on Steam in Early Access and finally released in its definitive form (although there is no lack of opportunity for patches and further evolutions, at least according to the developers).
For anyone who already knows the aforementioned Prison Architect, this one Academia: School Simulator it could almost seem like a spin-off of the famous "relative". In reality the true element of communion is Ryan Sumo, the artist who contributed to both titles, giving them this light and almost cartoonish aspect, but on closer inspection the two productions are clearly different. Academia is in fact developed by a Filipino software house, the Squeaky Wheels, which has nothing to do with Introversion Software's work.
The school as a "prison"
Of course, I say it immediately to avoid misunderstandings: the final result is approaching in a way almost dangerous to cloning. This School Simulator is, in fact, a school Prison Architect, less dense in content and depth, but still enjoyable. I'm not just talking about the graphic aspect, which actually finds its own justification in the work of Sumo, as much as in the purely game aspect. In Academia School Simulator the player is required to build, piece by piece, with an approach exponential, an educational institution. The goal is on the one hand to know how to manage the “physical” needs of a school, from healthcare environments to classrooms and canteens, on the other hand to manage the work of teachers, Headmaster, attendants and, of course, pupils. Good management work manifests itself in a good education for the pupils, in a healthy and happy environment and in a prominent position in the rankings of different rival institutions. All seasoned, as usual, by a greater number of revenues. It goes without saying that a bad gesture involves exactly the opposite.
Il gameplay Academia therefore unfolds in a whole series of tasks, first of all the merely constructive ones. The institution will need more and more facilities in complex situations and suitable to support the demands of students and workers, always trying to stay within their possibilities budget. The system of features is closely linked to the research sector, which is deep enough, capable of opening up heterogeneous possibilities, ranging from the simple aesthetic factor, to the release of extra-curricular activities or teachers' micromanagement.
In a way not unlike other management, the care of budgets and teaching proposals is accompanied by the capillary control of students, real roaming mines within our school system. Following in the footsteps of the aforementioned Prison Architect, our schoolchildren - both by personal nature and because of unpleasant teachers - could be harbingers of acts of Bullying, laxity, even going as far as petty crime. Check these critical issues it is not only a way to avoid having to renovate the classrooms or canteen every five minutes, but also a real requirement to avoid the game over, which intervenes in the case of too many illegal episodes or students sick.
Not brave, but functional
Unfortunately however, compared to its competitors, Academia does not succeed very well in developing a system that goes beyond the simple joint of the values and the thousand numbers connected to the different needs of the school population. In short, the game is much more impersonal than it should be, leading the user to adopt often drastic and draconian measures, since they are advantageous for the correct performance of the institution. Still, despite the issues obviously sensitive (bullying among all), this School Simulator fails to raise awareness, so much so that the word "students" could well be replaced with "potatoes" and the approach to managing critical issues would change very little. A sin, especially given the great ability of other titles to bring the gamer to a further reflection on the game objective, often prosaic, reaching a beautiful synergy between game and "story".
There is also a certain missing depth, especially as regards the end-game. The title is rather generous, both in the budget and in the possibility of making mistakes, highlighting a certain ease in being able to manage the various unexpected events proposed by the system. To overcome this problem, it is possible to play different scenarios, with more stringent objectives and situations that require more imaginative and elaborate solutions. Nothing transcendental, but undoubtedly more satisfying than a standard run, which is fun, but also at risk of monotony after a few tens of hours.
In complex, also given the very pleasant graphic approach and a HUB as dense as it is user friendly, Academia School Simulator is a management software widely sufficient. Of course, it cannot act as a direct competitor neither of its “big brother”, but not even of similar titles even if not perfectly superimposable like RimWorld. In the same way, however, its openness to mods, the vastness of the standard scenarios and its jaunty mood will intrigue all fans.
