As a kid who grew up with little money, I’ve always felt fantasy tycoon games: the potential to capitalize on whimsical business plans like theme parks, restaurants, and aquariums. It has always been satisfying to start with a vacant plot of land and then build a business foundation on top of it, customizing small details like paint colors, furniture layout and walkways.
But the bubble gum aesthetic of the genre often masks a darker side – prioritizing profit over people. Recent big-budget entries omit subtlety entirely, capitalizing on oppressive industries such as prisons, drug manufacturing and even cartel operations. I’m sure those games are fun in their own right, but I’m not interested in engaging in the fantasy of generating capital from those systems.
That’s why Two Point Campus, the follow-up to the popular business management sim Two Point Hospital, feels so refreshing. You aim to invest in large universities and specialized colleges to attract students from all over the world, but you have to put people first if you want to make a profit.
Between screening qualified professors, hiring janitor staff to maintain the campus, and expanding your campus internally and externally, you will be investing in courses less than usual. No, there are no math courses or language electives in this game. Instead, the classes hosted on campuses focus on chivalry and ridiculous topics like knighthood, witchcraft, and how to be a spy agent. Even specific disciplines such as gastronomy or athletics are exaggerated, with typical draws such as car-sized hamburgers and cheese-based games. Two Point is full of surprises and even more laughs, and I love discovering its clever twists on academics during its 12-level campaign.
However, don’t be fooled by this whimsical depiction of college life. There are a lot of challenges on campus which require a strategic mind to overcome. Every student has unique traits and personalities, and they will drop out if you don’t meet their needs. The only way for you to be successful in reaching a campus rating is to develop a mature environment for education, which includes management systems such as cleanliness, hunger, recreation, social interaction, campus attractiveness, and in some cases, external factors such as extreme temperatures. .
Some students may be good at studies, but if you don’t install enough shower rooms and bathrooms, your school’s rating with poor hygiene can be lowered. Others may drop off campus average grades but become relatively low-maintenance tenants with a teaching course or more excitement through a music concert or exit tournament. The same principle applies to the faculty as well. Highly skilled workers come at a cost, namely salary, but they’ll also need on-site comforts like a break room to blow off steam. As you complete these requests, you’ll unlock Kudosh, the in-game currency needed to purchase new decorations and features.
But therein lies the challenge of the Two Point campus. All these programs require money, and so is the budget. If you’re flipping with renewal approval, you’ll run out of money quickly, especially on campuses with a high-maintenance student body. In the case of an empty wallet, you can borrow a loan, but it’s easy to get into hot water fast with interest payments. This balancing act is frustrating at times, but it’s an effective gameplay loop and one of the main reasons I love playing Two Point Campus. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, you can change the pace of the game or pause outright, giving you time to solve problems or just focus on designing without the pressure of an in-game calendar. can.
The Two Point campus has robust construction equipment, allowing me to design most things to my desired specifications – inside and out. I especially like the new pathing tools because I like to create food parks and gardens outside of my academics. However, sometimes I wish I had more flexibility in placing decorative items such as plants or rugs without worrying about colliding with other objects. It would also be great to stack smaller assets on top of larger ones like desks and tables.
Despite its bleak motivations – the privatization of education – Two Point Campus never feels harsh. It is more conceptual than anything else, depicting a world where businesses and people flourish together. Benefits and expansion are undoubtedly important to the experience, but you can only achieve those goals by cultivating a top-tier environment for students. That’s not to say that the Two Point campus does away with low-hanging fruits; Its signature British humor is at its best when mocking students and faculty. But ultimately, Two Point Campus is a deeply engaging management sim that doesn’t force you to punch, and it’s more enjoyable for it.