Academia : School Simulator Review Summary

Diverse and engaging gameplay: The game offers a variety of modes and mechanics that cater to different playstyles, including sandbox, construction, and planning. It is praised for its dynamic and engaging gameplay, with plenty of activities to keep players occupied.

Creative and customizable school building: Players enjoy the freedom to build and customize their schools with few restrictions. The game allows for detailed school management and creative expression in designing the school layout and infrastructure.

Unique school management concept: The game is praised for its interesting and unique concept of a school simulation game. It has the potential to be a good school simulator with engaging dynamics.

Fun and attainable achievements: Players find it fun to collect achievements, which are all attainable. The game provides a foundation for a fun experience, with the potential for about 5 or 6 hours of enjoyable gameplay.

Charming visuals and pleasant music: The game has simple but charming visuals, with good graphics and character design. It also features pleasant music and a relaxing gameplay experience.

Shallow and repetitive gameplay: The gameplay is described as shallow, repetitive, and lacking depth. Players find it boring after a few hours due to the limited variety in activities and challenges.

Lack of updates and support: The game has not received updates since 2022, leading players to feel it has been abandoned by the developers. This lack of support contributes to a sense of the game being unfinished and not worth the investment.

High cost, low content: Many players feel the game is overpriced for the amount of content it offers. The lack of depth, variety, and engaging activities makes it hard to justify the full price.

Poor student and staff AI: Students and staff lack depth, interaction, and realistic behaviors. This makes the school feel lifeless and reduces the overall engagement and immersion.

Lack of challenging content: The game lacks challenging content and long-term motivation. There are no clear objectives or goals beyond basic school management, leading to a lack of sense of achievement.

School management and customization: The game focuses on building, managing, and customizing schools, similar to Prison Architect but with a school theme. Players can manage staff, grades, problem students, budgets, and schedules, and customize various aspects of the school such as the emblem, motto, and mascot.

Sandbox and gameplay modes: The game offers sandbox mode for creative building and planning, as well as campaign mode with objectives and missions. It includes dynamic and engaging gameplay with a mix of simulation and management elements.

Student behavior and interactions: Students have various behaviors and interactions, including unique needs and traits. However, some reviews note a lack of depth in student animations and interactions, and the presence of behaviors like urinating in bushes.

Construction and planning mechanics: The game includes construction and planning mechanics similar to Prison Architect, with a research tree for unlocking new constructions and strategic planning for long-term implementation.

Financial and logistics management: Players need to manage financial strategies, logistics, and economic strategies, including balancing costs and financing, and managing cash intake.

Performance and optimization issues: Players experience performance issues such as loading data problems and optimization issues. These issues are particularly noted with building placement and general gameplay, affecting the overall experience.

Game crashes frequently: Many players report frequent game crashes, including blue screens and issues with the game not loading properly. These crashes occur under various conditions, such as using the normal Steam client and during gameplay with large class sizes.

Game saturation with NPCs: Some players mention that the game feels saturated with too many NPCs, which can impact the gameplay experience.

Steam Deck compatibility: There are mentions of players using the Steam Deck to play the game, indicating some level of compatibility and interest in playing on this platform.

Good for simulation fans: The game is recommended for fans of simulation and management games. Reviewers compare it favorably to other games in the genre like Prison Architect and Rimworld.

Wait for more content: Several reviews mention that the game has potential but needs more content and improvements. They suggest waiting for a full release or more updates before purchasing.

Recommend game on sale: Many reviewers suggest buying the game during a sale or discount due to its current price not reflecting the content offered. They believe it provides good value at a reduced price.

Specific gameplay suggestions: Players have specific suggestions for gameplay improvements, such as adding a premium canteen, special students with unique needs, and ensuring all floors are paved to stop health degradation.

Add realistic personality traits: Reviewers suggest implementing more realistic personality traits for characters in the game to enhance the simulation experience.

Comparisons to other games: Players frequently compared the game to other popular titles such as Prison Architect and Rimworld. Some also mentioned similarities to Japanese high schools.

Language support and localization: Players mentioned the need for better language support and localization in the game. This includes addressing any current localization issues.

Requests for updates and features: There were several suggestions for future updates and features. Players also highlighted localization issues that need addressing.

Subscription issues: There was a specific mention of issues related to Hanization subscriptions, indicating a problem that needs to be looked into.