Info about Spellcaster University:

Official game description:
  
In Spellcaster University, you take on the role of the director of a magic university in a colourful world of heroic fantasy. Build your school, manage your budget, recruit teachers. Will you turn it into a black magic academy, with the best professors of necromancy and demonology? Or a place in harmony with nature to train druids and shamans? Or why not train adventurous mages, offering them options to learn how to fight and be stealthy? But this will require surviving the ruthless attacks of the orc tribes and the controls of the education authorities.  
*   Build your university using an original magic decks mechanism. Each game will be unique.  
*   Access different decks according to the magic taught in your schools. Make choices and take advantage of opportunities to create a unique university.  
*   Explore the Arcane Deck to access artifacts with strange powers and rooms that defy reality.  
*   Dive into the Deck of Light to take care of your students and teachers.  
*   Use the Nature Deck to gain access to a wide range of magical beasts.  
*   Choose the Alchemy Deck to boost the production of mana and potions.  
*   Yield to the Shadow Deck to teach real discipline to all those nasty students.
*   Manage the well-being of your students by building refectories, dormitories, rest rooms... and ensure their discipline with a dungeon.  
*   Select your students: traits, personality, alignment, wealth... each aspect is important.  
*   Push your students towards a glorious future. At the end of their studies, discover their future (necromancer, archimage, peasant...) according to the success of their studies, and win new bonuses.
*   Upgrade your rooms with powerful artifacts like the World Tree Wood Table Set or the Soul Eater Bed.  
*   Fill your school with legendary creatures: dragons, fauns, pegasus, janitors...  
*   Choose the rules of your school: exemplary punishments, recruitment conditions, organic meals, paying dormitories...
*   Choose, through multiple-choice events, how to interact with the different factions of the world.  
*   Negotiate with the Adventurers Guild. Ask the king for help. Discuss shamanism with the orcs.  
*   Threaten the Dark Lord. Pretend to listen to the grievances of the staff representative. Lie to the witch hunters.  
*   Every choice can have short or long term consequences. Be careful before saying “No” to the student delegate!
*   Flee from the armies of darkness by building your university in isolated environments: lake, mountain, desert, volcano, giant turtle back, etc.  
*   Collect powerful grimoires to strengthen your university and face increasingly hostile environments.  
*   Find new allies to help you in your fight.  
*   Take advantage of your trained students' bonuses accumulated throughout the campaign.

Release date: Jun 15, 2021

Categories: Management Simulation, Deckbuilding, City Builder, Strategy, Card-based Gameplay, Roguelite, Faction Management, Campaign

Feature scans:
- Steam Deck: score 85; verdict: Broken; summary: The game suffers from significant UI scaling issues and performance problems. The lack of UI scaling options makes it difficult to play on certain screens, particularly on the Steam Deck and ultrawide monitors. Additionally, the game is reported to be poorly optimized, limited to 30fps, and prone to crashes, which severely impacts the user experience.

- Hardware Profile: No data
Feature extractions:
- Community Price:
  - Community fair range: $9.00 - $15.00
  - Reasoning: The evidence suggests that the community finds the game overpriced at its current full price. Multiple reviews indicate that the game is only worth purchasing at a significant discount. One user explicitly states that the game should be $9 USD, while others mention that even at 50% off or $20 USD, the game is not worth the price. This sentiment indicates that the fair price range is likely much lower than the current base price.
- Playtime Metrics:
  - Game completion: 30.0h
  - Story completion: 15.0h
  - Session length: 0.5h
  - Endgame: N/A
  - Reasoning: The evidence provides several direct and indirect references to playtime. The first quote suggests a playthrough without major issues, implying a significant amount of time spent. The second quote humorously indicates that sessions can extend much longer than intended, suggesting high engagement and potentially long session lengths. The third quote explicitly mentions spending 10-15 hours learning the game, which contributes to the total playtime for game completion. The fourth quote implies extended playtime due to repeated crashes, indicating prolonged engagement despite technical issues.
- Time-to-fun:
  - Summary: Spellcaster University has a steep learning curve and initial tedium, but it becomes enjoyable after players overcome these early challenges and get into the addictive loop of the game.
  - Stance: Fun then drops
  - Anchor: Overcoming the learning curve and initial tedium
  - Time to anchor: 1h 0m
  - Friction: Steep learning curve; Tedious gameplay; Repetitive nature; RNG impact; Info dump tutorial
  - Unlock drivers: Addictive loop; Campaign playthrough motivation
  - Conditions: Patience to overcome initial challenges; Willingness to learn game mechanics; Enjoyment of management sims; Tolerance for repetitive tasks
- Player Archetypes:
  - Strategic Deck-Builder (buy)
    - Motivation: Enjoys the challenge and depth of strategic planning and resource management.
    - Playstyle: Plays methodically, focusing on optimizing resources and strategies.
    - Experience: veteran
    - Purchase stance: buy
    - Labels: strategy gamer; deck-building enthusiast
    - Reference games: Not Enough Oxygen
  - Cautious Bargain Hunter (sale)
    - Motivation: Wants to ensure they get value for money and prefer stable, polished games.
    - Playstyle: Prefers to wait and observe before committing to a purchase.
    - Experience: mixed
    - Purchase stance: sale
    - Labels: bargain hunter; cautious gamer
    - Reference games: N/A
  - Casual Relaxation Seeker (sale)
    - Motivation: Seeks a relaxing and enjoyable gaming experience.
    - Playstyle: Plays casually, often while multitasking.
    - Experience: newcomer
    - Purchase stance: sale
    - Labels: casual gamer; relaxation seeker
    - Reference games: N/A


Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category.
Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews.
What players like:
- Enjoyable and fun gameplay (weight 0.36): The game is widely regarded as fun and enjoyable, with many players appreciating its relaxing and addictive gameplay mechanics.
- Charming and cute visuals (weight 0.27): Players love the art style and graphics, describing them as cute, charming, and appealing.
- Excellent management simulation (weight 0.26): The game is praised for its deep and complete management simulation aspects, making it a favorite among management game enthusiasts.
- Intriguing and promising concept (weight 0.2): The game's concept is widely appreciated, with many players finding it intriguing and promising.
- Whimsical and humorous writing (weight 0.19): The game's writing is praised for being whimsical, funny, and light-hearted, adding to its charm.
- Surprisingly deep strategy (weight 0.18): Despite its cute appearance, the game offers a surprising level of depth and strategy.
- Relaxing and soothing experience (weight 0.17): Many players find the game to be relaxing and soothing, making it a great choice for casual play.
- Enjoyable magic school experience (weight 0.15): Players enjoy the experience of building and managing a magic school, finding it unique and entertaining.
- Lots of exploration and discovery (weight 0.15): The game features a variety of elements to explore and discover, adding to its depth and replayability.
- Unique and pleasant atmosphere (weight 0.14): The game's atmosphere is described as warm, relaxed, and unique, contributing to its overall appeal.
- Easy to pick up (weight 0.13): The game is described as easy to pick up and play, making it accessible to a wide range of players.
- Replayability with varied content (weight 0.13): The game's varied objectives and challenges contribute to its high replayability.
- Unique card-based mechanics (weight 0.12): The game's use of a card-based system for building and development is seen as unique and innovative.
- Great potential for improvement (weight 0.12): Players see a lot of potential in the game, including possibilities for modding and future improvements.
- Rich and detailed content (weight 0.11): The game is praised for its rich and detailed content, offering a lot for players to engage with.
- Challenging and engaging (weight 0.09): The game offers a good level of challenge and engagement, making it satisfying to play.
- Addictive gameplay loop (weight 0.05): The game's mechanics and gameplay loop are described as addictive, keeping players engaged.
- Great music and animations (weight 0.05): The game's music and animations are praised for being beautiful and enhancing the overall experience.

Common complaints:
- Repetitive and boring gameplay (weight 0.39): Many players find the gameplay mechanics overly repetitive and tedious, leading to a lack of replayability and quick loss of interest.
- Frequent bugs and crashes (weight 0.28): The game suffers from numerous bugs and frequent crashes, which significantly impact the player experience and game stability.
- Cluttered and flawed UI (weight 0.14): The user interface is often described as cluttered, overwhelming, and flawed, with issues such as small UI elements and lack of scaling options.
- Over-reliance on RNG (weight 0.13): Players feel that the game relies too heavily on randomness, which can interfere with decision-making and overall enjoyment.
- Inability to remove buildings (weight 0.11): Players are frustrated by the inability to demolish or remove misplaced rooms and buildings, limiting their control over the game environment.
- Student management issues (weight 0.1): Players report difficulties in managing and customizing students, including issues with student AI and manual assignment management.
- Limited save options (weight 0.08): The game lacks multiple save slots, leading to issues with save file corruption and limited saving options.
- Infrequent updates and communication (weight 0.07): The game receives very few updates, and there is limited communication from the developers, leading to player dissatisfaction.
- Lack of clear goals (weight 0.06): The game lacks a clear purpose or final goal, leading to confusion and a lack of direction for players.
- Uncomfortable and unplayable (weight 0.06): Some players find the game uncomfortable to play, with issues that make it unplayable and not fun.
- Teacher management limitations (weight 0.06): Teachers cannot be replaced, further developed, or fired, limiting player control and management options.
- Excessive micromanagement (weight 0.06): The game involves a ton of micromanagement, which can be overwhelming and tedious for players.

Gameplay feedback:
- Magic academy management sim (weight 0.4): The game is a management simulation where players act as the principal of a magical academy, managing various aspects such as discipline, student happiness, finances, and political relationships. The game involves constructing and managing the academy room by room using a card-based system.
- Card-based building mechanics (weight 0.24): The game features a card-based system for construction and upgrades. Players use cards to build and develop their academy, with deck-builder elements and construction card game mechanics.
- Student and building management (weight 0.24): Players manage both students and buildings, including dormitories, private chambers, refectories, and student halls. The game involves student evolution, training, and managing their study behavior.
- Multiple magical disciplines (weight 0.14): The game offers various magical disciplines to specialize in, with six resources including money and five types of magic. Players need corresponding students to learn magic in specific classrooms to obtain these resources.
- Roguelite elements (weight 0.14): The game incorporates roguelite elements, including permanent bonuses, progression upgrades, and high randomness in room construction and placement.
- Faction interactions (weight 0.11): The game includes faction interactions, politics, and relationships. Players engage in diplomacy with different factions, such as orcs and lords, and undertake faction missions.
- Campaign and map structure (weight 0.1): The game features a campaign structure with different maps and environments. It includes a rotating map system and roguelite elements with rotating maps.
- Dungeon crawling and expeditions (weight 0.1): The game includes dungeon crawling aspects with turn-based dungeon runs and expeditions. Players face varying dungeon difficulties and engage in dungeon-related activities.
- Combat and power accumulation (weight 0.07): Players accumulate power to fight against the Demon King. The game includes combat mechanics and strategic elements to enhance student training and school-wide enhancements.
- Varied objectives and game modes (weight 0.07): The game offers varied objectives and various game modes, including a free play mode and sandbox mode. Players can customize their experience with different gameplay options.

Performance notes:
- Frequent game crashes (weight 0.17): The game experiences frequent crashes, particularly during saves and with larger schools or more students. This issue significantly impacts gameplay stability.
- Poor optimization (weight 0.11): The game suffers from poor optimization, leading to performance issues even on strong systems. This includes high CPU usage and FPS drops.
- Pathing issues for NPCs (weight 0.07): There are pathing issues for NPCs, including teachers getting stuck, which can disrupt gameplay and immersion.
- Screen size issue on Steam Deck (weight 0.03): Players using the Steam Deck have reported issues with screen size, impacting the game's playability on this device.

Recommendations:
- Recommendations for purchase (weight 0.14): Many players recommend the game, especially when it is on sale. Some suggest waiting for significant discounts before buying.
- Building mechanics improvements (weight 0.09): Players suggest various improvements to building mechanics, such as replacing building blocks, breaking down buildings, and moving rooms.
- More control and options (weight 0.07): Players desire more control over various aspects of the game, such as student futures, the impact of RNG, and starting new campaigns with achieved benefits.
- Future updates and improvements (weight 0.07): Players express hope for future updates, including a workshop for additional content, improvements in student impact, and more gameplay methods.
- Game mechanics and controls (weight 0.07): Suggestions for better game mechanics include highlighting artifacts, showing completion conditions, and adding faster speed options for battles.
- Suggestions for other games (weight 0.06): Some players suggest trying other games like 'Mind over Magic' for a better experience, indicating that they found the current game lacking in depth or quality.
- Gameplay experience (weight 0.05): The game is seen as good for mindless, relaxing play, similar to an ant farm type of game, suitable for relaxation and leisure.
- Map and strategy improvements (weight 0.05): Suggestions for improving map connectivity and increasing endgame strategies to enhance the overall gameplay experience.
- Not recommended by some (weight 0.05): A portion of players do not recommend the game, even when it is on sale, indicating dissatisfaction with its overall value or quality.
- Game value assessment (weight 0.03): Players have mixed feelings about the game's value, with some stating it is worth about $10, implying it might be overpriced at its current rate.
- Game labeling and audience (weight 0.03): There is a suggestion to fix game labeling to attract the right audience, indicating that the current labeling might be misleading or unclear.
- Automatic assignment system (weight 0.03): Players hope for the addition of an automatic assignment system to streamline gameplay.
- Specific player recommendations (weight 0.03): The game is recommended for specific types of players, suggesting that it may not appeal to a broad audience.

Other player notes:
No miscpoints

Emotions:
- Frustration (weight 0.37): Players are frustrated by a variety of issues, including game crashes, bugs, and freezing problems that disrupt gameplay. The difficulty of the game, particularly in the last level and achieving high scores, along with repetitive and tedious gameplay mechanics, also contribute to this frustration. Additionally, the lack of clear tutorials, interface flaws, and issues with game mechanics such as card placement and pathing further exacerbate the problem.
- Enjoyment (weight 0.22): Players enjoy the game's design, gameplay mechanics, and charming art style. The relaxing and easy-to-pick-up nature of the game, along with its unique card system and strategic depth, contribute to a fun and engaging experience. The variety of content, cute animations, and humorous elements also enhance the overall enjoyment.
- Disappointment (weight 0.15): Players feel disappointed due to the game's repetitiveness and lack of depth in gameplay mechanics. The high price point relative to the content provided, along with the lack of updates and customization options, further contribute to this disappointment. Additionally, the game's failure to deliver on promised features and the lack of a clear final goal or direction add to the overall dissatisfaction.
- Joy (weight 0.05): Players find joy in the game's charming and fun gameplay experience. The simplicity and addictive nature of the game, along with its cute graphics and relaxing atmosphere, contribute to a positive and enjoyable experience.
- Satisfaction (weight 0.04): Players are satisfied with the game's addictive loop, cute graphics, and enjoyable mechanics. The complexity and strategic depth, along with good music and art style, contribute to a high-quality and creative gaming experience.
- Enthusiasm (weight 0.03): Players are enthusiastic about the game's depth, complexity, and strategic depth. The interesting setting and addictive mechanics, along with the game's potential and unique features, contribute to a strong recommendation and high level of enthusiasm.
- Excitement (weight 0.02): Players are excited about the game's unique mechanics and adorable mix of themes. The enjoyment of the game's music and the potential for a diverse gaming experience contribute to this excitement.
- Love (weight 0.02): Despite some issues, players love the game for its unique features and enjoyable gameplay. The game's charm and fun mechanics contribute to a strong emotional attachment.
- Frustrated (weight 0.01): Players are frustrated by poor pathfinding mechanics and unclear building placement conditions. The heavy reliance on RNG mechanics also contributes to this frustration.
- Surprise (weight 0.01): Players are surprised by the game's depth and complexity, which exceed their initial expectations. The unique mechanics and strategic depth contribute to this positive surprise.
- Nostalgia (weight 0.01): Players feel nostalgic about the game's easier and more relaxing gameplay modes. The desire to keep coming back to the game contributes to this sense of nostalgia.
- Hopeful (weight 0.01): Players are hopeful about the game's potential for improvement and provide constructive feedback. The enthusiasm for the game's future updates and features contributes to this hope.
- Relaxation (weight 0): Players find the game cozy and relaxing, contributing to a calming and enjoyable experience. The game's atmosphere and easy-to-pick-up mechanics enhance this sense of relaxation.
- Anger (weight 0): Players are angered by specific bugs, such as characters getting stuck, which disrupt the gameplay experience. These issues contribute to a frustrating and anger-inducing experience.
- Fulfillment (weight 0): Players feel a sense of fulfillment from watching students evolve and progress in the game. This aspect of the game provides a rewarding and satisfying experience.}