Academia: School Simulator

About

"Academia: School Simulator" is a game where you build and manage a school, overseeing everything from hiring staff to designing classrooms. Balance your budget while keeping students and teachers happy to achieve academic success. With various challenges and customization options, it offers a deep and engaging school-building experience.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

+20

87%

Audience ScoreBased on 1,431 reviews

gameplay23 positive mentions

story3 negative mentions

The game is addictive and offers a fun building and management experience similar to Prison Architect.
It features a detailed simulation of running a school, allowing for creativity in design and management.
The developers are responsive to community feedback and regularly update the game with new content.

The game lacks depth and replayability, with many players feeling they have exhausted its content quickly.
There are numerous bugs and glitches that can disrupt gameplay, such as issues with student behavior and staff management.
The user interface can be clunky and unintuitive, making it difficult to navigate and manage the school effectively.

gameplay
110 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
21%
73%
6%
The gameplay of the game has received mixed reviews, with some players appreciating its detailed simulation and engaging mechanics, while others criticize it for being slow-paced and lacking depth after a few hours of play. Many comparisons to "Prison Architect" highlight similarities in mechanics and aesthetics, but some feel it falls short in complexity and replayability. Overall, while the game offers a comfortable and straightforward experience, it struggles to maintain long-term engagement due to a shallow gameplay loop and limited content.
- “Its detailed simulation and engaging mechanics offer a deep and satisfying experience for fans of management games.”
- “Adding its own spin to Prison Architect's successful gameplay structure and turning it into an education sim, Academia is already an engrossing success.”
- “The art style is simple but appealing; and the gameplay is straightforward with either scenario goals in mind, financial grants to fulfill, or achievements to unlock as a means of guidance.”
- “The gameplay suffers from a shallow gameplay loop.”
- “This game doesn't have that hook that 'Prison Architect' has because the student AI isn't really complex and the gameplay is almost non-existent.”
- “Features are very sparse, gameplay is honestly rather same-y and tedious, and there's as much variation as a straight line.”
graphics
58 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
24%
66%
10%
The graphics of the game are generally described as simplistic and reminiscent of titles like "Prison Architect" and "RimWorld," featuring a clean and appealing art style that some players enjoy. However, opinions are mixed, with some reviewers finding the visuals underwhelming and lacking complexity, which detracts from the overall experience. While the graphics may not be groundbreaking, they are considered adequate for a management simulator, allowing players to focus more on gameplay mechanics.
- “Amazing visuals and overall a really good game to play.”
- “The art style is simple but appealing; and the gameplay is straightforward with either scenario goals in mind, financial grants to fulfill, or achievements to unlock as a means of guidance.”
- “The game looks well polished, with intuitive interfaces, good graphics (for the genre of management game it is) and nice ambient sounds + music.”
- “The graphic simplicity does not go well with the complexity of the mechanics.”
- “But this is by far the worst, the game is not interesting, its graphics are not appealing and I do not recommend anyone to buy this game.”
- “Additional note: the characters look good, but everything else looks pretty bad and resembles a child's game rather than one that claims to have graphics similar to Prison Architect.”
music
31 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
19%
68%
13%
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with some players finding it lively and enjoyable, while others criticize it for being repetitive and forgettable. Many users suggest that the soundtrack could benefit from more variety to prevent it from becoming tiresome over extended play sessions. Overall, while the music adds a pleasant ambiance, it may not be memorable or engaging enough for all players.
- “I relaxed for 5 minutes listening to this music, long enough to realize that I would be okay.”
- “It is fun and the music is lively.”
- “Great early access tycoon game, great if you played Prison Architect and a cute art style with fantastic music and lighting.”
- “The biggest dealbreaker for me was that the music is pretty awful, as it loops over and over without respite.”
- “I'd suggest adding different music though, it can get tiring hearing the same tune for hours.”
- “The music is repetitive and frankly I could do without it.”
story
27 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
7%
81%
11%
The game's story aspect is largely criticized for its lack of depth, with many players noting the absence of a traditional narrative or campaign mode. While some appreciate the sandbox nature that allows for personal storytelling, others feel that the game would benefit from more structured quests, character development, and engaging events to enhance the overall experience. Overall, the consensus suggests that the game needs a more compelling storyline to keep players invested.
- “Moral of the story: you never know what life has in store for you, and if I had given up when all odds were against me, I wouldn't be where I am today.”
- “It's very early access, it really needs a tutorial or prompts to grants and tasks and a loose storyline would be cool showing what students are going through along with teachers etc. even events with rival schools such as sports events.”
- “☐ worst story ever”
- “☐ no story”
- “In my opinion though, they could add a little more content to the game such as adding a story mode to it, and maybe some fleshed-out characters.”
grinding
19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
11%
89%
Players generally find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and repetitive, particularly in the late game where the focus shifts to mindless tasks like curing a large number of students or managing multiple schools. While some enjoy the initial fun of unlocking new features, many feel that the gameplay becomes monotonous and lacks challenge, leading to a sense of boredom as they strive for achievements. Overall, the grinding can detract from the enjoyment, especially as players progress and encounter sparse features and slow-paced gameplay.
- “Grinding can be very time-consuming at times.”
- “You'll need a second life to keep up with the grinding.”
- “For me it was more tedious than fun.”
- “After the initial fun of unlocking tech, it's all mindless grinding.”
- “It seems to just involve grinding and even though I have had multiple playthroughs throughout development, I always end up forcing myself to play it.”
replayability
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
19%
56%
25%
Overall, the game's replayability is a mixed bag; while some players find enjoyment in starting new schools and learning from past mistakes, many criticize it for lacking depth and variety, leading to a low replay value. Frequent updates and an expanding technology tree offer potential for improvement, but currently, the game does not provide enough engaging content to warrant repeated playthroughs. Players suggest that additional scenarios and varied starting conditions could enhance replayability in the future.
- “Fun, lots of replayability.”
- “It gets points for replayability because you can sell your school, and use the money you earn from the sale to start the next school you play as.”
- “Replayability is high for me since every school I start is better than the last one as I learn from mistakes.”
- “Not nearly as much depth as it wishes it had - the replay value is pretty low since nothing very interesting ever happens.”
- “There's little to no replay value, and there's not a lot of variation in the directions that one can take with their school.”
- “Honestly, all in all, I'm unhappy with this game's failure to have replay value.”
humor
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is frequently highlighted as a standout feature, with players enjoying the absurdity of student antics, such as pooping in bushes and engaging in food fights. The ability to customize elements and witness the chaotic behavior of students adds to the comedic experience, making it both entertaining and addictive. Overall, the game is described as fun and humorous, with many players recommending it for its lighthearted approach.
- “It's quite addicting and can be funny at times.”
- “The game is funny as far as the students and what they be doing (pooping in the bushes if your bathrooms are too dirty lol) all in all it's a very good game and you will wonder what happened to those 2 hours you had when you first turned it on.”
- “I like it even though it gets boring; you can just watch and things happen. You can do sandbox and do funny stuff.”
stability
13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
15%
85%
The stability of the game has received mixed feedback, with some players reporting a generally bug-free experience, while others note persistent glitches and occasional freezes, particularly given its beta status. Many users acknowledge the presence of graphical issues and bugs but express optimism for future improvements as the game develops. Overall, while some players find it enjoyable despite the glitches, others urge for more fixes to enhance stability.
- “Plays great, bug-free.”
- “The game so far is not buggy, and I had no lags. I hope that other people support this game for new content.”
- “It's still in beta, so there are glitches!”
- “Good game overall, but seriously, fix the glitches.”
- “A long while ago, I made a comment in the earlier stages of this game's development about its glitches that made the game unplayable for longer periods of time.”
optimization
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
25%
38%
Overall, the game's optimization is generally stable and smooth, but users report performance issues when adding a large number of students or placing extensive structures, leading to noticeable slowdowns and stuttering. While the game runs well on capable hardware, further improvements in optimization, particularly during large-scale building activities, could enhance the experience significantly. Additionally, the responsiveness of workers is appreciated, though there is room for improvement in their task management.
- “Nice little game, good performance, stable, very relaxed.”
- “Runs smoothly.”
- “The workers are considerably more responsive and though I feel they could still decide what their next task is more quickly, their performance at least means building even the basics of the school won't take a week in-game.”
- “Once you have everything unlocked and start adding more and more students, there are some performance issues and the game speed slows down substantially.”
- “Better optimization of building, especially while placing down large amounts of, let's say, grass. When I place down a large area, I get a stutter for a second, and I have a previous-gen CPU (Ryzen 3600 @ 4.1GHz), which should be more than enough.”
- “If those were to be included and optimized in this game, then we might see something more than just a game.”
character development
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
150%
The character development in the game is praised for its original character designs and visually appealing sprites, complemented by a diverse selection of randomly generated names and appearances.
- “The character design is original and the sprites are visually appealing.”
- “There's a wide selection of randomly generated names and character designs.”
- “The character development feels shallow, with a limited selection of names and designs that don't allow for meaningful personalization.”
- “I was disappointed by the lack of depth in character progression; it felt like I was just going through the motions without any real impact.”
- “The characters lack unique traits and backstories, making it hard to connect with them on any level.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game is characterized by a wholesome and engaging experience, offering a slower-paced yet enjoyable managerial gameplay that evokes a sense of care and responsibility akin to a more nurturing version of prison architect.
atmosphere
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users express a desire for a dynamic school atmosphere that can be positively influenced by elements like plants and decorations, while negatively impacted by issues such as bullying and neglect. This suggests a need for a more interactive and responsive environment that reflects the players' actions and choices.
- “I would like to have a feature that the school atmosphere could be improved with plants, posters, swings, etc., and maybe factors like bullying and unclean places could decrease it.”