Let’s School Review (Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5 & PC)

As the former headmaster of an international school of academic excellence, I honestly liked to believe that I could transform even the most expressionless minds into inquisitive ones. Granted, I had only ever heard positive feedback from the virtual students of Two Point Campus, but still — I had the commendation to compliment the fact that I, as worthless as it might’ve been outside of a fake classroom, was somewhat capable of restoring academia to its superior status. And it’s a good thing, too, because just as I managed to descend from cloud nine as this almighty grand wizard of global studies, Let’s School came knocking, and it made it clear right from the get-go that, wealth of experience of not, things weren’t to be as easy the second time round. Still, when the position opened up, I blindly agreed to the terms and conditions, desperate to prove my worth.

Let’s School, like Two Point Campus, is all about the act of creating, upgrading, and above all, educating students and faculty on what it takes to succeed in the classroom. As the headteacher of the school, you begin your career with the basic principles of teaching and management—two things that you must develop in order to erect an educational institution that’s not only financially independent, but also academically competitive and has the potential to excel in its field. The only major issue here, of course, is that neither of these things fall into your lap willingly. Nevertheless, as a fledgling visionary of sorts, it’s your responsibility to entice the public into thinking otherwise. And that’s only the beginning, sadly.

To cut to the chase, Let‘s School has just this moment arrived on consoles to compliment its original release on PC. Care to hear more about it? Then let’s press on.

Palatable Academia

Conceptually, Let’s School supports all of the hallmark qualities of a traditional sandbox and business model, in the case that we, as aspiring entrepreneurial spirits, are given the opportunity to forge the foundations of an institution that’s profitable and sustainable. To this extent, we don’t necessarily have any control over what could’ve been, but rather, what could, so long as we do all in our power to maintain the core values of our mission statement, and so on and so forth. But, as with any sandbox sim that adheres to the humble beginnings of modern academic standards, the journey begins with a small step—a step that involves learning how to establish the boundaries between your peers and your students, and how to create a strong foundation for what could, with any luck, become a successful learning environment.

Let’s School offers a lot more than the bog-standard building sim, and I’m glad to say that, in spite of it looking an awful lot like a generic sandbox on paper, it actually hosts an enormous range of in-depth features, including an entire web of customizable curriculums, facilities, menus, and extracurricular activities. To say that there’s a tremendous amount to juggle wouldn’t be too far from the truth; in fact, I’d even go as far as to say that there’s a ludicrous amount to keep a lid on—so much, that anyone without the basic knowledge of how business management sims work is likely to struggle at some stage or another. But, with vigorous trial and error cycles comes a sense of adaptability, and in turn, a more accessible way of thinking outside of the box and beyond.

Carving the Minds of Tomorrow

The goals in Let’s School are torn between two areas: architectural planning and business fulfillment, and managerial development and growth. For the most part, your duties often involve researching new ideas to expand your campus, or training faculty to boost their chosen skill sets to acquire more effective learning materials and methods for teaching students. But that’s not all. In addition to the general process of building a fully functioning campus, there’s also the case of dealing with students’ personal issues, school attire, dietary requirements, transport networks, and even rival schools, few of which share the common goal of belittling your efforts to revamp the school by sending you some rather spiteful letters and what have you. And you thought being a principal would be a walk in the park? Tut tut.

I’m not saying that Let’s School is overbearing, but it does require a good amount of time and effort to crack the system, so to speak. It doesn’t help, either, that there’s also a reputation to uphold, too—a slider that tends to fluctuate depending upon how you approach certain situations and how you manage your hours as an academia figurehead. And honestly, this illustrates my previous point about how much there is to see and do in Let’s School. The harsh reality is, if you don’t know your arm from your elbow, or in this case, your curriculum from your cafeteria specials menu, then you’re probably going to struggle to make ends meet during your time as an overseer. But don’t let that stop you from pursuing your goals; it isn’t all doom and gloom in the educational sector.

A Self-Made Teacher’s Pet

I’m just going to come out and say it: the attention to detail in Let’s School is second to none. Sure, we’ve seen a lot to its in-game features sprout up in alternate worlds several times before, but I can’t say that I’ve ever seen anything quite as in-depth and as inclusive as the mechanics and in-house suites that this one brings to the table. Don’t get me wrong, there is a lot to wrap your head around, which makes the general learning curve a bit of a pain in the backside compared to some of the other, slightly more forgiving city-building and sandbox sims. Having said that, I did come to notice that all of the best features had a habit of popping up from out of the woodwork after several hours of working through the motions.

Without doubt, one of the game’s greatest strengths is its ability to make simple work incredibly rewarding, and it’s thanks to things like teaching schemes, multi-tier development tools, and student-faculty needs that make it practically irresistible for you to turn away from. Add the fact that it also generates enough wriggle room for countless set pieces, classroom decor, and thematic cosmetics, and you’ve got all of the powerhouse components to make even the likes of The Sims: University blush. And that’s saying something, for sure. As for whether or not it’s better than its adversaries is a matter of opinion, though I’d be lying if I said that it doesn’t do enough to steal my vote at the poll.

Verdict

If you’re desperate to get your hands on something that’ll keep you from slipping into a perpetual cycle of monotonous tasks and repetitive chore core exercises, then Let’s School is sure to tick all of the appropriate boxes and give you something to write home about. Suffice it to say that, as far as school-centric sandbox games travel, this is arguably one of the best of the bunch—a statement that I almost feel morally obliged to write, what with the sheer amount of hours that I myself spent fleshing out my own educational haven. And I don’t feel bad about that, either; in fact, it didn’t take much for me to realize that, once the groundwork had finally been set, the world was my oyster, and I was more than happy to follow suit and see where it took me — even at the expense of losing dozens of hours.

If you were to take a look at a catalog containing a list of these sorts of academia-driven sandbox projects, I can’t imagine that you’d find one that is on par with Let’s School — and I say that with love, Two Point Campus, because quite frankly, it is vastly superior in more ways than one. And sure, while it isn’t quite as quirky or as beginner-friendly as the aforementioned chapter, it’s arguably one of the most thought-out and jam-packed iterations of the genre, period. Point is, with so much material to sift through, and not to mention a campaign that can run as deep as your heart desires, it’s almost impossible to discard it and ultimately label it as a pitiful cash grab.

Anyway, if you have just departed the Two Point Campus program, then let me assure you — Let’s School is more than capable of scratching that itch.