Two Point Campus – This is how learning really is fun

You can now also build universities in Two Point Country: After the Two Point Hospital, rightly praised by colleague Benjamin, the British Two Points Studios follow suit and let you manage a complex teaching operation in the simulation successor Two Point Campus. To be precise, there are even a dozen universities that you are supposed to build and keep running with ever-shrinking budgets. You teach those who are more or less willing to learn important disciplines such as knighthood, espionage or magic and make sure that the students feel really comfortable on your campus and establish social relationships with each other. Learning should be fun and the time at university should always be a good memory.

The humorous building simulation will be released on August 9th on PC and all common consoles such as PS4, SP5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch. But before that I was able to prove myself as master builder and dean of some universities and play four levels in detail. And what can I say: where has the time gone? Especially in the advanced expansion projects there is so much to do and to consider that the hours fly by. Quickly upgrade a few more rooms, recruit new staff, level building land for more buildings or ensure that there are enough Burb machines in the hallways to quench the students’ thirst. The micromanagement and the colorful hustle and bustle on the site immediately tied me to the screen like in the best SimCity times.

As with Two Point Hospital, the developers will take you by the hand at the beginning and teach you the basics of successful management in tutorial levels. You start the first project in Freshleigh, an idyllic place surrounded by green spaces. The main building is already there and you are now installing the basis for learning by placing a research laboratory for the eminently important special field of researchology and installing at least one door and hanging up a plaque. Each room has a minimum size that must be observed. So leave space between the rooms, otherwise you will have to carry out costly conversion work later, which will eat away at the tight budget.

Logical: without teaching staff, no lectures. So now a lecturer is hired who has the expertise for researchology – and preferably also for other subjects – and the company can start right away. The first students come to the site, collect experience points in lectures and are extremely dissatisfied after a short time. Why? Because their basic needs are not met and it’s generally boring at the university. So there is a lot of investment: dormitories with comfortable beds and lockers as well as toilets and shower cubicles are the minimum that is needed. To do this, you set up vending machines from the unofficial soft drink sponsor Burb, place payphones, slot machines, trash cans and a few potted plants for salvation and the happiness increases visibly. And the happier the student body, the better off they are at learning, which means more fees for your tight coffers as you continue to expand the offering. I am horrified to see my account balance dwindle as I set up new lecture halls, libraries, laboratories and reading and relaxation rooms, hire new lecturers and assistants and expand the outdoor area with park benches, flowers and hedges into a social meeting place. But the investment is worth it, after the first semester the tuition fees are bubbling up and additional subjects can be offered, which attracts even more people willing to learn. With the additional income, more caretakers can now be hired. Not only do they ensure that the hallways are always nice and clean, they also repair defective technology and drive away intruders who want to cause damage on the premises. The shop is slowly running as if by itself and the main building is bursting at the seams. Time to buy a new plot of land nearby and construct another building. Thanks to a convenient clone function, complete rooms including furnishings can be taken over with two clicks, saving you the search in the numerous submenus.

In the course of a study year you will be given a number of goals and should employ a certain number of employees, achieve average satisfaction among staff and students, build special rooms and bring them to a higher level or unlock new objects. If you complete as many tasks as possible, your university will receive an award of up to three stars over time. However, just one is enough to dedicate yourself to new tasks and set up the next location. The principle of educating, feeding and entertaining the students and expanding the area remains the same, but the target requirements are becoming much tighter and the funds are decreasing at an alarming rate. But that’s exactly what I really enjoy. I completely lose track of time when I’m supposed to build a medieval chivalric school from scratch in Noblestead where the students duel on horseback in tournament courts or set up my very own Hogwarts in Spiffinmoore, where muggles are forged into magicians . In addition to the almost countless options for rooms and objects that combine to form a flourishing university, I particularly like the humor, as I did in Two Point Hospital.

The excellent German dubbing with well-known voices makes me smile to a great extent, there are pop culture allusions to discover everywhere and I enjoy zooming in again and again and watching the cuddly characters scurrying about in their everyday lives. But when a prospective knight goes into the shower, takes off his armor and then shamefully pixelates his bare buttocks, I can’t stop grinning. I spent a good five hours in the various university levels and by no means saw everything that the developers offer in terms of construction options and visual gags. Then I’ll probably take the summer months and build my perfect elite university.