0 
0 Let’s School by devs Pathea takes players into the unique world of school management, offering a blend of simulation and strategy. The game invites players to build and run their own school, focusing on both the academic and extracurricular development of students. As a fan of simulation games such as Two Point Campus, I was eager to see how Let’s School would stack up on the Nintendo Switch.
School’s Out For Summer!
Will this be a summertime handheld game to put on your wishlist?
Gameplay
The core of Let’s School revolves around managing various aspects of a school, from constructing classrooms and hiring teachers to organizing events and ensuring the well-being of students.
There is a career mode and a sandbox mode, each with a choice of 3 maps. You can customize the game speed as well as the difficulty, starting fund, and other academic options.
The controls were not touchscreen and utilized the thumbsticks and buttons to move the camera around and navigate the menus.
After going through the motions of the backstory whereby we learn that our previous headmaster has passed the torch to you to turn the school around, I was ready to do my best. I was invited to name the school and begin my time.
The Bell Rings
Initially, I found the gameplay intuitive, making it fairly easy for players to dive into the intricacies of school management without feeling too overwhelmed. My first job was to tidy up one of the derelict classrooms by removing debris and installing school equipment such as lecterns, boards, seating and lighting. The tutorial appeared well-designed at first, providing a comprehensive guide for newcomers.
Once I was in a position to have students, I set to employ the correct teachers for the subjects available on the timetable. Oddly I found that I could only use myself as headmaster and acting teacher along with one other employee at first, meaning I could only teach a few subjects repeated throughout the school week. It seemed a very boring and repetitive timetable.
Carry On Learning
With the students busy learning, it was their turn to now direct me as to what they would like to have available within the school. Water fountains, places to play and break were a priority. The result of fulfilling their wishes was a better academic understanding of the subjects being taught. The results of which then reflect in your funding and score if the students pass their exams.
Slowly but surely the school grew and I was able to refurbish other areas and bring in more students. Although there were parallels to Two Point Campus, I found the gameplay quite repetitive and limited at times. The management side was a strong feature however the social side of the characters was just not there.
DIY SOS
When trying to change flooring I found that I managed to delete the floor completely while the furniture just hovered in the air. It didn’t stop the game from playing but I found I just could not put the floor back at all.
Another bugbear I came across early on was the way that the buttons navigated the menus. While you get used to a particular button being an “accept” or “enter” and another being a “back”, here I found that the buttons seemed to swap around depending on which menu you were looking at. This made it hard work as you bounced from area to area within the management menus.
As much as I persevered, I just could not get immersed in Let’s School at all.
Graphics & Audio
Each time I pick up a game for the Nintendo Switch, I feel let down by the graphics. I know that they can be good, Mario games prove this. For some reason Let’s School’s graphics are a bit lacking on this particular platform.
While they have an anime vibe to the static screens, the actual reality of creating your character and then playing the game looks like a different universe altogether. From how it looked in the trailer just didn’t look the same on the handheld’s screen. The models were very blocky and pixely while the scenery was grainy as if the resolution was the lowest you could play a game on. The lines just looked torn and jaded as the camera was rotated.
When docked, the screen did look marginally better on the TV however the bulk of my gaming was carried out handheld, and therefore it didn’t look great at all.
There was a definite lack of visual variety and both the environments and character design became limited and repetitive.
The audio was pleasant but quite generic. There was nothing that memorable with the background music or effects.
Longevity
I tried and tried to get into Let’s School but I just couldn’t. It wasn’t that the game mechanics were hard at all. I could get the students learning and they could perform and get me the results the school needed. It was just a little mundane. If you can get through this then I reckon Let’s School will eat away many an hour at a time as you compete in the various scenarios and sandbox mode.
Final Thoughts
I found Let’s School a bit of an anti-climax. While the premise was there with the management mechanics, it just didn’t get me excited. I apologize if I appear to have come across negatively however the fun just did not come across for me.
Let’s School is too repetitive in its tasks and lacks social interactions which in turn affected my long-term engagement with the game. Whether this was my experience due to playing it on the Nintendo Switch, I do not know.
For now, Let’s School scores the Thumb Culture Bronze Award.
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.
YouTube | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Discord | Podcast
About Author
