Let’s School review

As a child I was actually one of those weird kids that didn’t mind going to school. It did undeniably cut into my gaming time though, which was obviously the most important thing to me back then (and now). Schools aren’t really featured a whole lot in video games, but with the start of this year seeing the release of Persona 3 Reload it sure does feel like I’ve spent as much time in school recently as I did when I was a teenager. The natural progression from attending a high school is running one I suppose, and that’s exactly what I’ve been doing in Let’s School.

Let’s School puts you in charge of managing a struggling school and tasks you with turning the educational institute around. After creating a principal that you’ll play as and customising your school with different uniforms and a fancy logo, you’ll be thrown into the world of school management, from constructing the buildings themselves to making timetables.

Without a functional school building it’s unlikely your career as a principal will go very well, so first you’ll have to build some classrooms and facilities. Each room you make requires certain furnishings to work, like putting desks in a classroom or toilets in a bathroom, but beyond that each room also scores you points based on how suitable they are. Students will still learn a little in a dingy box with a teacher, but add some fancy decorations and lighting and they’ll be much more inclined to retain some science facts. There’s a whole lot of scope to expand your school by building across multiple floors or expanding the grounds, and before you know it you’ll have a campus capable of getting hundreds of tiny minds exam ready.

Exams are scheduled at the end of every week of school in Let’s School (which, honestly, sounds like hell) and based on how well the children perform in them you’ll be given a whole host of rewards. Helping the kids get the best exam results possible is absolutely essential in Let’s School, but it’s easier said than done.

To make sure as many bright sparks pass their exams as possible you’ll need to make sure their lessons are as educational as possible. You do this by planning out an entire school week of lessons, which involves selecting the subjects your students will study for the five time slots each day is made up of. Each lesson needs a teacher to lead it, and students of different backgrounds might perform better if you stick more to certain subjects. The idea of planning out which teacher is in charge of which lesson seemed particularly daunting initially, but the scheduling is actually fairly straightforward (if a bit long-winded) as long as you have the staff to support you.

Managing staff is just as important a task as keeping the kids happy, because certain members of the teaching team are better in certain roles. Some teachers succeed through ensuring the best exam results possible, others are actually best used to research new topics you can teach the kids or ideas for new rooms for the school. You can train each member of staff too to improve their abilities and make them even more of an asset, but when you do they might decide they also deserve a pay rise.

There are a few ways to succeed in Let’s School, and you’re able to choose what path to victory you take. Ensuring the children you teach have the best future is one path to take, which really feels like what a top notch school should focus on. You can also decide that quantity is more important than quality in teaching and try to shove as many students as possible through your educational boot camp. There’s even the option to focus on having the best facilities out there, which is ideal for those who prefer the building side to the management side of the game.

The latest “New Semester” update of Let’s School has added a whole load of extra features to the game, like a PTA that rewards you for collecting prohibited items from students and school clubs. I particularly appreciated getting the students invested in pop music and basketball to create my very own virtual High School Musical.

Let’s School is an enjoyable enough management game, but it isn’t without issues. Perhaps the most painful of these is the audio, which features some of the most repetitive music I’ve ever experienced in a video game. The controls are also fairly lacking in customisation options, which I found particularly frustrating while playing on my laptop. Having to manually set the game to scroll when you reach the edge of the screen seems bizarre, but these are minor gripes, really.

The larger problem is that, while building the school itself and upgrading its facilities is a lot of fun, I found managing timetables and teaching schedules a little on the dull side. Some players who prefer strategy elements of the genre will likely find that aspect of the game compelling though, and if moulding the minds of the future sounds like a dream come true then Let’s School will bring that fantasy to life.