Let’s School: top marks in fun and gameplay

For those who love sim games and the pixel art style, I think Pathea’s Let’s School is the perfect game. The idea of the game first came out in 2021 from the game’s developer Lanka after working on it solo for 6 months. The studio then realised what a great game it could be and got to work. After playing it for some time, it’s clear to see why they loved and believed in the idea. 

The game first begins by showing off its many customisable elements. You play as the headmaster of a school, starting from a run-down building and upgrading it. When you start the game, you get to customise your character, choosing from different hairstyles, skin tones, body shapes, and clothes. But it doesn’t stop there. You also customise your school logo, which includes choosing the border, colour, and other visual elements. To finish off, you get to customise the school uniform for both the boys and girls which proudly shows off your school’s logo. Already this gives the game a personal touch from the player.  

The game does offer a tutorial of sorts, but more on this later. You also get your right-hand woman who walks you through the different aspects of running the school, such as building the classroom, finding students, allocating them to classrooms, and setting their timetable. If that seems like a lot, there’s more. You need to make sure the classroom is well equipped, with suitable lighting, or else the students’ learning will be impacted. If this happens, they get lower chances of passing final exams which means that your school’s reputation won’t grow and then you can’t get more students/expand the school. 

When it comes to expanding the school, there are a lot of elements to manage. You need to make sure the students have a range of basic facilities such as a tea room and bathrooms. In order to get other facilities like playgrounds or an outside food van, you need to make sure you open a management office where you research on how to improve the school. Of course you also need staff such as teachers, researchers, chefs, and security, to list a few. You can choose who to hire based on their skills and salary to make your school the best. There are also things like field trips where you can explore other areas, which makes the game more realistic. 

The game also has seasonal items such as Halloween and Christmas decorations. The weather and seasons also change in the game and affect your students. For example, if it’s cold you need to make sure to get heaters. However, when I first started playing, this all seemed like a lot. The tutorial covered some basic stuff but it would’ve been beneficial if it explained more, or if items were released gradually instead of throwing everything at the player at once. 

The game is really fun and has lots of elements that keep you enthralled for hours

On my first go at the game, I didn’t know that there had to be good lighting in the classrooms, which was a quick fix. However, my school declined quickly as it was very dirty and there was rubbish everywhere. It took a while to figure out that there are no cleaners and instead, there need to be bins and brooms placed commonly throughout the building. While this might seem obvious, the items weren’t made clear, and with all the other elements to juggle it wouldn’t seem odd for there to be cleaners too. After I figured that out, I started again from scratch and the game was more fun and less stressful. 

The game also gives the students some personality, which is nice to see as it gives it a touch of realism. The students all tend to look different and aren’t just one stock character. During break times they will all do different things such as go to tea rooms or play outside. Some students might even start fights, which means you need to keep an eye on them in order to send a teacher. The students might even bring contraband, which can be anything from video game consoles to frogs. I found that the best way to check each student is to wait until a lesson starts since all of them will be sitting still. 

Overall, the game is really fun and has lots of elements that keep you enthralled for hours. It could benefit from a few tweaks such as explaining the elements more or dropping hints as it’s played. It’s clear a lot of thought and effort went into it, and the small touches such as the personality of the students or having a school pet work well in giving the game a realistic touch.