Welcome back to another Passing Look, the column were I go through Xbox and PC Game Pass and try games that look interesting to me or games that I have played before so I can revisit them to see if they still hold up. With so many games on Microsoft's video game version of Netflix it can be tough to decide what to download and spend time with. Last time we revisited a small Double Fine Productions title centered around trick and treating as a kid called Costume Quest. This time I am taking a look at a game that is cross between a RTS (Real Time Strategy) game and the Sims franchise, that is considered a spiritual successor to a developer that is rooted in gaming history. That game is the business simulator Two Point Campus.
To give you a quick understanding on what Two Point Campus is and how it functions: You as the player must build and manage a university campus. The player must build different types of educational rooms like classrooms, lecture hall, libraries, etc. You also hire staff to help with the running of your university like lecturers, teaching assistants, and janitors. Where the Sims comparisons come from is not only are you making sure your university is running well, you have to make sure the students that are coming to your school are taken care of. Each student has different goals, relationships, and archetypes. The students have their own specific needs, and they will either succeed, fail, or drop out of school depending on how they were guided while they were on campus. "So what we've done is come up with a game where you get to see these relationships and these kinds of personalities bloom, because they're with you for a long period of time" Carr explained to Gamesradar in a interview before Two Point Campus released.
The gameplay of Two Point Campus is the definition of easy to learn and hard to master. The tutorial is pretty straight forward and explains everything that is important to pay attention to. Obviously the further you go along in the game, the bigger the campus you have is and that brings more things to have to keep track of. The game has a built in inbox that you get in-game inbox that alerts you when there is a specified request from a student (like placing a Atom poster in the Science Lab to help with a project) or a detailed report of the finances of the university. From what I have played, the systems are detailed enough to feel substantial without being overwhelming. If you do feel like you are struggling and you just want to build a great looking university without having to worry about budgets or finances then the game has a creative mode that lets you do just that.
I think one of the most interesting things about Two Point Campus is the lineage of the developers that are behind it. Campus is the follow up/sequel to the developers first game Two Point Hospital. They were developed by Two Point Studios, which was founded in 2016 by Mark Webley and Gary Carr. Now you might not now who those two people are, but they are the key piece to this linage puzzle to some of gaming's best simulation games. Carr and Webley were both at Bullfrog Productions in the 90's (Bullfrog was founded in the late 80's by storied and controversial game developer Peter Molyneux). While he was at Bullfrog, Webley's first game that he was the project leader on was a simulation game called Theme Hospital, where Carr was the main artist on the project.
Theme Hospital was also one of the last games to be started and put out by the original team of Bullfrog Productions, with Webley following Molyneux out shortly after the purchase of the studio by Electronic Arts. Those two went on to be founding members of Black & White and Fable series developer Lionhead Studios. Gary Carr went with other employees of Bullfrog and founded Mucky Foot Productions, but unlike Lionhead they were not as successful and closed in 2003, which after Carr moved to Lionhead Studios
"Gary and I have been talking about this project for a number of years are really excited to be announcing Two Point Studios" Webley said in a press release announcing the founding of Two Point Studios and you can really tell. The DNA of Theme Hospital is extremely prevalent when you look at Two Point Campus. Between the humor that is in the design of the characters, the dialogue between students, and even the announcements that are made by the school administrator there is no mistaking that without Theme Hospital, there would obviously be no Two Point Campus.
The game just had a free Halloween update come to the game with some spooky season themed challenges and some Halloween-styled items to place throughout your university. Two Point Studios has discussed that Two Point Campus will have similar post launch support that Two Point Hospital had.
Two Point Campus is a great game to try on Game Pass. This style of simulation game is not going to be everyone's cup of tea. Between the humor of the characters, the design of the world, and the more involved decision making with the actual student body of your university, I think the game avoids the tedium that can happen with the simulation game genre.
This highlights one of the strongest selling points for Game Pass, being able to try it before spending money. If you are looking for something that is similar to the Sims, but has more business management integrated into it, then Two Point Campus is worth the download from Game Pass, where it is available on both console and PC. If you like Two Point Campus, then check out their first game Two Point Hospital (available on every modern platform) and I would give Theme Hospital a shot, even if it is just to see where these games came from. It might be tougher to get your hands on Theme Hospital, though it was ported to modern PC services like GoG (Good Old Games) and EA Origin. Two Point Campus and the history it came from is more than deserving of a (Game) passing look!