Let’s School is a management simulator where players inherit a rundown school. When I say run down, I mean really run down. There are holes in the wall, there’s trash everywhere, and it barely has enough square footage for a classroom and restrooms. The goal is simple: create a thriving school.
In Let’s School, each student arrives with a unique set of traits influenced by their district. Wealthier students may be slow learners but bring in higher tuition fees, while theater kids may excel in the arts but are prone to conflicts. This system requires players to carefully balance their student body, a task that becomes surprisingly engaging as it adds depth to the school’s management.
Scheduling is another big feature. Players must carefully plan out each student’s classes, ensuring they receive enough instruction in subjects required for upcoming exams. This delicate balancing act becomes more complex as additional subjects and specialized teachers are introduced. Unlike other games in the genre, Let’s School doesn’t shy away from the mundane work, which wouldn’t be an issue, but this is a clunky game with an interface that doesn’t feel great on the Nintendo Switch. Mundane tasks are great when they are accessible, but they simply aren’t in this port.
The controls are cumbersome, requiring multiple button presses to perform what should be simple clicks if the UI was intuitive. The lack of touchscreen support makes this worse, forcing players to navigate menus with the imprecise sticks. The control scheme feels counterintuitive, detracting from the gameplay experience. There are a lot of good ideas in Let’s School, but they are lost in repetition and poor choices.
Visually, Let’s School is basic, with a polygonal art style that, while functional, lacks flair. It almost has a nice style, but it simply doesn’t have the charm that similar games have. It doesn’t look great when zoomed out since players can’t see fine details, and when zoomed in things just look ugly. This is further exemplified by the option that allows players to walk around the school in first person mode, an option that should be a delight that lets players see their hard work up close. It’s just not a nice looking game, and moving around feels more like floating as a ghost than walking.
The game suffers from occasional technical hiccups, such as disappearing textures and minor frame rate issues, and these can be found in both docked and handheld modes.
Let’s School succeeds in creating a detailed and challenging management sim, but its focus on the business aspects of education feels soulless when combined with poor controls. For the right simulation fan though, there is plenty of content here, giving players tons of control as they build the school of their dreams.
