Campus Life

I never “not recommend” games. If I don’t enjoy them, I just don’t even write a review. So this is a first for me. I actually even refunded Campus Life, unfortunately. I’m only writing this review because I feel like fellow cozy Deck gamers should be warned about the unplayability of the game in its current state. I was SO EXCITED about this release because I adore games in university settings. I bought it day one, without any reviews posted, as the price is quite fair. However, after building my character (which I did enjoy), I was plunked into the school and boy was the UI a buggy mess on Steam Deck. I didn’t have any issues with the camera (I see the devs patched that so you can choose camera modes). But interacting with NPCs didn’t work most of the time. I was having to use my touchscreen to trigger events as the action button wouldn’t trigger interactions. And then my character got stuck in a corner of a room and there was NO WAY to move her. Totally stuck. Touchscreen, and button-mashing everything. Nothing worked. So after 30 minutes, I shut down and requested a refund. I can’t speak to playing with a mouse and keyboard, so maybe folks there will have better luck. What I saw of the campus itself, and the dialogue options, was fun. So I’d be willing to purchase this again once the UI and bugs are fixed. But from what I experienced, it’s a real mess on those fronts, and so I made the very rare decision on my end to refund. I’ll keep an eye on this game for later though. The devs seem very nice and responded to a question I had about the game before I bought it, which gives me hope that they’re the type of team who will work hard to get this game to where it should be.

☕ Campus Life Review: The Homework Simulator I don't usually write game reviews; I typically keep my opinions to myself. But the experience of playing Campus Life was so utterly frustrating, so devoid of joy, that it compelled me to finally put pen to paper. I can tolerate the common technical hiccups in a game—the clumsy camera, a few rough textures, or the odd difficulty spike. These are forgivable imperfections. What I cannot forgive, however, is being bored. When a game drains the fun out of your free time and starts feeling like an obligation, it has failed its fundamental purpose. It stops being a video game and starts being a chore. After a long day of actual work, the last thing anyone wants is to sit down to a digital syllabus. And let me tell you, Campus Life is, without a doubt, the most aggressively tedious game I've played this year—and it's not even close. It’s not just the core gameplay, either. This experience commits cardinal sins across the board, making it a university simulation that’s probably best forgotten, perhaps by getting drunk at Freshers Week, then retreating to the safety of your own home. 🙅‍♀️ The Overbearing Guide and the Lack of Freedom The game’s beginning is immediately problematic. Despite being a student for your final year (a bizarre scenario, to start with), you're immediately assigned a tour guide named Ray. He speaks as if he’s an ancient campus fixture and takes on a role far beyond simple direction. He shows you everything: your room, meal options, classrooms, and, strangely, commands you to take a shower. Ray is less of a guide and more of an unsettling warden. He shadows you constantly, appearing outside your dorm first thing in the morning and waiting for you after every class, like a creepy, suffocating figure. A bit of guidance is fine, but being monitored for the entire introductory sequence is not. The first hour of this game is effectively a forced, dull march with Ray—I spent the whole time wishing he would just vanish so I could explore the world myself. Sadly, that independent exploration is impossible. If you try to deviate from the main quest line, the game firmly blocks you. I'd spot glowing areas or potential NPCs, but if I moved to interact, they'd turn red, notifying me I wasn't "authorized" to engage yet. The game creates a world with points of interest only to forbid access, holding the player on a tight, linear path. It’s clear the developers prioritized pushing the story over offering any true student liberty. They actively hurt the world’s appeal by teasing interactions only to lock them away—I would have viewed the campus much more favorably if those options were simply invisible until they unlocked. ⏱️ A Rigid, Joyless Schedule Campus Life promises a college experience but delivers a restrictive, school-like atmosphere. The developers rely too heavily on micromanaging dull, basic necessities like food, hygiene, and calendars. Even older games like The Sims provided more freedom, letting you interact with objects in your home whenever you wanted. This is absolutely not a 'life' simulation; it often feels like being forced back into grade school. The core gameplay loop is fatally flawed. The developers suck all the enjoyment out of the college experience by forcing you through classes and demanding you work a part-time job just to afford things. This constant need to earn funds and attend mandatory events results in an exhausting loop that is anything but balanced. This grind is made worse by the clumsy energy management. I often had to take a "power nap" in my dorm just to build enough energy to handle the few available part-time jobs, usually after missing a few other job opportunities trying to attend classes. The game forces you to constantly choose between these two exhausting, mandatory activities. Furthermore, when in a class, the game gives you the option to nap instead of engaging, rewarding you with the smallest possible curricular points. The entire experience feels like a race against the clock for a single school year—and honestly, I couldn't bear to play through enough days to find out exactly when this joyless transfer-year simulation finally ends. To top it off, you have to constantly micromanage energy levels, but the game is oddly restrictive. In my real life, I can down three cups of coffee just to function, yet Campus Life limits you to a single cup per day. This rigid time-and-energy management ensures the whole process feels less like a simulation and more like a never-ending, punishing chore. 📉 A Technical Mess Predictably, a host of technical faults weigh Campus Life down even further. Navigating the campus is a pain because the camera controls are utterly bizarre: they are bound to O and E on the keyboard, or a right-click-and-hold function on the mouse that never once worked for me. The interface (UI) is flat-out ugly, as the in-game screens clearly show. While the movement system (WASD or click-to-move) is fine, the overall visual presentation is so basic it looks like it could have run on a ten-year-old tablet with no problem. 💡 Final Verdict Ultimately, this entire experience is a chaotic mess. It's truly a shame, as the idea of playing as the student is a genuinely neat concept that gives it an edge over titles like Two Point Campus. Sadly, the game’s innovation begins and ends there. The whole thing needs a drastic overhaul before I could ever suggest spending money on it. Campus Life is an ambitious concept marred by frustrating design choices and technical failings. For now, you're better off skipping this digital institution and saving your money. I actually enjoy meticulous micromanagement in my real life, but I need a game to offer me fun and reward—not just exhaustion. If the developers ever address these core issues, I might be inclined to give it another shot, but for now, I need to find another game that provides some genuine joy without taking the fun out of life's necessary organizational tasks.

It has a lot of potential! Dev's please don't get too discouraged and keep working on updates. Campus life could and will be an amazing game in time. I've seen the work and updates that has been put in within just a weeks time. I'm excited and will play more in the future.

On my first load into the game the characters spoke only Spanish. I played for maybe 20 mins and was unable to really do anything because of the Spanish. The game wouldn't close and I had to restart my computer to get it to stop. Unfortunately I didn't notice right away and it ran for nine hours and I can't receive a refund for this game.

I downloaded this game as I got it in the House Flipper bundle (I already had house flipper) and I am disappointed. I was only playing for around 10 minutes or so before I had to leave the game, and I struggled to as my mouse disappeared on stopped working in the game. It's very buggy and I haven't even managed to get fully through the tutorial before having to leave. I saw all of the other negative reviews and thought that it may not be that bad, but unfortunately I do have to agree with the majority of the views: and not recommend this game.

Hi everyone the dev's have fix the bugs so far I only had two bugs one is where npc and my character are sitting but they don't sit in the right spot like they be sitting in air and my character does same when I try messing with computer or console in my room and second sometimes when I am riding my bike I get on stuck invisible object and only way to get free is by moving a bit but other than that the game so far is good and mini games are pretty fun and some are bit hard while others are easy and you have collect random stuff around the map and apparently you can call your mom to get some fun up which is next to your PC in your room and I have not talked to the people like Ray since I am busy with classes, jobs and maintain my character mood and I do spend some of the money while I also try save up for paying tuition by eating and drinking from water fountain and cafeteria which are for free, there are exams term 1 week 2 and press B for bike ride which you don't have pay for fast travel and so far I did not have bad bug and I will try add more when I get chance to play more.

this game is incredibly rough around the edges, but the vision is there. I wish there was a 'Just Ok' review of the game since this is where it is at the moment. If you enjoy chill cozy games, this probably is NOT for you. This gives me just as much anxiety as actual college and I actually enjoy it. There have been a few patches since release and it makes it easier to navigate self-study, classes, and social events. My biggest gripe is the camera and navigation, sometimes it's a pain to look for and select items I actually need to use.

This game is not as bad as everyone is saying. I find the game very interesting and am enjoying the game. Yes the game has bugs, but every game does when it first comes out. One of them being the tutorial when Ray just disappears from the game and you have to figure out where he is standing. Am I stating that this game is perfect not at all, but at least its a start. I also am very happy with how the developers actually care about making the game better. I do hope that they give us a better DLC for free than the support pack though to help the bittersweet release. I would say people should play it, but only if they really find this type of game interesting.

I bought the game partly because I see how the devs are constantly listening and improving it, and they really deserve the support. The game itself is pretty cool, and most of the reported bugs have already been addressed. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys campus-style experiences. It’s clear a lot of thought has gone into making this. I just don’t have the mental energy to play for long sessions..guess I’m getting old, lol.

Game goes black whenever fast traveling