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Ready to go back to school - now you can!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 58 / 66
Date: February 24, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I remember as a kid wishing I was in control of the high school, what changes I would make. Well Global Star Software has given everyone the chance to run a school of their own. Be careful, I thought it was going to be a snap and found out that planning ahead will certainly cut down on headaches later on.

You choices from the very beginning are what building to put and how many will you need. From there you have to create a school system that works and hire teachers, make sure you have everything looking good because the better the school looks I found the more students that will attend.

I also found too that if you forget to add a cafeteria you find the student revolting. The cool thing about this game is what you get to add to the school from a skateboard park to an arcade. While there user manual is a cute design, like a notebook, it lacks serious details about playing, but if you have played any "tycoon" games than you should be able to pick this up quickly.

The thing that reminded me most of my youth in school was the student body and how you can create the groupings like cheerleaders and preppies, to the athletes and those who like to get in trouble. If you really want some fun, you can even customize characters and add yourself to the school, virtually anything you can think of doing in or to a school is in this game.

While I do not get to play games all that often this one is captured my attention. Overall this one is great.

If I only had this game when I was in school!!!!!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 50 / 55
Date: February 25, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I thought this game was all around a blast to play...I would agree on the side that it does not have the depth as some other tycoon games have, but for twenty bucks it was a good balance between gameplay time and $$$$. Besides, you can play freestyle mode until your face turns blue...so ultimately it could go on for ever. The thing I liked the most, especially over most tycoons is that you get much more up close and personal with the carachters..they're not just random clones running around. I mean you have jocks, cheerleaders, nerds, etc. And every character has his own personality which really creates a feeling of social classes. Lots of teachers to choose from, each have pros and cons, so pick em wisely. The fun happy teacher isn't always the best choice=slacker students, etc. The graphics are creative and colorful, maybe not something you'd expect in a real sim, but once you've got a school built up, you'll be a proud principal. There's lots of little details, I could go on and on, but you can make kids goof off, go to detention, watch the trees wither and die with lack of maintenance crew. And watch out for those TORNADOS!!!! If you're looking for a game that's fun, lighthearted and easy to get into, this is one for you.

A Curiosity, at best

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 52 / 64
Date: September 04, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This is an extremely interesting concept for a game. I think the designers had a great idea, but didn't have the time or funding to pursue it much farther than it took to get it on the store shelf. We're definitely NOT talking "The Sims" here. Or even Zoo Tycoon-The Complete Collection.

Although I only played this game for a few hours, I found the early scenarios to be total no-brainers. I hate winning something in a minute and a half and not really knowing (and thus not really caring) how or why I did so.

The free-form option is extremely disappointing, in my opinion. In fact, it is so structured ("build style C of Building Z before you can even access style A of Building Y" and so on) that it's practically a pre-defined "scenario" in itself. When I have a free-form option, I actually expect to have some choices of what to do and when to do it. Like setting up a fully designed campus, for example, and trying to get it to work efficiently. Waiting the interminably long time that it takes to acquire cash (and the fact that one apparently has to maintain a low-grade English classroom -- for instance -- even while building a medium-grade one) makes progress and campus layout a real pain in the pants. An earthquake (in the game I was playing) didn't help when it resulted in damage that quickly ate up the $12,000 I had been patiently acquiring for other purposes. There is, apparently, no option for no disasters, just as there is apparently no option for setting the amount of starting funds or for designing a campus from scratch without reinventing the wheel each time, according to the designers set specifications. (If such options exist, I sure couldn't find them.)

The placement of certain objects is also a pain in the neck, especially trees and shrubs. And constantly moving or buying garbage cans isn't too realistic when it seems to become a necessity. Student and other "thoughts," while humorous at first, often don't convey anything too helpful. Why, for instance, would a student who apparently has a "frowning face" over his head have nothing but good to say about the school? Whatever.

All in all, perhaps more playing would allow me to increase my rating from two stars to three, but I don't think I'll be spending too much time working on the idea. There are other, far better simulations available. But I'm sorry that such a promising and creative concept falls short of the very enjoyable simulation adventure that School Tycoon might have been.

Rule Your School!

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 16 / 16
Date: February 23, 2004
Author: Amazon User

School tycoon may be published by global star software, but it was created by cat daddy games, the makers of the skateboard park tycoons, ski resort tycoons, and golf resort tycoon games (among others). It is not surprising then that the game bears a bit of a resemblance to these other tycoons.

If you can't figure out what the premise of school tycoon is about, go sit in a corner with the dummy hat on. It's a simulation/tycoon where you get to run a school. I was thinking it would be in one building, but instead you are given a large plot of land (much like in theme park world) and each classroom etc is its own building (kind of like college). The variety of buildings is large, and falls into the following categories: classrooms, administrative, entertainment, food/drink, and restrooms. But they are not just decorative; these students are demanding! They not only want top-notch education, restrooms and clean pathways but burger joints, arcades, mini golf courses, huge fountain areas and more. Also to keep all this stuff up and running you will need to utilize janitors, maintanence workers, and landscapers.

There are 2 modes of play - sandbox and challenge mode. There are 3 levels of challenges containing a total of 24 challenges. They keep the player occupied for a while, but once they are done sand box mode doesn't seem nearly as fun. There just isn't enough depth compared to other management/tycoon games.
The score is kept by time (you can go back and try to beat your time on the challenges) as well as a little box that tells you what grades you have in each category (academics, athletics, obedience, moral etc).

The graphics are cute and colourful, a bit cartoonish, but detailed. You can zoom in and out, and when you click on a building you are usually able to expand the view inside that building and watch your students in action inside. You will also see them trolloping around every time the bell rings, and can direct them to goof off or go to a detention center. Yes, sometimes your students will get out of hand and have to be sent to a detention center to get some obedience back!
You can hire all sorts of staff, with the most important being teachers. Lot's of different looking characters, with the looks generally reflecting the attitudes and skill. The 3 important factors to take into consideration when hiring a teacher are strictness, fun, and skill. All of these are important, so a balance is the sought after goal. Although some types of students (they have very different personalities as well) will complain about the teachers being too boring, too stupid etc. You can even create your own student (giving them the attributes and looks you want) to influence the types of students frequenting your school.

The game isn't exactly going for realism (I mean common mini golf courses and pizza restaurants?) but its fun for as long as it lasts. Which might not be super long, given the fact that it lacks the detailed management of a lot of other tycoons. But it's still a fun game, especially for the young at heart. And if you like this game, try out some other cat daddy tycoon games as they follow in the same style most of the time (although dealing with very different subject matters).

Crashes and stuff...

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 15 / 19
Date: July 08, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I have Windows XP. If you have Windows XP, TAKE GREAT CAUTION! I bought the game, and I installed it. I tried to load it the first time, and this blue screen came up, and my computer restarted (aka: crashed). It did that about every other time I tried to play it. I, personally, thought the game was sorta worth it... until my computer crashed over and over when I wasn't even on the game.

I uninstalled it, and reinstalled, that didn't work. I downloaded the thing that was supposed to stop the crashes: no result. Finally, I took all the files I wanted to save and moved them to a new computer screen name. Every game I've ever put on the laptop is on this name, except School Tycoon, and it hasn't crashed for me yet.

In conclusion: DON'T BUY IT!

And an end note: I shoulda known it was crap, it was made by GLOBAL STAR SOFTWARE, after all...

Not too Shabby!

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 9 / 9
Date: July 25, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Alas another in the never-ending saga of TYCOON games! What to make of this one?

Well if you aren't sure of the jist of the game from the title here's a quick summary: just as in all tycoon games you are the ethereal master and commander in charge of designing and running a school campus. Place buildings, supply needed services, and manage staff. You can follow a campaign mode and complete objectives or you can elect to do a free-build (sandbox mode) game.

Now for some points of review on the game itself!

+ Graphics: for a game of this type the graphics are just fine. In some places its quite cartoonish but it does seem to fit the concept of the game. The ability to rotate and zoom the camera at will is a great boon.
+ Sound: again for a game of this type the sound and music are fine. Nothing spectacular but not pathetic either.
+ Game-play: once you learn the basics of how to navigate the menus and find what you need the game is easy. The tutorial is weak but it helps to orient you to the interface. Once you're up and running (less than 15 minutes) navigating the game is simple.
+ Performance: the game ran perfectly on my system and given that the requirements aren't that steep you shouldn't have any issues unless you have an antique computer. If your system matches the game requirements you'll be all set. If you have any problems make sure you drivers are updated and disable any background programs (virus scanners, etc).
- Originality: even though the concept is cool - running a school campus - the implementation is rather boring. If you're familiar with other Tycoon games you'll get the drift really quick. It's more of the same old situation: build this and get that to build that... etc... Cool concept poor practice.
- Challenge: the very first game I played I was making plenty of money and had unlocked some of the more expensive and elaborate buildings almost by accident. There's no real way to measure you success with the students and teachers (at least nothing easy to access) so you have to just click and go. Perhaps it gets more difficult in the scenarios but the free-build game itself was a cinch.
- Depth: this is where the poor practice of a cool concept really hurts. There is so much possibility in a tycoon game that not to allow players to control it all is crazy. In this game you have very little detailed control over things - for some this is great but for those looking for that type of control this game doesn't have it.

Hope that helps!

Absolutely, Completely, Positively.........a snoozer

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: June 20, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This game was my friend's favorite, and I took his advice and bought it. It was really fun at first, but then I started to not be able to beat the Challenges and I went to the free campaign mode to play, and to make my school how I wanted. But then, the school isn't a school, it's a bunch of land that you make separate buildings for different classes on. Then kids kept leaving becuase of no bathrooms... even though there was one next to them. The cafeteria always had food poisoning. But the worst part of the game, the one that made this game a snoozer, was the fact that it was incredibly unrealistic. I mean, a roller coaster on a school campus? A skate park? A go kart arena? You have way too much money to buy these things and the students don't go to them. And then, there are deluxe buildings, which cost thousands, and people just don't go to them.
This game will trick you, so be careful. Don't buy it, is my advice.

Pretty Fun Game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: November 06, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Hi I'm Jenna and I am 14. This game is not the best game, but mainly pretty fun. The main problem most people have while playing this game is the low money. There is an easy way to fix that. On most game cheats web sites they have a cheat to make your money as high as you want it. Don't think me a bad person for cheating, because I guarantee you much better game play with more money. The only problem is that you have to start out buying all the portable classrooms, and they unlock the bigger ones. This becomes extremley annoying because if you buy the portable ones, and delete them after you have unlcoked the bigger ones, the big ones are no longer unlcocked. Therfore, you have to buy both, and once you have purchased the bigger ones, then delete the portable classrooms. All in all, this makes a complete mess of your campus and makes you want to stop playing.
Besides all that, this game is fun because you can create your own students and teachers, and it teaches responsibility for younger children. I believe this game is worth your buy, especially if you enjoyed Zoo Tycoon, Roller Coaster Tycoon, or The Sims.

COOL!!!!!!!!!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 11
Date: October 24, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This game is soooooo cool! Some problems are:

you can't name the school

things catch on fire and there is NO fire department

some thing are over dramatized( the detention has land mines and security cameras)

Some good thing are:

you can create students it's fun makeing me and my friends and family

you can see inside the school

you can see what people are thinking

I thought it was a good game

This game is good and bad.....

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: February 25, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I love the idea behind this game but it has some major performance issues. I have an advanced graphics card and stuff but the game freezes frequently and I have to turn my computer off without shutting it down. If it does not freeze it will completely crash my computer and restart it. If you can actually get this game to work on your computer its awesome! I think that they definitely need an upgrade to this game though.

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