Kariosoft's game "Pocket Academy" is unique in its own way compared to their last two games I have previously reviewed, those being "Ninja Village" and "Mega Mall Story." However, it's missing certain components from these games that made them fun and enjoyable to play.
"Pocket Academy" puts the player in charge of running an academy with the job of not necessarily managing the biggest school out there but instead displaying that your learning system works and that you have the best school spirit. I mean sure, you can create things like libraries, music rooms, and class pets, but in the end, they all affect how well your students learn in a subject. These subjects are math, English, Spanish, science, and history.
The one major thing that "Pocket Academy" doesn't excel at is the tycoon aspect of a simulation game. With the game revolving around mostly how the students are performing in class, there is less attention to how money is earned in the game. At times when I had first begun playing, I found myself going bankrupt within a couple of minutes. "Pocket Academy" requires planning and strategy in order to keep your school up and running. With this being said, this game requires a lot of time and patience as you will find yourself constantly waiting until you have enough money to do anything, from building a new facility or hiring faculty. What I also did not like was the game didn't really give a good description of what each facility did towards your students learning. I often would be blindly placing buildings down not knowing what they would do.
The one thing that "Pocket Academy" does that's different from the rest of Kariosoft's games is that you feel more invested in the characters since this game focuses way less on being a money tycoon. At times I would find myself spending my time trying to help a specific student improve in a course they were struggling in the most. To see them succeed and improve felt satisfactory and put a smile on my face.
"Pocket Academy" is overall is an interesting game that changes game mechanics compared to other Kariosoft games. However, this game just felt over the top to me compared to other simulation games.
