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Monday, September 8, 2008
School House Shuffle
School House Shuffle is a time management game, where you create a school and attempt to turn the kids into geniuses. Ms. Brighton, who is the school principal, talks like Charlie Brown's teacher.The levels start slowly, with one grade at a time. The grades are distinguished by hair color. The second grade starts at level 7. This is a school that you and I probably would wish we had attended. When kids get hungry or need to go to the bathroom, they get dismissed to the cafeteria or to the restroom.
To help corral the kids, the player starts with a hall monitor (if a kid passes within his range, (s)he will go back to class) and a chaperone (get it close enough to the kid and the kid will follow the chaperone). Money is earned as kids learn and at the end of the day. There is a bonus if the class performed well enough to earn an A. (Note: if there is a way to earn an A on the first two levels, I was unable to figure out the appropriate strategy.) The money purchases upgrades (faster restroom/cafeteria breaks, better classrooms for faster learning; additional staff to help with control the children; aesthetic improvements to the school).
What they did well: the music is good. It has several different themes: one that reminded me of the Incredibles; another that was very swing-style, and a third that made me think of Jerry Lee Lewis. I liked the personalization of the profile screen, where the player gets to name the school and pick a favorite class. The school name shows up on the play screen as well, which was a very nice touch. Also, the paper that was the background for the summary sometimes had some funny non-sequiturs. The gym, which reminded me of a hamster ball, was amusing.
What could have been better: Controls. It was difficult to click on the kids/monitor/chaperone/janitor, especially when the kids were in the gym. I would send a kid to the cafeteria to get something to eat, then click on the janitor to repair something. All of a sudden, I'd notice the kid was wandering off and not going to the cafeteria. That was pretty frustrating. For many parts of the game, I was waiting for something to happen. It was worse in the early levels, but even in the more advanced levels, I sometimes had nothing to do. It didn't make sense that the principal would be disciplining the classes, which acted up multiple times in the day. Each time she disciplined them, this annoying pop-up message would appear. Also, apparently the staff is not the cream of the crop, as they doze off and the principal must discipline them too.
I have to say that I was disappointed in the execution of this game. I expected it to be much more fun and enjoyable than it was. Instead, playing through felt a little bit like torture.
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