Two Point Campus: Tips and tricks for beginners

Two Point Campus can be a tricky game to get into. Despite developer Two Point Studios’ best efforts to improve accessibility, tycoon games as a whole aren’t exactly newcomer friendly. For someone just starting out, managing a large campus and keeping on top of everything can be overwhelming. To help you out, we’ve put together some useful tips and tricks for Two Point Campus.

These tips are mainly for beginners that are just starting out their journey. Even so, players who have experience with management games, and even this game’s predecessor Two Point Hospital, can still benefit. In a game with as many mechanics as Two Point Campus, there’s always something new to learn.

Pay attention to the tutorials

This might sound like a no-brainer, but too many players overlook the tutorials. I understand in a lot of games they can be a drag, but Two Point Campus does an excellent job of explaining its mechanics in the scenario mode. Working through each scenario and taking a mental note of every new mechanic introduced is a great way to get started.

You begin by learning the basics of how courses work and then moving on to more complex mechanics like research and staff training. By the end of the last scenario, you should have a good grasp of what it takes to run a successful university. You can then take that knowledge into Sandbox Mode and get serious about creating your dream campus.

Prioritize happiness

You can have the most technologically advanced university on the planet, but it won’t matter if your students are unhappy. Happiness is the most important mechanic in Two Point Campus, as it affects just about everything else — how fast your students learn, how hard they work, and even if they are willing to pay their tuition.

By clicking on any student or staff member and then heading to the Mood tab you can figure out what’s making them unhappy. They could be tired, hungry, or dislike the environment they’re in. It’s a good idea to come back to this tab as often as possible, as it’s the best way to identify any key weaknesses of your campus.

Don’t expand too quickly

One of the best tips for Two Point Campus is to not expand too quickly. At the start of a game, it can be tempting to go all in. You might want to set up multiple courses, have several buildings filled with a variety of rooms, and hire a lot of staff to cover all possible outcomes. While these are all good ideas, implementing them too soon can backfire big time.

Every staff member saps away at your monthly profit. Every new room cuts into your overall balance. Expanding too quickly will leave you short-changed far faster than you may expect. Instead, it’s better to manage and sustain what you have, and only expand when the time is right. A good example of when to expand is just before the start of a new academic year. You’ll have new students coming through, which means consistent annual revenue to fund additional courses.

Efficiency over aesthetics

I understand the desire to make your university look as good as possible. Having a beautiful campus that you look forward to loading up is a great thing, but it isn’t practical. Prioritizing aesthetics is fine if that’s what you enjoy, but for those looking to get three stars on the scenarios and make the best university possible, it isn’t always possible.

Unless you want to spend a lot of money on purchasing new land, making the most of your available space is important. Some rooms like Lecture Theatres, Staff Rooms, and Private Tuitions can stay small and still work as intended. Equally, the space used for accommodation can be significantly decreased with smart bed and wardrobe placement. Figuring out these small optimizations will make a big difference in the long run.

Don’t complete every request

Another important tip for Two Point Campus is to understand the value of incoming student requests. These requests require you to spend Kudosh to unlock new items and place them on your campus. It’s a great way to gain some quick and easy happiness, but you don’t want to complete every request.

Kudosh is a limited resource that you can only gain through a handful of methods. A lot of the items students request have no long-term benefits. For example, spending 30 Kudosh on a random poster isn’t usually worthwhile because the default posters have the same long-term benefits. However, completing a request to purchase a new food machine is a great idea, as it helps satisfy happiness by fulfilling the request and avoiding hungry students.

Use the visualization tool

The visualization tool is an underappreciated means of gathering information in Two Point Campus. It can be selected by pressing the eye near the bottom left of the user interface. Then you choose if you want to see staff, students, or both, and which happiness measurement you want to view. Its main use is to identify troubled students and staff members quickly. Those who are scoring poorly in the selected category will appear bright red.

Another one of the best tips for using the visualization tool is that it lets you better judge the environment your students are working in. You can filter by attractiveness, temperature, maintenance, hygiene, and room prestige. These can all ruin your students’ education if they are not upheld. Use this tool to keep on top of these problems and fix them before they get out of hand.

End of Year Awards

At the end of each academic year, you’ll receive an array of information. This includes an overview of your pass rate, average exam results, dropouts, and how many students failed. In the early stages of a save this isn’t overly important, but as you expand, it becomes increasingly useful.

If your university has over 100 students, it’s basically impossible to monitor them all. Rather than go through them one by one and figure out how your university is performing, it’s much easier to consult the end-of-year review. You can then use the information gathered to figure out what to invest in before the next academic year. If your students are failing, you need to strengthen your existing courses. If they are performing well, it might be time to expand and add new courses to the curriculum.

Note: For more information about the game, check out our Two Point Campus guides and features hub.