Review: High School Story

High School Story is a phone game created by Pixelberry Studios.

You are a new high school student in the area, and it is your job to make a better school than the local Hearst High School (booo Hearst). This is done by recruiting more students, building new facilities, and completing various quests that the characters present you with.

I was admittedly pretty dubious about this game when my sister told me about, especially because she described it as, "Farmville but with high school." But it gets really addicting really fast. The best thing about this game is the level of customization you get with all of your students (except for the plot-relevant characters that the game gives you, which you are not changable) as well as the campus itself. You can build classrooms and hangouts for your students wherever you want, as well as throwing in things like balloons and flower hedges.

One of the most fun features is the Isle of Love, where you can put your students on dates, including your own avatar and the plot-important characters. And, like in most things I review, you don't have to be in a straight relationship if you don't want! Woohoo! It's also really cool how, after sending the couple on a lot of successful dates, they move on from "Flirting" to "Crushing" to "Online Official" and probably a bunch of other levels that I personally haven't achieved yet. And while I'm on the subject of breaking out of social normacy, this game largely features people of color as the protagonists or antagonists instead of making everyone white (there are, like, 6 or 7 different skin color swatches to choose from).

I give this game an A- for its characters that actually make me care about them and its fun gameplay that makes you strategize to have optimal gain rather than tapping the screen endlessly like some other phone-based games. My only complaints are how the higher level you get, the longer quests and construction and other things take (once a couple is at Online Official, their dates can take upwards of 7 hours).
Still, I recommend this game; but just a friendly tip: don't spend all your rings too fast bc omg they are so important in later levels ok HOARD YOUR RINGS

You can download this app from Google Play.

this is my campus :)))

my avatar lmao yes lv6 nerd
and my gf rose (lv5 student gov)