When I first saw the words "National Academic Master", my first reaction was that kind of hot mobile game that said "the first deposit of 6 yuan will give you an SSR teacher" that filled the screen. Especially the "universal" one. Today's mobile games love to use this as a fig leaf. In fact, it's all about rankings, guild battles, and sign-in gift packages. But I'm a bitch, and I just like to find something to play with in the trash. But after I clicked on it and played for half an hour, I found that it really wasn't the case.
This game is a pure stand-alone business simulation. You become the principal, recruit teachers, accept students, arrange courses, build campus, and watch the little kids struggle from passing the exam to being admitted to Tsinghua University and Peking University. There is no forced social interaction, no world channel, no PVP, and even the recharge entrance is damn hidden - I searched around, but I couldn't find a place to make money. Is there such a game these days? The developer is Shanghai Gumo Information Technology Co., Ltd. The name sounds like a takeaway company, but the products they make are much more conscientious than those big manufacturers.
The gameplay is actually not complicated. It just arranges teachers, balances subjects, and handles student incidents. However, the numerical design is very clever. You have to keep an eye on the top students, but you cannot give up on the poor students, otherwise the average score in the college entrance examination will be lowered. I originally thought it was just mindless learning, but it turned out that each student has a different personality, expertise, and family background. Some are suitable for competitions, some are suitable for art, and some have puppy love that affects their studies. You have to adjust like a real principal. The satisfaction of this "light strategy" actually made me forget that the card drawing game next door gave me a repeating character.
What surprises me most is its rhythm. There are no physical limitations, and there are no recharge pop-ups that pop up every few minutes. You can play until three in the morning without anyone stopping you. Although the painting style is a bit earthy and the UI feels cheap, the gameplay is solid and none of that matters after you get into it. There are not many games these days that can allow you to calm down and be a "principal" rather than a "dog gambler".
I'm not saying it's awesome, but if you're tired of those “mobile game masterpieces” where you go online every day to clear your stamina, spend money to draw cards, and have your head pressed to socialize, and want to find a pure development simulation where you can control your own rhythm, this game is worth a try. Anyway, I'm not a bastard, and it won't do me any good to trick you into playing. I just feel that this kind of “stand-alone spirit” that doesn't force you to spend money or make friends is almost extinct on the mobile platform. Let's just count it out if we encounter it.
Finally, the "zero charging model" is true. I also checked the application permissions and there were not even a few network requests. I am afraid the developer is not doing charity. Anyway, I played all night, and now all I can think about is how to get that unlucky kid who got 8 points on the math test back on track, which is more important than my own college entrance examination. That's it, believe it or not, I'm going to deal with the problem of students' puppy love first. 😤