Review by Art Sqool

Game

The biggest problems with Art Sqool come from the gameplay. It has one of the worst control systems of any game I’ve ever played. From the very first time you try to move, it becomes clear that the developer is not an experienced game designer. For example, the camera system is very faulty. You cannot move the camera and instead you are stuck to only look in the direction the character is facing.

Getting around seems completely unintuitive. This is an even bigger problem when you consider that you have to fly around other islands to reach different areas. When it becomes a chore to explore the world around you, most people won’t want to do it. Art Sqool prompts you to investigate it, but effectively prevents you from doing so.

The other problem concerns the classification system. Art Sqool promises an artificial intelligence professor who can evaluate the work. Yet, sadly, he fails to deliver in that regard. The assessment is completely arbitrary. Submitting the same job multiple times will give random votes on each occasion. While the developer is attempting to point out that criticizing the art is a totally futile endeavor, it makes the whole experience somewhat meaningless.

Final verdict

What Art Sqool does best is to put you at ease in creating. Even if he judges you, he never tries to bring you down. The whole experience was designed to let your imagination flow and inspire you to draw. From this point of view, the game is a huge success. Even those like me, who would normally have a hard time knowing where to start, will find it easy to motivate themselves.

Unfortunately, this happens all too often at the expense of other areas. Some of the choices in terms of level design and controls actively make the game more difficult. You’d practically think Art Sqool was trying to hinder your progress rather than encourage you to explore. What was a good idea on paper doesn’t hold up as a game. At least not in the way it is implemented here.