Exclusive Two Point Campus: Space Academy interview with Designer Ben Huskins!

2022 has been a great year for Guildford’s many game studios, including Two Point Studios who released their follow up to 2018’s Two Point Hospital - Two Point Campus - in August. Campus was a hit with the sim game playing community, gaining 1 million players on Game Pass!

Hot on the heels of Campus’ launch, and in true Two Point style, the first DLC - Space Academy - launched in December ‘22. G.G were lucky enough to get an exclusive interview with Two Point Studios Designer Ben Huskins to get some insider insight on sending Two Point into orbit….

OK Ben, we hear you’re the man in the know - Tell us a little about what to expect from Two Point Campus: Space Academy?

Two Point County is reviving its long dormant space program, and opening its arms to a whole new set of students. It’s your job to educate the next generation of space pioneers. So expect wannabe astronauts learning to deal with zero-gravity in a giant fish bowl, lessons in how to command a spaceship and how to engage in armed combat with space-ruffians. 

There’s also been a lot of interest from intergalactic students keen to study the humanities. You’ll be mining space rocks for precious resources (cheese, primarily), and even establishing the first offworld campus - it’s higher education in a very literal sense. Players will be able to explore 3 new campus locations, 6 new courses and student archetypes, and lots more!

Wow - you guys are the kings and queens of DLC! I bet the community have loved it, what have you enjoyed the most from any streams or youtube videos you’ve watched?

I’ve loved seeing people react to the alien students in the later levels. They’ve got so many great animations, and the cheese-mining aliens in particular look so ridiculous, it’s hard not to laugh even when they’re doing fairly normal everyday activities. Watching a couple of big yellow space goblins fall in love over a romantic meal in the Student Union never fails to warm the heart.

One thing that people always call out about Two Point games are the fantastic and often hilarious animations - the team always nail it! And more Campus courses means more anims, so which would you say is your favourite new course?

One of my favourite new courses is Space Knight School, where students learn the offworld equivalent of the more traditional land-based knighthood. Space Knights must become proficient in the noble art of intergalactic conflict resolution, which usually involves smacking each other into a big hole in the Battle Space classroom. Imagine if Darth Maul had applied to go on the popular 90s British TV show Gladiators, that’s the best way I can think to describe it.

Old skool reference, there Mr Huskins. Thankfully I’m *just* old enough to get it ;)

Two Point Studios have repeatedly given players free updates and plentiful DLC - what do you think keeps legacy players coming back to TPS again and again?

I’d like to think it’s because we keep our games lighthearted, putting a slightly absurd twist on something relatable. We also try to make our games as approachable as possible, but with layers of depth that players can discover as they progress.

What’s been the best moment of your time at Two Point Studios so far?

Two Point Hospital had a glorious bonus item, the golden toilet, and I had the honour of revealing it live on stage at EGX Rezzed in London. The fact we had an actual (ahem, spray-painted) gold toilet really brought the whole thing together. I still remember the gasps as we unveiled it. A career highlight. Not sure what happened to it afterwards. It sat next to someone’s desk at the Sega office for months, but now it’s gone. I like to think someone boxed it up and wheeled it into a warehouse full of other lost treasures, like the final scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Great news, we‘ve located the video of the fabled golden bog so we can all relive the moment:

Pulling it back to a serious question…if you could spray any item in Space Academy gold in real life, what would you choose?

Ooh, that’s a tough one, there are so many I’d love to have in real life! I think I’d have to pick the Cosmic Power Wash. It’s like a car wash for the human body (and humanoids of alternative planetary origin, of course). It’d be a great way to sanitise after a visit to the golden toilet. Plus I’m pretty sure it could be modified to spray other things gold - handy!

To finish off, could you give us a hint of what’s next for Two Point? Go on! Please?!

We’re keen to keep updating Campus, with quality-of-life updates and more. We recently released Challenge Mode, with Halloween challenges and now a festive winter challenge - that’s a whole different spin on the game. We’ve also been doing other seasonal updates with free items, outfits, wallpapers, etc. Plus we’ve got modding coming in 2023 - I can’t wait to see what people do with that! We get lots of great feedback and suggestions from the community too, so that’ll help shape the future of Campus.

And beyond Campus, well I’m sure we’ll come up with some reason to explore new parts of the County and the lives of its little people!

Thanks Ben! It’s been lovely to get your take on all things Two Point and we’ll be keenly awaiting the next TPS instalment!