REVIEW — It’s a calm, three-dimensional management simulator about wizards, and while that sounds promising on paper, the reality is something else entirely. What we have is an utterly forgettable game that only a niche portion of players will recall in a few months. It has some decent aspects, but they aren’t enough to make the experience memorable — unless superficiality counts.

It’s hard to even fill the character count for a review of The Planar Danse‘s game, which says a lot about why this title didn’t receive a higher rating.

Snoring during gameplay

The premise: there’s a wizarding school. Not Hogwarts, mind you, but an obvious bootleg. Apprentice wizards enter the first door, and your job is to place objects required to educate them. After a few in-game hours, students take an exam. If they pass, they graduate. If they fail… they die.

Obviously, graduation is the better outcome, since successful exams earn you money. When students study, you earn points, which are used to upgrade and expand your magical tools and room objects. These upgrades increase learning efficiency, reducing the time needed for students to succeed. The gameplay loop? Study → earn money → spend money. That’s it.

Changes in gameplay or strategy? Don’t count on it. Improvements happen slowly and incrementally. In fact, there’s barely a reason to engage with the game actively. You can play this half-asleep — which, rather than being a feature, makes TFA feel more like a chore than entertainment.

The game is shallow. It fails to qualify as a management sim, really. It’s basically on par with Banana — a game that literally involved clicking a banana. Here, you wait for students to walk in. Wait for them to learn. Wait for them to take exams. You don’t manage personalities, make hard decisions, or strategize. That’s why it won’t score high: even with a bit of magical flair, this title is as deep as a puddle during a drought.

No forward planning. No dynamic problem-solving. And that’s the core flaw: at its heart, it’s a glorified Cookie Clicker with a 3D skin. And that’s just sad.

Patience Game

This isn’t about knowledge; it’s about how much patience the player has. You won’t feel like a headmaster — just a janitor. No major issues arise. The students have no individual traits. You just watch numbers rise slowly and hope you don’t lose your mind.

Anyone lacking the patience will drop it fast — and rightly so. While the visuals aren’t terrible, they’re deceptive. The art style is pleasant enough. Animations are decent. The atmosphere, at first glance, is acceptable. But that’s all that can be said. Depth was sacrificed for style, and as a result, there’s no room for leniency.

You throw spells at students to help them learn… which sounds fun, but isn’t. Not even close. Sure, the game doesn’t cost €70 — it launched at €16 and is already down to €12 just two and a half months later. On Steam, it has a total of 38 reviews, 60% of which are positive — a fitting match for the score it’s going to receive here.

It’s buggy too: summoned tables sometimes can’t be moved, and some summons never appear. There’s virtually no customization, and the game leaves players hanging quickly. It just doesn’t feel finished.

Boredom in Wizard’s Robes

To be blunt: The Fool’s Apprentice is fucking boring. It cannot be recommended. It earns a 6/10 because as an idle clicker, it technically functions — but as a management simulator, it fails. It’s shallow, incomplete, and hollow. If it goes on sale for €1–2, maybe then it’s worth a look. Otherwise? Skip it. Regardless of platform, this game needs depth to stay afloat. If it hasn’t sunk already.

-V-

Developer: The Planar Danse
Publisher: The Planar Danse
Genre: Cookie Clicker clone disguised as another genre
Release Date: April 14, 2025