Black Chicken Studios sent me a review copy of their new PC life-sim RPG, Academagia a little while ago and I’ve been playing it off and on. It’s  basically a Harry Potter life simulator minus the license. And you know what? It’s pretty fun.

After you’ve created your character, you enroll at a big magic academy and then we’re fully in life sim territory. You’re given a calendar of events and the ability to choose up to 3 activities for each day. You have a ton of activities to choose from (with more being added as you progress) and at first, it’s a little overwhelming, but I quickly got into the groove and settled into a routine of attending classes, studying, improving skills, and trying to improve my relationship with other students. There are adventures you can embark on, areas to explore, and tons of random events (which play out in a Choose Your Own Adventure fashion where your stats and skills determine the success rate of the various choices).

The presentation is functional – lots of text, with some still images – with calm classical music.  Everything’s text and menu-based so twitch gamers beware, but for fans of calmer turn-based fare, there’s a lot to like here. The full version is a little pricy for an indie game at $25, but there’s a lot of content here, and the game feels like it’ll have a ton of replay value so the game should keep you busy for quite some time if it’s up your alley.

I just realized that I haven’t said anything about Ophidian Wars: Opac’s Journey which is a shame since it’s a quality game. It’s basically Metroid without enemies and with the ability to purchase upgrades ala an RPG. It’s a little rough around the corners, but even so, good Metroidvania-style games are hard to come by and this is a good Metroidvania. If Small Cave Games has done this well with their debut title, I can only imagine how awesome their next game will be (which from what I’ve gathered is more of an Action/RPG).

Ophidian Wars: Opac’s Journey is available on XBox Live Indie Games for 80 MS points.