University Empire Tycoon Beginner’s Guide: Tips, Tricks & Strategies to Establish a Successful University

Spain-based Codigames is a developer mostly known for its engaging tycoon games such as Prison Empire Tycoon, Idle Supermarket Tycoon and Hotel Empire Tycoon, just to name a few.

The studio has recently expanded its portfolio with a new addition called University Empire Tycoon. As the title clearly suggests, players who take up this game will be put in charge of managing and expanding a university. Codigames’ latest idle clicker packs most of the features players already know and love, but also boasts enough twists to challenge even the more experienced gamers.

You start off at the head of a minor collage with only a Humanities department, and so your chief task is to use every resource you have available to ensure that the school grows and prospers. To achieve this goal, you should immediately embark on a campaign to gather funds and invest towards the development of the campus. You have quite a long journey set out before you until your university can reach near Ivy-League status, but with enough patience and dedication you’ll get there eventually.

University Empire Tycoon is a game that’s best played in sessions. Given that it takes time to collect cash and to build new campus areas, the best strategy to approach this game is to alternate gameplay with frequent breaks. Codigames’ latest title is also a lot more demanding than most idle games out there, so you must pay great attention to all descriptions before you make a move.

If you’ve recently picked up University Empire Tycoon but you’re less than satisfied with what you’ve accomplished so far, then perhaps you’re simply in need of a few suggestions to point you in the right direction. For this reason, we’ve put together this University Empire Tycoon beginner’s guide which is packed with tips and tricks meant to help you fully grasp the game’s mechanics and allow you to revise and improve your overall campus management strategy so that your university can reach world class status.

1. Keep The Income Multiplier On

The two main sources of income in University Empire are the grants and tuition fees. The two combined represent the revenue you receive each hour and it’s important that you actively work to increase this amount as much as possible. Tuition should be your main focus, as its possible to boost this revenue by building new departments across campus, as well as improving the existing facilities such as the canteen, gyms or class rooms. As for grants, these are automatically calculated and will increase as you make progress.

To view your balance per hour, select the Menu button in the top-right side of the screen and then find for the Statistics section. Here you will be able to see the money you have coming in, as well as the payments that cover wages and energy costs.

You’ll need all the money you can get in University Empire Tycoon, especially in the early stages. So, in order to increase the speed at which cash accumulates it would prove very useful if you could turn on the Income Multiplier and ensure it remains active. You can find this power-up at the bottom of the display.

You’ll be required to watch an ad to gain access to 10 minutes of boosted income. It’s possible to watch up to six ads in a row in exchange for one full hour of doubled profits during which you won’t have to worry about constantly checking to see if the power-up is still active.

We realize that repeated ad watching can be highly annoying, but in this case willingness to do so can easily accommodate an increase in budget without you putting in much effort. Given that cash is vital to your efforts, spending a few idle moments while the Income Multiplier fully recharges, doesn’t sound like such big of a deal.

2. Start Improving Your Campus And Cover All Areas

Players start off the game with the Humanities/Philosophy department already in place, so they don’t have to worry about building this one. The structure is divided into several chambers and it’s your job to furnish and improve the conditions in each of them.

To give you an example, start adding things to the classroom such as student desks, bookshelves, a blackboard and so on. Every item you buy will bring its own contribution to your hourly profits. So for instance, adding a level 0 couch to one of the professor room’s will boost your income with 0.5 cash points.

Outside, your faculty is surrounded by gardens which represent your students’ relaxation area. Make sure you divert funds toward their improvement as well. Build statues, add benches and your students will be happier and less stressed.

The cafeteria and gyms are additional areas that need your attention as well. Each cater to different student needs, which when met help elevate moods and lower fatigue-levels. We’ll discuss more about this topic in section 11.

3. Increase Maximum Money And Energy Capacity

In your haste to provide the best conditions for your students, you might end up neglecting one of the most important buildings in campus – the Dean’s building.

It’s essential that you prioritize upgrading this edifice, which is actually the central control unit of your campus. The Dean’s building acts like a bank and so accommodates all your profits, but the game sets caps on the amount you can keep at a given time.

At first you can only collect 50,000 in cash, after which you are required to expand the Dean’s building capacity if you wish to keep more. Unless you upgrade the structure, additional cash coming in will be lost to you. Keep in mind that additional conditions might be imposed on you before you are allowed to level up the building using cash. For example, you will need to add extra safe deposit boxes (for storing cash), which requires that you conduct several sessions of research. (which we talk more in-depth in the next section).

In addition, energy is needed to keep your campus functional. Each building on the grounds uses an amount of energy, for example the level 2 Math department operates on 30 energy points. Keep an eye on the energy meter at the top of the display (the lightning bolt) and make sure you don’t exceed your maximum, or you will get penalized. For example, exceeding the cap with 35 energy points will cost you 300 bills per hour.

So before building a new structure, make absolutely sure you have enough energy points left to accommodate the needs of the new facility, or suffer the consequences. You can extend the energy limit, by tapping the “+” button right next to the energy bar. For example, in exchange for 50,000 cash you can add 75 energy points to the already existing 200.

4. Add More Courses To Your University

Once you’ve collected a nice amount of cash, adding new faculties to your campus becomes a priority. First, you need to do some Research to unlock new areas of study. Tap on the flask icon in the top right corner to go to Research. Here you can pledge funds to add new career paths to your university. For example, by researching Art Studies you will be able to add a new Art Department to your campus.

Research takes a few hours to complete, but once it’s done you’ll notice a “+” symbol around campus where you can build your new department in exchange for more cash. The Research section isn’t solely dedicated to bringing new courses to the university, and also features an Economy and Employees tab. Here you can improve the stats for your other buildings and staff members.

We’ve explained in a previous section that in order to expand the Dean’s building you’ll have to invest in research to improve things like “Safe Deposit Boxes”, which you will be able to find in the Economy section.

In addition, once you start hiring professors and other staff workers, you can go ahead and begin exploring the Employees tab. Here you can work to improve employee workflow and dynamics. For instance, “Efficient Cleaning” reduces maintenance staff cleaning time by 5%. A lot of stuff in this section has a direct impact on students’ wellbeing. “My Friend the Calculator”, for instance, will reduce fatigue of pupils studying in the Math faculty.

Keep an eye on the Research tab and make sure you take up the opportunities for improvement as they gradually become available to you. Do note that some of them can get quite expensive, so make sure you have enough money beforehand. If you don’t, continue to earn by taking breaks from the game to speed things along.

5. Take Extended Breaks From The Game

Speaking of which – while being active in the game enables you to collect some decent amounts of cash, the more effective approach of scoring larger sums is to take breaks from the game. These don’t have to be too long, an hour spent doing something else is enough to allow for some nice rewards to accumulate. Upon your return to the game, you can redeem the cash prize. Always make sure you use the Double rewards button and watch an ad so you can double the profits.

Once you’re back in the campus, go ahead and make some changes: start building a new facility, do some research or take a look at the latest applicants, and then take a break again. Alternating between quick gaming sessions and breaks will ensure a steady cash flow is always coming in.

Remember that improving things around campus costs copious amounts of money. Idle rewards are your best source of income, especially in the early stages, when you don’t have enough cash coming in from student tuition and grants. This will change as your university campus evolves, but in the beginning taking lots of breaks is the key to getting access to decent profits, so you can pay for improvements.

6. Pick And Assign Your Professors Carefully

A department can’t function without dedicated professors to inspire and instruct the students. Its once again your task to start hiring new educators and you can do so by tapping on the Einstein-looking icon in the lower right corner and start reviewing applications.

In order to get the best educator available to join your school, you need to understand the symbols that are listed next to each candidate. Each represents a particular skill. Let’s take a look at Jack, who has 6 points in Tech, 139 points in Science/Math, 12 in Fine Arts, 83 in Humanities, 37 in Economics and 54 in Sports. Based on this assessment, it would be a wise choice to assign him to the Math department. His second best strength appears to be Humanities, so perhaps you might find him a seat there in the absence of other worthy candidates.

Moreover, these applicants boast additional capabilities. For example, some are happy and confident (check the happy faces listed underneath the skills) and these qualities will positively impact the moods of students attending their respective classes. That’s why you might want to think twice before passing over a Professor with a constructive attitude like that.

Each teacher also brings in a number of prestige points to the table. These contribute to your university’s overall prestige, so make sure you keep that in mind when making the hires, as well. University prestige comes in focus at the end of an academic year, when you compete against other schools.

Each candidate has their own salary expectations, but you can always attempt to negotiate the sum. Your chances of success will be listed below, as you try and decide the amount you’re willing to spend. Once you’ve decided on the sum, submit your offer and see if the professor accepts. You should use this method when, for example, you’ve stumbled upon a particularly attractive applicant and you want to make sure they’ll agree to come on board by offering a sum they are certain to accept.

7. Don’t Use Gems To Speed Up Constructions

Gems are a type of premium currency in University Empire Tycoon that are not easy to procure. Initially, the game awards you a free bundle, but we suggest you hold on to it for as long as you can.

Opportunities to spend Gems usually pop up when you’re building new structures on the grounds. Since a new construction takes time to be completed (a couple of hours, at least), you’re given the option to speed things up by using Gems.

We encourage you to abstain from doing so, and instead to use those precious stones to hire outstanding professors. Bringing them on board comes with many benefits like students learning faster and your university’s prestige getting a boost.

Go to the Shop by clicking the shopping cart icon in the bottom left of the display and scroll down until you find the Headhunter. Use the Gems you’ve hoarded so far to acquire teacher card packs. You can get a free Basic pack every few hours in exchange for watching an ad, while an Advanced package will take you back with 80 gems. The Best option costs 120 shiny rocks.

But to get the most extraordinary teachers you’ll need to spend Tokens. These are extremely scarce resources and in order to unlock one of those special packs you’ll need 80 of them. So how on earth are you going to get so many? Well, the trick is to buy many Advanced and Best packs and then fire some of these teachers in exchange for Tokens. Do so until you accumulate enough Tokens to unwrap a package containing the most gifted applicants out there.

8. Complete Missions To Get More Gems

Need more Gems? You can supplement your reserve by completing missions. Go to the Mission section in the lower right corner of the display (the checkbox). Here you’ll find a list of tasks that you need to complete in order to receive some Gem rewards. Each individual task is worth a sum of money and you’ll be required to complete three to unlock the precious stone rewards.

So for example, building a couch in the professor room will be rewarded with 1,500 cash. Check to see what are other tasks need doing and get to work if you require more Gems.

Sometimes the Missions section is a good place to check if you’re at a loss to what to do next in the game. You can drop by every time you feel like you need some ideas. Alternatively, you can also tap on the lightbulb icon in the upper right corner to see a list of “Recommended Enhancements” that should be performed.

9. Attract More Students To Your University

The more students decide to enroll into your university, the more money you’ll make. So how do you make sure you bring more students onboard? Obviously, the main method you have at your disposal is to open up new departments at your college. As you expand your campus, your student population will increase as well.

Additionally, make it a point to improve these buildings especially the classrooms. Adding more desks, for instance, will have the effect of accommodating more students in the department.

You could also lower the minimum grade required students need to enroll in the next course to minimum, so you can get more applications in. Just make sure you factor in your current capacity as well, then you decide to lower the requirements, as you might not be able to handle and process all th applications coming your way.

10. Earn Some Bonus Cash

Still need more money? A good way to earn some extra cash that is to actively enroll your students into competitions. Start by applying to low-difficulty ones and send in students with a higher aptitude in a particular filed. If it’s a Science competition, then you should be on the lookout for students who excel in this area. Choose wisely for a chance to win a nice cash prize.

Another way to make some quick bucks is to take up the Cash Grant offers that pop from time to time on your display. Watch a quick ad in exchange for a state grant. Remember, ads are your friends in University Empire Tycoon, so don’t be afraid to spend a bit of time watching some. They can bring you palpable benefits.

11. Keep Student Fatigue In Check

Students come to learn at your university, and the pace of which they do so varies based on different aspects. In the Management section (top right corner, middle icon) you can select your school’s course difficulty. The more difficult a course, the more knowledge your students will gain in a shorter amount of time. The major drawback here is that your students will also become exhausted more easily.

It’s important to manage your students’ stress levels so that you can prevent them from becoming upset and thus unable to learn as quickly. A way to counter these effects is to focus on improving the relaxation areas in your campus. For example, levelling up the gardens to level 3 will improve the student’s stress endurance with 2%. Improving canteen facilities, as well as the gyms will also boost overall mood, so make sure you work towards diverting steady funds into these areas.

At least during the initial phase of the game, it would be better to set the difficulty between 30-50% so you don’t have to constantly deal with exhausted students while you strive improve the conditions of your campus.

12. Hire Additional Staff

While professors are your university’s most important human resource, you school won’t be able to run smoothly without some additional help. Look for the Staff section, which resides in the upper right corner and tap on it. Here you can hire Janitors and Cooks. Initially you get only 5 positions for Maintenance and 3 in Cafeterias.

Once you’ve got these workers on board, make sure to visit the Employees section in Research and pour resources into the available improvements. For instance, “I’ll Fix It in a Jiffy” will reduce cleaning times of your maintenance staff with 10%. To expand the number of employees you can bring on board, you can take advantage of options like “Maintenance Staff I” which increases

What about the workers whose job is to build new facilities in your campus? You have one crew at your disposal by default, but what if you want more? To be more operative, it would be a good idea if you could start construction of multiple buildings/upgrades at once. But with only one active crew, this proves impossible to do.

Unfortunately, in order to get a second group of builders on board, you’ll need to get your wallet out and spend some real-world cash. You have no other choice. Having a sole construction crew active and working is a big constraint on how fast you can progress in the game. If you feel like that is unacceptable, then you can go ahead and pay for a second crew via the Shop.

With this last tip we wrap up our University Empire Tycoon beginner’s guide. We hope that our collection of tips and strategies will be able to effectively jumpstart your college campus adventure. If you have anything you might want to add, in regards to additional tricks that haven’t been included in this guide, we invite you to share them with us in the comment section below!