On the one hand, I get the repetition and the monotony of the day to day. It seems that the dev's intention is to create a simulation of an actual college and the slow progression of relationships, knowledge, skills, etc. On the other hand, it's mind-numbing, especially considering that in some cases there doesn't seem to be any indication of progress towards milestone events.
For example, with the best friend, the player is advised to "just keep going to the Friday parties, something will happen" but there's no matter how much the player progresses their relationship with their best friend there's no suggestion of its evolution. One day it's business as usual, then you abruptly have a new option at the party, you have a binary choice to make with the friend that'll determine whether you two become sexually active or not, and then later romantic or not.
And then it's.. business as usual. More like a semi-romantic fuck-buddy than anything else.
Please don't misunderstand: there's a lot of writing here, and a relatively complex system of managing relationships, and the autonomous actions and events going on regardless of what the player is about. Every NPC is off doing things. The world is progressing along with the player. That is a substantial amount of work and an impressive achievement in a simulation.
It's not unlike Maxis' The Sims on a college campus yet with a whole lot of lewd sex (rather than the pixelated kind). The problem is that The Sims makes its repetition quite a bit more fun.
I realize this is quite the wall of text, so allow me to get into the suggestions (although I realize what I propose is quite a bit more work):
1. Add more options to the singular monotonous tasks.
For example, at the QuickieBurger, instead of just 'work' maybe it's "work the register" or "wash dishes" to start or something like that, but as the player gains experience (which seems to be tracked for the QuickieBurger already) those options expand. Maybe in addition to "work the register" they could "work the drive thru" or "flip burgers." There are already a variety of texts reflecting that the player does a variety of actions, but even just a few things like this change-up the monotony a bit and give the player a bit more agency. In the places where this has begun to exist (e.g. working out at the gym) it's definitely more engaging, but even the gym could have more options (e.g. spin classes, yoga, aerobics, cross-fit, etc.)
2. Reduce clicks wherever possible.
For example, if the player wants to go to the pool they must do the following (assuming they already made the money to buy a swimsuit, went to the mall, bought the swimsuit, and created an outfit with the swimsuit).
- Travel to the gym
- Go to the locker room
- Visit their locker
- Put on the swimsuit
- Swim
And after:
- Exit the pool
- Go to the lockers
- Shower
- Put on other clothes
- Use the restroom
I understand the need, as there are triggers reliant upon the player changing in the locker room, but that doesn't always occur and instead it's just a whole lot of clicks most of the time. For much of this game there is sooo much clicking all to address a relatively small chance of crucial random events.
Instead, if the player has already designated outfits for swimming or working out, upon entering the gym they could choose to either go workout, or go to the pool, and it could be presumed they went to the locker room first. That would be where the interrupting random event could occur. Same upon exiting: prompt the player to shower as ending their work-out or swim -- unless there's some triggering event that requires the player's hygiene be filthy? -- shower or leave the building, I suppose.
3. More indications of incremental progress. As I mentioned above, in some cases there are notable indicators of increased skill or changes in relationship, but in many there are not. You just repeat and repeat and repeat until something magically happens someday. I advise avoiding this if possible. Build anticipation through visible progress. As the players gets positive feedback on their repetition they're more likely to repeat it, knowing something awaits them, even if they don't know what that is. The hints are good, but it isn't enough.
