The Best Games That Have You Play As A Teacher

Teachers are often a nurturing archetype in a broader story. They are mentors and guides throughout the hero’s journey. They often have knowledge or wisdom the player needs, or they might be an obstacle to a goal and the player must prove themselves in order to proceed. Then, on some rare occasions, players get to play as a teacher.

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As this list demonstrates, often the teacher is a playable character but is also part of an ensemble cast of characters. However, in each case, their status as teacher informs their abilities and the gameplay to some extent. Here are some of the best games that let you play as a teacher.

Honorable Mention: The Campus Manager From Two Point Campus

Watch Out For The Meat Wizard

There is a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes at a university, and it would be remiss to omit the chaotic campus simulator that is Two Point Campus. The player must make crucial decisions that affect the education and welfare of students and teachers alike. Players can intervene in student learning, sit in on classes, and determine the syllabus.

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What Two Point Game Would You Like to See Next?

Two Point Studios have released two hilarious management games: Two Point Hospital and Two Point Campus. The next entry in this series was announced in August 2024, and this time around players will get to design their dream museum with Two Point Museum. The question is: what comes next?

I would love to see Two Point Hotel, Two Point AirBnB, or Two Point Resort. They could even tackle all of these at once, by increasing the grandeur of buildings as gamers progressed through the game. The possibilities are endless here, whether it comes to amenities, rooms, guests, and hotel staff.

Like Two Point Hospital, the results can be absolutely disastrous and hilariously ridiculous. Knight School, for example, is a course that teaches medieval combat, and Egg Hunting is a challenge mode course that seems to consist of “eggscavation” time in the “Rabbit Hole.” However, there isn’t much “character” to the player character here, teacher or not, and Two Point Campus is much more management sim than teaching sim.

5

Raine Rage From Tales Of Symphonia

Wielding The Heart of Chaos

Raine is a young half-elf teacher and a player character in Tales of Symphonia. She is an optional but highly useful member of the team. She taught in Iselia before departing on the game’s rescue mission, and players get a glimpse into her classroom and her dynamic with the students.

Like many of the teachers on this lists who exist in fantasy worlds with class or unique skill-based fighting, Raine is primarily a defensive and supporting magic character. As an intelligent character, her niche talents are skills that involve high levels of knowledge. She is a healer and provides important enhancements and buffs to other team members.

4

Shibito Magire From Spirit Hunter: Death Mark 2

Shibito’s Shadow Foretells Death

Shibito Magire does not start Spirit Hunter: Death Mark 2 as a teacher, but rather goes undercover as a teacher to solve a string of disappearances and murders at a boarding school. While players only get glimpses into his classroom activities, his relationships with the students are a major focus of the game.

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He must navigate the ethical obligations of his new role while trying to get closer to students and gain information from them. This becomes increasingly difficult and complex as the story continues. To expand on this more would be to give away important plot points, but this game is one for the Japanese supernatural horror fans.

3

Byleth Eisner From Fire Emblem: Three Houses

“Let The Lesson Begin”

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July 26, 2019

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Byleth is a mercenary and the protagonist of Fire Emblem: Three Houses. Players can choose whether to play them as male or female. Archbishop Rhea recruits Byleth to become a teacher at the Officers Academy after he rescues students from bandits.

As a stat-heavy game series, the occupations and histories of the characters inform their skill set and what they can offer in combat, and Byleth’s teaching skills factor into his students’ fighting style. His personal skill is Professor’s Guidance, which provides a 1.2x experience gain bonus for Byleth and adjacent allies.

2

Cyrus Albright From Octopath Traveler

“You Should Have Studied Harder”

Octopath Traveler is a beloved JRPG that weaves together the stories of eight different characters. One of those characters is Cyrus, who is a teacher at the Royal Academy in Atlasdam. He is a Scholar class character and his special talent is Study Foe. Like Raine, he has physical damage output, but as an enthusiastic scholar of magic, he leans on formidable elemental attacks and his resistance to magic damage.

As with many of the games in which the player is a teacher, Cyrus has to navigate his ethical and moral obligations to his students, complicated by Therese’s advances. Luckily for Cyrus, he is blissfully unaware of her feelings.

1

Professor Hershel Layton From The Professor Layton Series

I Need No Other Name

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February 10, 2008

There must be something about archeology professors that leads them to get into all sorts of trouble. Professor Layton is an archeology professor at London’s Gressenheller University and is always on some high-stakes adventure, just like another very famous archeology professor. He is drawn into mystery and adventure in every game largely due to his renowned puzzle-solving skills.

The classic puzzle adventure game series Professor Layton sees the eponymous professor serving as a Sherlock Holmes-style expert consultant for Scotland Yard. His mentorship of Luke Triton and his exceptional knowledge of history and antiquities are the main ways that players engage with his profession.

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