PhDing in the UK

PhDing in the UK is a pixel-art life sim about a Chinese student doing a doctorate in Britain. You manage thesis deadlines, meet your supervisor and deal with missing home, while academic arguments, vivas and group meetings become turn-based card battles.

Manage student life

Every waking hour counts. You choose whether to write, read, cook, exercise or stare into space, with the clock and thesis deadline continuing to advance. Away from your thesis, you can fish by a park lake, roll dice at a casino or work a shift to afford a chair that will not hurt your back. These activities do not advance your thesis, but they affect the shape you take into the next fight.

You travel between terms and to conferences, visiting places from Tokyo backstreets to Roman ruins. The story begins after you arrive between Heathrow and a rented room in Sheffield as a PhD student.

Build your deck

You learn different schools of skill cards from different supervisors and curate them within a strict capacity. You then use your arguments in turn-based showdowns against academic crises.

Build relationships

Labmates and friends have their own personalities and deep-talk arcs. You can form close bonds, and who you open up to becomes part of your ending.

Shape your future

Your choices determine who you become by graduation, with multiple possible endings.