PhD Simulator

PhD Simulator is a text-based strategy and life simulation game set within the world of doctoral study at a Chinese university.

Each month, you must decide how to spend your limited energy. Read academic literature, conduct research, write papers, or take time to recover—every choice affects your research progress, stress, and health.

Every paper must pass through multiple stages, from initial ideas and research to writing, submission, and peer review. Your work may be accepted, rejected, or returned for major revisions. Decide when to invest more effort, when to revise and resubmit, and how to manage several projects with limited resources.

When submitting a paper, you must also choose a target journal. The four journal tiers — general, higher-tier, international, and top-tier — have different quality requirements, review difficulty, and potential rewards. Choosing between a safer publication route and pursuing a more prestigious journal is an important strategic decision throughout your doctoral journey.

Your advisor can provide valuable guidance, but may also bring group meetings, administrative work, and unexpected requests. Maintain your relationship through regular interactions, pay attention to your advisor’s availability, and balance their expectations against your own research priorities.

As the years pass, graduation pressure and unexpected events begin to accumulate. Manage your workload, protect your health, and build a strong enough publication record to unlock your doctoral dissertation.

Key Features:

- Allocate your energy each month between research, advisor interactions, and recovery

- Experience the full academic paper process, including research, writing, submission, peer review, rejection, and revision

- Choose from four journal tiers and balance quality requirements, review difficulty, and potential rewards

- Manage research ability, stress, health, and academic reputation

- Interact with your advisor and respond to changing relationships and unexpected requests

- Face random events that can alter the course of your doctoral journey

- Build your publication record, complete your dissertation, and face the final review

- Play entirely offline with automatic saving