So how does Wizard School Dropout play?

Wizard School Dropout combines quick-run "coffeebreak" gameplay with longer-term character progression. Gameplay involves short heists to various locations to steal as much as you can or complete missions, then returning to your home base to sell your loot and improve your character.

In your tower (well, the mysteriously abandoned tower you're squatting in, which basically makes it yours right?), you have an unlicensed but probably mostly safe portal generator that takes you to other locations filled with both treasure and enemies. 

Generally you're seeking to steal as much as you can, while sneaking past, fighting, scaring, mind controlling, or otherwise encountering the inhabitants of the location along the way, though sometimes you may have a specific mission you're trying to achieve.

Once you're ready to head home, whether because you've gathered as much loot as you can carry, completed your mission, or are just running low on health and spells, you can head to a portal generator you've found in the area and return home. Although the areas you visit may have multiple floors or levels within them, as of right now you're not required to fully explore a location. You can bail out early if you want, as long as you can make it back to a portal alive, though the deeper you go the more valuable the treasures you encounter - and the more dangerous the inhabitants.

Once home safe, you can sell the loot you've acquired to a variety of buyers. While many buyers pay you money, some may pay you in favors you can use to buy items or services from them. Some may even offer to teach you skills or spells, or give missions.

Of course, you may not want to sell everything you've stolen. Many items will be useful to you personally, such as magic wands, potions, or powerful equipment.

Some items are also important for improving your spells, learning new spells, and otherwise improving your character.

Unlike many RPGs, you don't level up in Wizard School Dropout from killing enemies, exploring, or even completing missions. Instead, the XP-point equivalents (there are two: Mystic Insights and Secrets of [A Specific Magic Type]) are gained when you Study certain items - most notably Tomes of Knowledge, but there are many other items that can be studied as well. 

These Insights and Secrets can then be spent to improve or learn new spells and abilities. However, most items you can study are also monetarily valuable, so you have to decide whether or not it's more in your interest to sell them or study them, as studying them uses them up.

You'll also find spellbooks which can be used to teach you new spells or let you upgrade a spell, although of course they can also be sold as well. 

Studying magic takes time, though. The day is divided into four periods, two daytime and two nighttime. Going on a heist advances time, as well as many actions performed back at your home base, including studying.

What time of day you go on a heist makes a difference on the light levels outdoors, as well as what creatures you may encounter (you're not going to see vampires out in the sun, for example). But even more importantly, every in-game day that goes by causes the interest on your debt to accrue. You don't want to spend too much time holed up studying, because you're going to need to get back out there and earn more money to keep your debt from racking up too much.

Rise and grind. Success is not owned, it's stolen.