Game update: 25/12/13

I hope everyone had a great Christmas! The day was capped with a late update.

Notification for latest Christmas update

I didn't expect an update on Christmas Day, and didn't actually see it myself until Boxing Day morning. Apologies for the lateness of this update post, but hey it's the holidays! Here is the full list of new additions:

Tables:

• Ornament Ball - 40,500 coins

Chairs:

• Ornament Ball - 2 gems

Wall decorations:

• Turtle Doves - 3 gems

Floor decorations:

• Festive Frenchie - 7 gems
• North Pole - 45 gems (LTO)

Wallpapers:

• Ornament - 5,000 coins

Counters:

• Ornament Ball - 6,800 coins

So a small update, but still more than I expected in all honesty. There is also a new recipe which will have been missed by many - more on it shortly.

Let's start with the North Pole, which is a limited time offer.

North Pole limited time offer

This floor decoration is available until Monday, and is worthy of a closer look. So I cleared some space in my restaurant to have a preview of it:

Preview of North Pole

The North Pole is 3x3 in size, and looks decent enough. But I'm not willing to part with 45 gems for it. There isn't quite enough going on (compare it to last week's LTO, Grandma's Kitchen) and I'm also hesitant to add a second Santa Claus to my diner. After all Saint Nick is already at the centre of the Christmas Visitor goal prize from the Christmas goals. Plus Christmas is now (at the time of writing) pretty much over, so an investment of that magnititude for next Christmas may not be a wise move.

And that last point is applicable across the whole update. As nice as it is to get an update on Christmas Day, I think it would have been better to get it before the big day - maybe TeamLava could have released it on Monday the 23rd. In reality I'm now looking beyond the festive season at what I'm going to do in the coming months.

But having picked holes in the principle of the update, I'm now going to praise the content itself. Because I love the ornament styled pieces. The Ornament Ball table and Ornament Ball counter are beautiful and have that magical tingle of Christmas about them. I'm going to spend a lot of coins on these, with plans already forming in my mind for an elegant tone to The Garlic Tree next Christmas!

It's just a shame that the Ornament Ball chair first costs gems, and secondly doesn't have the same design as its fellows. A mini red bauble for coins would have truly completed the set. Nevertheless I've found a fantastic substitute - the Balloon Stool costs coins and has the same glass as the table. And the packed balloons can pass off as tiny Christmas decorations.

 Christmas 2013

 25/12/13 The Garlic Tree at Christmas
 18/12/13 Third update
 16/11/13 Goal recipe report
 11/12/13 Goals
 11/12/13 Goals update
 04/12/13 First update

The Ornament wallpaper is the last of the ornament themed items. And it's really cool too. If we ever get a snowy floor tile for coins then this could be a great match for it and the assortment of snow-covered content we already have such as the Snowy Christmas Tree. I've bought one and will use the iOS trick which allows me to opt to buy again even if the wallpaper has already been removed.

The last two items in the update are both gem buys. The Turtle Doves should really have been added on the second day of Christmas, but never mind. They're nothing special in my view, but could make a good addition to restaurants with an outdoor theme. The Festive Frenchie will be a must buy for those who collect all the dog decorations. The poor thing's gotten caught up in the Christmas lights, but this serves to make it a nice match with the Holiday Lights Table and Chair.

Now let's take a look at the new recipe. It is the Glass of Cheer which is on the Drink Machine:

New recipe on Drink Machine

It's fantastic to finally get a new recipe on the Drink Machine. The last brand new ones were the Chocolate Milk and Piping Hot Cocoa, which were released last Christmas!

The statistics for this refresher are actually very similar to the 12 hour cocoa - it's just a touch weaker across the fields. But in the grand scheme of things, there are many recipes of the same duration which give much more. If you're interested in XP gains or profit then Tiramisu (Basic Oven) gives 118 XP and 4,350 coins - both strong increases on the Glass of Cheer. Or if you want to keep your counters stocked then the Chicken Tenders provide 2,900 portions per serving, a massive improvement on the cheer's measly 900.

So all in all, there's not much cheer beyond the taste of this holiday drink!

Something else which has been hitting players this week has been a number of supplementary goals, namely goals which involve downloading and playing other Storm8 games. Some may scoff at these promotions, but I love them - it's an opportunity to pick up a significant number of free gems. I've had goals of some extent for the following games on iOS recently:

• Santa Jump
• Kingdom Clash
• Mystery Crimes
• Bubble Mania: Christmas
• Jewel Mania: Christmas
• Fruit Splash Mania
• Candy Blast Mania: Christmas
• Match Dots

So I've been working hard across these games to earn some extra gems of late, and once all is over I should have amassed an amazing 91 gems! That's a brilliant reward in my eyes, and I'm treating it as my Christmas present from TeamLava!