Spring 2014 goals content report

This past Wednesday a new set of goals for Spring was launched. Only by completing these goals can five items and three recipes be unlocked. In this post I'll take a look at this content.

But first a quick thought or two on the goals themselves. Very unusually, the first goal appliance was readily available to buy in the market without needing to be unlocked. It soon became apparent why, with the game's developers cheekily making Melon Seeds one of the required parts for construction, and not including it on the gift list. This made obtaining the seeds much trickier, not least because the opening goal required you to ask neighbours for butterflies. So those who rapidly sent out requests for butterflies to all their pals were effectively frozen out until the second day. It pays to be patient!

Shimmying on, the first content to be unlocked via the goals were the Blossom Table and Blossom Chair. I really like the look of these, to the extent that they've made it into the garden section of The Garlic Tree:

Blossom Tables and Blossom Chairs in The Garlic Tree

They've both got a wild look about them, and their dark tone goes nicely with the deep green Dandelion Field flooring. The only problem I have is that the murkier colours of these two items doesn't go too well with some of the existing stuff in my garden, such as the Potted Palm, which is very bright. For now the Potted Palm has been put into storage, but my Picnic Painting and Spring Lunch are going nowhere considering the high investment of gems to procure them.

The Blossom Counter is also quite dark, but again I like it. It's a bit of a shame that the main design of the blossom branches is on the top, since it is lost when dishes are served up. But I've decided to install these in the garden too. It just took a bit of time to replace my existing Spring Counters since I had outstanding food and refused to throw it away!

Next up is the Spring Picnic. A 2x2 floor decoration, it's another one I've got placed:

Spring Picnic in The Garlic Tree

I adore this piece! The way that the checkered cloth flows gives it a more three-dimensional feel, and again it looks brilliant with the Dandelion Field. All that's missing is a character or two sitting and enjoying the Spring weather, but I'm okay with that - the Playful Parasol is in the vicinity so she can lay claim to the picnic. I'm delighted this item was part of the goals, and thus available for coins. Otherwise I'd no doubt have been forking out a lot of gems for it!

The final goal prize is the Blossom Grove, which is 4x4 and gigantic. I've not yet completed the quest, but I'm pretty sure it will fit in the space at the end of my garden area perfectly, and thus will displace my limited time offer Spring Lunch, which itself will probably send the Kissing Swans into storage. You can view the Blossom Grove in all its glory over on the TeamLava Forum. It really is a grand final goal prize. The deep green of the grass on the base means it will blend well with the Dandelion Fields, and the girl standing on the path isn't a clone of previous people in decorations as far as I can recall, which is nice.

Now all that's left to analyse are the new appliances and the recipes found on them. It's nice to get another drink machine in the shape of the Infused Water Fountain, even if it's got the same shape as most of the existing drink machines. Meanwhile the Fruit Bar is only the fourth 2x1 appliance we've ever had, and it looks fantastic, to the point where I'm tempted to sacrifice one of my appliance slots to accomodate it as a decoration!

Let's now dive into the six recipes, starting with the three on the Infused Water Fountain:

Recipes on Infused Water Fountain

I really like the use of what appears to be a jar to hold the flavoured waters. And the liquids are bright and cheerful too. Unfortunately that's where the positivity ends...

The Lemon Berry Water is the 33rd active 1 hour recipe, and joins the growing ranks of those with rubbish stats. I descibed the Spring Salad (Basic Stove) a couple of weeks ago as a 'flop' with regard to its numbers for profit and portions. Only it's tidy XP made it notable. In contrast, the Lemon Berry Water has only slightly better profit and portions figures (still poor) and a very ordinary XP gain.

Next is the Citrus Berry Water. Again there's no originality here, with the Birthday Cake (Birthday Party Oven) identical in every way. The profit and portions are below par, although the 50 XP is a little above average for the duration.

 Spring 2014

 05/03/14 Goals
 05/03/14 Goals update

The last recipe on this appliance is the Lime Water, which is a poor drink. It's the third worst profit and portions dish of all active 5 hour recipes, and gives the same XP out as the Citrus Berry Water, despite taking two hours longer to prepare. Oh dear.

Considering the difficulty in obtaining the Infused Water Fountain because of the lack of ability to send Melon Seeds as gifts, it's sad that the recipes on board couldn't give a better yield. On the subject of the Melon Seeds, does anybody else find TeamLava's choice of part here strange? I don't recall ever finding a melon seed inside a lemon, citrus fruit or lime!

Moving swiftly on, the Fruit Bar contains another three recipes:

Recipes on Fruit Bar

For the Fruit Tart, I simply refer you to my scathing indictment of the Chocolate Strawberries (Decadent Stove) from Valentine's which has the exact same numbers.

The Fruit Parfait is only the second 7 hour recipe we've received via goals, and the ninth overall. It's nothing special though, with every key property falling below the average for dishes of 7 hour length. The Flower Salad (Basic Stove) and Pork and Persimmons (Basic Oven) are the go-to recipes in this duration bracket.

Finally, we've got the 10 hour Fruit Flowers.The less said the better. Among dishes of the same length, the profit and portions are third worst and the XP gain is sixth worst. I won't be ordering this dessert. If nothing else, at least these foods look the part...

So some typically uninspiring goal recipes, but at least the unlockable decorations are classy. Here's hoping the Spring theme (and the same high standards) continue into next week!