Game update: 16/07/14

This week we're hitting the pool table to pot some balls!

Notification for Pool update

Here's a comprehensive list of new content:

Tables:

• 8 Ball Table - 88,300 coins

Chairs:

• Pool Cue Chair - 2 gems

Wall decorations:

• Cue Rack - 37,000 coins

Floor decorations:

• Pool Shark - 16 gems
• Billiards Party - 70,000 coins

Wallpapers:

• 9 Ball - 25,000 coins

Counters:

• Billiards Counter - 5 gems

Furthermore, there's a new recipe on the Basic Oven - more on it later on.

You'll quickly spot that there are some expensive coin items in there. The content is all unlocked at level 71, which explains the high price tags. Of late TeamLava have been filling in the upper levels which had few unlockables, yet level 71 got some extra stuff at the end of May, so I'm not sure what the idea is in this case!

Let's start with the 8 Ball Table. It's only cheaper than three other tables, all of which are recent additions. I quite like it though - nothing too complicated, with the game's developers throwing a circular sheet of glass on top of a giant 8 ball. Glass seems to be their favourite material these days, but in this case it looks good.

The accompanying chair leaves me frustrated. The Pool Cue Chair is a gem item, and although it looks alright, it doesn't really match the table. Something as simple as a smaller pool ball with no glass top would have gone well with the table, but this dark chair definitely doesn't.

Upon seeing the chair I thought the gamemakers had missed a trick by not including a cue stand as a decoration but low and behold, the wall decorations tab reveals a Cue Rack. It's a really cool piece, again not overworked, but has a smooth and traditional look.

The main floor decoration is the Billiards Party. It looks like a typical gem item but is available for 70,000 coins, a sweet price in my opinion. Unlike the existing Pool Table, this one has characters surrounding it and having a game. Unfortunately they're a bit small for it and are struggling to reach the table! My one issue here is the flooring attached. This is something we've seen a few times and it really bugs me - with no floor tile of the same design available to buy it's always going to look out of place. I think the Suggestions Box just gained an entry!

The Pool Shark is a funny one. The phrase 'pool shark' is actually used to describe a player who deliberately tries to put off their opponent - basically an unsporting player. Here we have the phrase brought to life, and I've got big ideas for this fella...

Next for inspection is the 9 Ball wallpaper. It's a fine enough wallpaper without really getting my pulse racing like the Riverside wallpaper did last week. And lastly there's the Billiards Counter. It's 5 gems a go so won't be too popular, and the fact that it depicts a square pool table is further off-putting. Nevermind.

As already mentioned, there's a new recipe to discuss:

9 Ball Cookies

The 9 Ball Cookies are found on the Basic Oven and are a 4 hour dish. Once again it's a food which could quite easily fit in over in Bakery Story, but with 2 gems for mastery I'll take it all the same. Here's the recipe ratings:

9 Ball Cookies
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
10	7	8	10	3	8.4

It's a winner! Only Smores (Basic Oven) offers more profit (and by a small margin), while the cookies come third behind the Smores and Quesadilla (Basic Stove) in the portions race. The XP gain score is slightly less impressive but is solid enough. Together this gives a very high overall rating of 8.4, enough to tie with the Smores at the top of the rankings. So does the 9 Ball Cookies get to share the Recipe Hall of Fame spot? The answer is no, and here's why:

Recipe	Profit	XP Gain	Portions
Smores	3,700	76	1,325
9 Ball Cookies	3,630	73	1,300

As you can see the Smores does edge the 9 Ball Cookies in each of the main factors, just not enough to give it a higher rating. So the Smores retains its place at the top of the charts. But the cookies have done well!

In light of this update, I decided to redecorate one of my themed sections. It's been a while since I introduced a completely new one, so it was enjoyable to create a blank canvas again and fill it out. Here's the end result:

Pool section of The Garlic Tree

Rather than buying the new Billiards Party I've opted to go with the 40 gem Pool Table since I already own it. It's never seen the light of day before so I'm delighted that it's finally on display. The Pool Shark goes straight in and the Lounge Lizard is his opponent having been evicted from the foyer by Captain Phoebe earlier in the week.

The Cue Rack is the other item from this update included, with the Red Carpet being the costly installation - 33 gems were parted with to roll it out. I'm glad I did as no other floor tile works quite so well with the surroundings. The Love Table, Sleek chairs and Love Counters are random choices, but they match the colour scheme sufficiently, as do the Red Curtains and Red Pattern wallpaper. A Butterfly Fields wallpaper is in use to create a makeshift window.

As well as this revamping, I've given my outdoor area a reboot, with the beach theme tucked away in storage and displaced by a riverside scene now that I've completed the goals.

Riverside section of The Garlic Tree

The great thing about this re-design is that it hasn't cost me anything! I've recycled items I already owned and have made good use of the last three final prizes from the goals - the Riverboat Ride, Pier Fishing and Tea Party. It just goes to show how good the goal content has been of late.

So I'm very happy with this week's offering, and my restaurant enhancements. Time to go off and prepare some 9 Ball Cookies!