Game update: 03/09/14

It's goals night, and this time it's also pizza night!

Notification for Italian themed update

Pizza is the theme, and here is the list of new items available:

Tables:

• Pizza Mosaic - 7,500 coins

Chairs:

• Pizzeria Stool - 4,900 coins

Wall decorations:

• Pizza Menu - 8,000 coins

Floor decorations:

• Pizza Delivery Bike - locked by goal
• Pizza Display - locked by goal
• Pizza Toss - locked by goal

Wallpapers:

• Aged Brick - 9,500 coins

Floor tiles:

• Pizza Stone - 1,250 coins

Appliances:

• Salad Station - locked by goal
• Wood Burning Oven - locked by goal

Counters:

• Aged Brick - 7,000 coins

For me this is a fantastic update. It's no surprise that some of the best updates the game gets are themes which are actually realistic in that they fit in a restaurant no problem. I expect plenty of my neighbours to be converting their diners into pizzerias over the next few days! And considering that I was really looking forward to Autumn stuff, the fact I'm not feeling downbeat about not getting any says it all!

At some point over the next week I'll write a goal content report with my thoughts on the goal items once we've had a chance to see them all up close, but for now I'll just state that the final goal prize - the Pizza Toss - is a monster!

Elsewhere in the update, my thoughts aren't exactly as positive as you'd perhaps expect. The Pizza Mosaic table and Pizzeria Stool are too focused on the theme for my liking. They basically consist of a pizza design with legs, and so are difficult to integrate into anything other than a pizza theme. But even then I'd prefer something slightly more subtle, and that's where the Aged Brick counter comes in. It isn't overworked, and does the business in a pizzeria.

All is not lost for the table and chair though. Remember the Italian themed update back in March? Well it comes into play here, as the two updates are really based around the same concept. The Italian Checkered table (for gems admittedly) and Red Stool have a much more traditional Italian feel, while the Leaning Tower of Pizza is probably in the must-buy category if you're going with this theme.

The new counter matches well with the Aged Brick wallpaper, which ticks off another long-term entry on my wishlist - an exposed brick wallpaper available for coins. Together the wallpaper and counter are a really good combination. Then there's the Pizza Stone flooring. Like the table and chair, it's a bit too chaotic for my liking, especially for a floor tile which I always think should be enhancing the tone of a scene rather than being the scene stealer. A plain stone tile would have been my choice here - there are a few such tiles already on the market, but most are for gems.

The only other item readily accessible outside the goals is the Pizza Menu, a wall decoration. Let's be honest, this piece is dreadfully named - it's not exactly a menu if it consists of a big yellow slice of pizza with a couple of lines of scrawly writing underneath! However I do like it's design, and it's going in my kitchen section once some wall space is freed up by the tall Salad Stations.

That covers all the stuff immediately available to buy. The goals provide the key to the rest.

Introduction to Pizza goals

For all the chat on the goals head over here.

Now a quick point on the first recipe aboard the Salad Station, which I've already unlocked. The Caesar Salad is a 2 hour dish, and at a glance is beyond terrible in the profit and portion departments but very good when it comes to XP. We'll have to wait and see if that trend continues with the remaining recipes.

Just like with the Ancient Egyptian goals last month, TeamLava seem to have done an excellent job, not only in delivering a quality update, but an update which offers content the players have themselves asked for. And with this pizza theme I'm among them, having in the past called for more Italian decor and additional pizza recipes. Not for the first time, I'm wondering if the game's developers are reading closely!

On that speculative note, it's time for me to go and make a dire profit on my Caesar Salads...