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| Notifications for latest Halloween updates |
Tables:
- Skeleton Hand Table - 4 gems
- Tombstone Table* - 80,500 coins
- Tombstone Chair* - 1 gem
- Mummy Chair - 4,000 coins
- Crashing Witch* - 14 gems
- Witch Wreath - 12,500 coins
- Monster Mash* - 70 gems
- Boo-lloon* - 20 gems
- Haunted House* - 40 gems
- Expired Display - 20 gems
- Haunted Clock Tower - 30 gems
- Haunted Elevator - 35 gems
- Mummy Pumpkin - 2,000 coins
- Coffin Bookshelf - 5,000 coins
- Well of Spirits - 10,000 coins
- Skeleton Lamp - 8,000 coins
- Ghost* - 1 gem
- Scary Wallpaper - 1,000 coins
- Kiss of Death - 2 gems
- Happy Halloween* - 750 coins
- Monster Counter* - 3 gems
- Cocoon Counter - 500 coins
The brand new items are unlocked at level 16, while the limited time decorations are available for all, but only for six days. As a result you need to be quick when it comes to buying anything you fancy, and with Halloween on Friday there's even greater incentive to make a move pronto.
Where to start? First and foremost I have to thank TeamLava for finally giving in and providing not only another Halloween update but also a re-release of old content. We've all asked for it, and although it's a bit of a shame that it has come just two days before Halloween itself, it's better than nothing.
So let's get going. I'm starting with the Haunted House because its the one item of the past I've wanted most. At 40 gems you expect lots of bang for your buck, and you certainly get it. The Haunted House may only be 3x3 in size, but it's very tall and comes with a wealth of neat details, from the ghosts soaring around it right down to the pumpkins at the front and candles on the doorstep. My Black Friday savings are looking extremely healthy, so I have no hesitation in purchasing this beauty of a decoration. And it goes brilliantly with the Trick-or-Treaters goal prize from this year.
As well as the Haunted House, I also really wanted see the graveyard themed stuff return. Low and behold, the Tombstone Table and Tombstone Chair are back! The table is an expensive investment and the chair comes for gems, but I'll buy them both anyway as they give me an opportunity to get a proper Halloween set-up in my outdoor area, Right now there's a random kind of mix which includes a section dedicated to Autumn rather than Halloween, but this re-release will allow me to commit completely to Halloween, even if it's only for a few days.
It's slightly confusing that the gamemakers have brought back the Tombstone Table and Tombstone Chair but not the Tombstone Counter. I'd have gobbled it up too, but instead will be passing on the Monster Counter. At 3 gems each it just looks a bit too fun for Halloween and lacks any mystique. However the Cocoon Counter is a new addition, and is at the other end of the pricing scale at 500 coins, matching Gran-Gran's Counter as the cheapest in the game. So I'll pick up a fair few of these, and may even swap out the French Counters in my main section which are looking out of place at present.
The Haunted House isn't the only major floor decoration in the market. The Monster Mash is perhaps the most coveted item of all those re-released. It is the first prize in the Halloween Chest from 2011, making it very special indeed. The rarity is what drives the massive 70 gem price tag, and certainly scares me off. I'm not sure I'm that keen on it anyway since there's a lot going on and little coordination. Plus the two walls restrict where you can place this item effectively.
There are a number of totally new floor decorations too. I really like the Expired Display although am somewhat put out by the 20 gem cost considering that the very same item has also been added in Bakery Story and is only 10 gems there! But even so I'm tempted as it makes a great substitute during the run-up to Halloween for similar displays. The range of foods in the cabinet indicate to me that this piece was designed with Bakery Story in mind, but it still has relevance to Restaurant Story so it's good to see TeamLava bring it over here too.
Halloween 2014
08/10/14 Initial update
Also fresh is the Haunted Clock Tower. It's another big one, and just for a moment had me pondering. The use of dark tones and the bats flapping around it make the clock tower really creepy, and once again the spider webs are a good finishing touch. I've got to think about Black Friday though, and having already opened my wallet for the Haunted House I don't feel I can make another big investment.
This means also ruling out the Haunted Elevator, not that that was hard! It consists of a porter in a foyer- looking mildly concerned about a number of exotic looking arms forcing their way out of an elevator. Firstly, the porter should be running around screaming with his hands above his head! And secondly, what on earth has this got to do with a restaurant?! I'm not digging this item!
Moving on to some of the smaller additions, the Mummy Pumpkin is nice. It is cheap and could be useful for filling out empty areas. However it does make me wonder why (as far as I'm aware) we've never had a straightforward Halloween pumpkin to buy. It's the ultimate symbol for Halloween yet has only ever appeared in the game as part of something else.
The Coffin Bookshelf is pretty standard and is an excellent substitute if you house one of the two ordinary bookshelves throughout the rest of the year. I also like the Well of Spirits even if it is quite small. Since it comes for coins I can't really complain, and I'm sure I'll find a way to incorporate it. The Skeleton Lamp isn't rating so well in my book, as it looks more like a goblet when viewed at a distance, with the skeleton arm acting as the stem.
The last item I wish to comment on is the Crashing Witch. It's a re-release, but I wasn't familiar with the name of it in the past. Because the broomstick is barely visible this meant that I thought it was depicting a witch climbing a wall! It's a really poorly executed piece in my opinion - only learning of its title today has allowed me to realise it's true meaning!
Beyond the additions in the market, there's also a surprise waiting on the Basic Stove. The Eyeball Stew has returned, and comes with a bumper bonus:
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| Notification for re-release of Eyeball Stew |
Never before has the game's developers offered a special XP gain (at least not deliberately!) This is revolutionary, giving players working their way through the levels an opportunity to really boost their XP. I've been at level 99 for a long time but even I am planning to cook this stew round the clock in a bid to increase my total XP significantly. There's no need for it but with my mastery quest over I'm quite happy to brew the stew for the next six days.
The only downside to the Eyeball Stew comes from the attached expiry banner:
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| Eyeball Stew |
The '6 days left' graphic is covering up the mastery meter, meaning that naturally we can't see how close we are to mastery. This is extra problematic because the recipe isn't new so players like myself who have had it before have no idea what stage we're at. I may have mastered it previously, but with no way of knowing have no choice but to stack my stoves with it. I need every gem I can gather!
Since the Eyeball Stew is only back for six days and has been artificially enhanced, I'm not going to assign any recipe ratings. What I will do is fire some numbers at you regarding the XP yield...
- You get 168 XP just for preparing the Eyeball Stew!
- Its 500 XP is by a country mile more than any other dish can offer with the Peking Duck (Basic Oven) the second highest at 340 XP.
- The 100 XP per hour is the fourth highest of the 409 recipes which have featured in the game. The three foods with greater XP per hour are all very short dishes which cannot be cooked all day and night, whereas the Eyeball Stew can be.
- If you are able to serve four batches per day of Eyeball Stew from a full complement of 18 appliances for the six day duration of the limited time offer then that amounts to 216,000 XP, around a quarter of the total XP required to move from level 1 to level 99!
The Eyeball Stew really is supercharged! It's an amazing offer and is something I'm really impressed with - little bonuses like this keep the game interesting!
Assuming that I don't get chewed up by a werewolf on Friday night I'll be posting some pictures of The Garlic Tree on Saturday showing the final Halloween set-up in all its glory. I can't wait to complete the decorating!
I advanced 11 levels thanks to eyeball stew. So exciting!! :)
ReplyDeleteGood on you Laura!
DeleteIt's been great to have something a bit different to work on this week with the XP boost. Hopefully TeamLava will do the same again, but with mega profit and/or portions instead! :)