Game update: 05/11/14

We're into November and taking a trip on the train...

Notification for Railway update

This update is not a goals update as many may have expected for the first Wednesday of the month. Instead there's a range of railway themed content, along with a couple of nice surprises. Before we get to those though, here's the list of new stuff:

Tables:

• Railroad Table - 4 gems

Chairs:

• Caboose Stool - 5,000 coins

Wall decorations:

• Railroad Sign - 15,000 coins

Floor decorations:

• Dining Car - 20 gems
• Handcar - 10 gems
• Locomotive - 15 gems
• Train Conductor - 20,000 coins
• Railroad Crossing - 25,000 coins
• Koi Pond - 70 gems (LTO)

Wallpapers:

• Train Tracks - 1 gem

Floor tiles:

• Train Tracks - 500 coins

Counters:

• Pilot Counter - 10,000 coins

All of the items (with the exception of the limited time offer) are unlocked at level 8. Meanwhile there is no new recipe, so it looks like the last couple of weeks have bucked the trend rather than turned it.

I wasn't sure what to make of this update based on the TeamLava Blog teaser, and am still struggling to decide how I feel. It's a good choice of theme with a range of possibilities, and the game's developers have certainly achieved that with an unusually high haul of five floor decorations included. But this is countered by the gem price tags which are prevalent as well as a lingering disappointment that we didn't get an Autumn theme.

I've mentioned before that I think Autumn is the season which is executed with the best quality by TeamLava, and with just three more updates until we hit the Christmas run, I'm becoming increasingly tetchy that Autumn is being overlooked. I can't help but join the dots and link all this back into the idea that Restaurant Story 2 is imminent and as a result the majority of the updates we're getting now are made up of whatever the gamemakers can scrape together from the cupboards.

Also getting me down is the lack of goals. Now I'm not for one minute suggesting there won't be any goals this month, but obviously the usual pattern is to get a new set every four weeks, usually on the first Wednesday of the month. Occasionally there's been a five week wait just because of the way the calendar works out, but with today being the 5th, I can't fathom why we're getting the five week gap this time.

Enough moaning! Let's take a look at the new stuff, and there's no better place to start than with the Locomotive. It might be 15 gems, but I'm of the belief that it is a good price. That's because this train is 4x2 in size (a rather unusual dimension!) and is chunky. You're getting lots for that 15 gems, so it's worth a ponder. I reckon this would make an excellent scene-completer for my Steampunk theme, although will hold out in hope that some substantial Steampunk pieces make an appearance on Black Friday.

Further down the train there's the Dining Car. This time 20 gems is the asking price. The aspect of this 3x3 decoration that tickles me is the selection of foods the travelling couple are tucking into. On show are four dishes - the Misso Harissa Squash (Basic Oven), BBQ Pork (Tiki Oven) and Castella (from Bakery Story!) as well as a fishy food I can't quite put my finger on. Any ideas? Or are we looking at a recipe likely to be released in the near future?! Whatever the case, I do like this item, although it's difficult to really achieve the full-on train effect without buying multiple Dining Cars.

Trailing in the wake of the train will be the Handcar. It's smaller but is cute and doesn't have to be placed in a railway environment. Any outdoor theme could be a fit, so I'm providing a thumbs up here. At 10 gems I don't think many will be put off either.

The remaining two floor items are coin additions. The Train Conductor is a pleasing case of a figurine being available for coins - he's already been installed into my place in the foyer to let customers in at intervals on the blast of his whistle! The Railroad Crossing isn't that exciting standalone, but will help enhance and complete a railway themed restaurant.

There's also a Railroad Sign up for grabs. This is a wall decoration and again is useful for putting the finishing touches to an area decked out as a railway.

The Railroad Table and Caboose Stool are for 4 gems and 5,000 coins respectively. That's quite a price differential! I have to be honest and admit that I had no idea what a caboose was without looking it up. It turns out that it's a North American term for the carriage at the end of a train carrying crew members. Not sure where the stool fits in there! The table is obviously overpriced, and isn't pretty enough to entice me anyway.

To really make a themed section worthwhile, you always need some floor tiles and wallpaper. Both are offered in this update, although the Train Tracks wallpaper has got me confused. The curling pattern above the wall automatically makes me think of a train track - it goes without saying. But then that means the tracks are positioned vertically - are we riding a rollercoaster! So then I wondered if the pattern is actually a fence atop the wall. Somehow I think it's the former, which makes this wallpaper a fail, even if TeamLava are trying to do something a bit abstract.

Meanwhile the Train Tracks is nice and cheap. The 500 coins tag is among the very lowest and by placing multiples side-by-side you can create your very own railway. Being picky I'd say it would have been better to have a stony material under the tracks rather than the pale green. But that really is getting deep - ultimately this is a clever tile which gives players an opportunity to get creative and come up with some original designs of their own.

Indeed this entire update leaves lots of scope for invention and originality. I'm anticipating a fair few players dismantling their Halloween layouts in favour of a railway. If I wasn't so stubborn about retaining my current set-up I'd be looking at designing a restaurant at a railway station, complete with train departing into the countryside. But alas I can't bring myself to rip apart The Garlic Tree's intricate structure.

Beyond the railway content, the Koi Pond is back!

Koi Pond limited time offer

It has the most votes in the TeamLava Forum poll for limited time re-releases, so it's not all that surprising to see it being the next item returned. However there's a funny little catch this time - the Koi Pond does cost the full box first prize hog of 70 gems, but the gamemakers are also offering a goal calling on players to buy the pond for a 15 gem reward.

Koi Pond goal: Don't Be Koi

This means you're actually only paying 55 gems for this 4x4 giant, but there are only 24 hours on the goal clock, so your window of opportunity is narrow!  The LTO itself is set for a six day stay, but if you fancy it definitely buy now!

This goal is a new feature never seen before. It's crafty as it forces the player to make a snappy decision as to whether or not to spend a bucketload of gems, which may of course involve buying gems. In contrast I purchased the Breakfast Buffet in Bakery Story when it was a limited time re-release for 70 gems last month, but took several days to deliberate and build up the courage to make that critical tap. The 24 hour discount will help TeamLava encourage players to pull the trigger and part with gems, which could be good news for their coffers.

Plus having the discount in the form of a goal will catch a number of players out. The goals are a ritual to most, regardless of whether or not they like the items unlockable. So some will go ahead and do this goal, either not knowing that they're going to blow 55 gems, or knowing this fact but expecting this to be the first step in a goal set which will offer some serious prizes. Cheeky!

And the special offers don't end there! I've touched on my sadness at the lack of Autumnal updates, but at least there is an attractive discount in place on the Autumn Gift Box:

Notification for sale on Autumn Gift Box

Right now there's 25% off this very popular box, which normally costs 24 gems but is currently on the market for 18 gems. There's no timescale been attached to this offer, so it's difficult to say whether it is synced with the LTO deal, the LTO goal or neither. Basically, if this discount is a winner for you then do your box dipping ASAP. The concern here is that this is TeamLava's way of appeasing us Autumn lovers since they're not planning to release any new stuff this year. I sincerely hope I'm wrong there.

Personally I'm really in limbo. The Autumn Gift Box is one of the very best boxes in the game in my opinion, so this deal is absolutely worth considering. But then there's the usual concerns about Black Friday savings, especially since the big day is just over three weeks away. I've got a heck of a lot of gems saved up though, so might just give myself one shot. Plus I'm planning to revert to an Autumn theme in my outdoor section before the week is out, and it would be nice to have something new to add.

So on reflection, it turns out that I do like this update! The main additions themselves are decent but its the LTO and box sale quirks which make it an update to remember.