Game update: 23/12/15

There are just two sleeps to go before Christmas finally arrives, so this is the last update before the big day.

So many players have been begging for a special sale like we had last year, but alas, there is no such feature. Instead this is your typical update, including a new appliance. Here's the complete list of additions, all of which can be unlocked at level 22:

Wall decorations:

• Festive Spoons - 14,000 coins

Floor decorations:

• Village Display - 44 gems
• Holiday Bouquet - 18 gems
• Christmas Cookie Table - 74,000 coins

Wallpapers:

• Sandstone - 5 gems

Floor tiles:

• Rustic Italian - 4,600 coins

Appliances:

• Nonna's Stove - 120,000 coins

Counters:

• Italian Holiday - 26 gems

What on earth should we make of this?! At first it does appear to be a Christmas themed update, but then it takes on hints of Italian! I'm really not sure what to say. I've always loved Italian themed content, so on one hand am quite happy to see some more stuff of that nature, and yet on the other hand, this is just not right two days before Christmas!

Let's start with the festive items, chief among which is the Village Display. Weighing in at 44 gems, this is one of the more expensive additions we've seen, but my goodness what a beauty!

Preview of Village Display

Set on a 3x3 sized table, this floor decoration features a model village with lots of differently shaped buildings dusted with snow. There's trees, a car, a horse drawn carriage, a snowman, street lamps and falling snowflakes. What more could you want from Christmas?!

Even the table the intricate model is sat upon is beautifully designed. There's the icicles which are present on the Icicle Tables from the goals (nice connection there) and fairy lights wrapped around the side. It's all finished off with a bushy wreath which itself is decorated with festive trinkets. This is a very impressive item, and I think is actually worthy of it's hefty price tag.

The other two pieces of floor décor are on something of a smaller scale. The Holiday Bouquet is really pretty, and there is clearly a lot of thought has gone into making sure it fits the festive theme. The flowers are red and white to go along with the typical candy cane colours, while the vase they're contained in is made to look like a drum. With a red and gold bow attached, this is another quality item. I'm not sure the 18 gem cost is quite so merited for something that's just 1x1, but I imagine there will still be quite a few players adding this bouquet to their restaurants for Christmas.

The last floor decoration is the Christmas Cookie Table. I see cookies, gingerbread and pretzels placed on this festive table, which with green and red tablecloth is just the right colours for your seasonal needs. There are two candles on there too, no doubt in response to my entry in the Suggestions Box last Saturday! I do like this one, and although it won't itself make your diner a Christmas bonanza, it could certainly help put it together. The fact it's for coins obviously helps, although it is on the expensive side at 74,000 coins.

There's a wall decoration included in this update - the Festive Spoons. This is one of those fun items which makes me smile. There are two wooden spoons which have been dressed up as Rudolph and Santa respectively. This is definitely an addition not to be taken too seriously, and will probably be finding a home on my kitchen wall this Christmas.

And with that we've already exhausted the Christmas content. The remaining stuff is Italian themed, and I'm including the Italian Holiday counter in that. It may have the word 'holiday' in its name but I think it's quite clear that this counter was not designed with Christmas in mind. The doily on top may resemble a snowflake if you look at it with your eyes screwed up, but I reckon that is nothing more than a coincidence that the gamemakers have decided to use to their advantage. There's also the green trim on the red cloth to point us towards Christmas, but I refuse to believe it! This is definitely a counter that's been collecting dust in the Storm8 warehouse.

It's really quite remarkable that I've made it this far with the Italian Holiday counter without mentioning it's price. It costs 26 gems. I repeat, it costs 26 gems. For one. Just one.

Italian Holiday as shown in market

Excuse me?! I tend to get riled up when a new table costs 6 gems, so what can I possibly say about this? It's an absolutely shocking price, and I can only assume that the game's developers have made a mistake here and have priced it incorrectly. That certainly wouldn't be unheard of, and is really the only rational explanation. After all, surely nobody is going to pay 26 gems for a clothed box which will be mostly covered up by food in the end anyway.

The Sandstone wallpaper is also vastly overpriced. At 5 gems, I believe this is the most expensive wallpaper in the history of the game. Merry Christmas. The design itself is quite good, and it is certainly something a little different. But again, very few players are going to burn a hole in their gem bag for a costly wallpaper like this. Storm8 have really messed up here.

At least the Rustic Italian floor tile is going to get a resounding thumbs up from me. It's reasonably priced, and offers us another option when it comes to floorboard designs. Between the Elegant tile, Gym Floor Tile, Frontier Floor and Laminate Floor Tile we already had a good few choices, and yet this one adds another dimension. It's rustic in name, and rustic in nature. The boards are deliberately not straight, giving for a more rough feel. I like this a lot, and may even consider it for my main section when the Christmas decorations come down in the New Year.

There's just one item left to be put through the wringer, and that is Nonna's Stove. For anyone who doesn't know (I didn't before checking), Nonna is the Italian word for grandmother. So yes, this cooker is another Italian addition.

At 120,000 coins it has usurped the Autumn Stove as the most expensive appliance we've ever had, and by some margin. Given that the Autumn Stove was itself only added recently, it's worth keeping an eye on if the non-goal appliances are generally going to be mighty expensive from now on.

As far as construction goes, Nonna's Stove requires 5 Mallets, 5 Iron Presses and 5 Anchovy Knobs to build.

Anchovy Knob

As ever, the last of these is a new part, and in particular another dastardly knob!

Let's turn our attention to the recipes found on this new appliance:

Nonna's Stove recipes

I love these dishes - they are sophisticated and belong on a fine dining menu. They're also an education - the Zuppa Di Pesce is a thick seafood soup. All three are going straight on the counters at The Garlic Tree, regardless of how they rate. Nevertheless, let's take a look at the scores on the doors:

Zuppa Di Pesce
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
4	5	3	7	8	4.6

Lobster Ravioli
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
3	5	3	8	8	4.4

Salted Cod
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
4	5	3	10	8	4.9

Those numbers are not going to break any records, but at the same they're not total write-offs either. The Lobster Ravioli in particular nets some decent figures, despite the fact it's overall rating is lower than the others. Remember that we can't really compare recipes of different lengths with this system, and when we put the ravioli among only its fellow 3 hour efforts, it actually does quite well - only seven foods in the duration have a higher overall score.

And that brings us to the end of the analysis. I'm still scratching my head at the inclusion of Italian themed stuff! I think we've had four purely Italian updates in the past, and it feels like some of this stuff is left over from them. I think it's a good idea for Storm8 to get these items out there, after all they've probably spent plenty of time and money producing them.

But to push them out in the final update before Christmas is just not a good move. People are expecting at the very least a classy Christmas update which they can capitalise upon, and hopefully a big festive sale. We've gotten neither of those, which is obviously disappointing. I suppose there's a very slim chance that there could be some deals to be had on Christmas Day, but it's a long shot. When Wednesday landed on the 25th two years ago we did get a weekly update, so there is certainly precedent for action on Christmas Day. A sale though is probably nothing more than a pipe dream.

 Christmas 2015

 16/12/15 Box update
 15/12/15 Goals content report
 09/12/15 Goals
 09/12/15 Goals update
 02/12/15 Initial update

We've got just one update left in 2015, and I'm really hoping for some New Year stuff. It's an event which is often overlooked because of the wealth of Christmas updates, but there's definitely room for some items relating to the big countdown next Wednesday. However, given the unorthodox way that Christmas has been dealt with today, I'm not going to be expecting much!

Since this is my last post before Christmas I'd like to wish all you wonderful readers a very merry Christmas! Even if only a few of you post comments, I know that there are many regular visitors to the blog, and without all of you I doubt I'd still be typing away for a third Christmas. Best wishes one and all, and watch out for a tour of my restaurant on Friday!