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| Introduction to Winter 2016 goals |
It's the first goals update of 2016, and the theme is a winter wedding. As usual I've got a separate post on the go for the goals, but here we shall discuss the stuff which can be purchased without progression through the quest. Here's the list of all the additions, including the locked content, all of which becomes accessible at level 12:
Tables:
- Alpine Table - 16,000 coins
- Alpine Chair - 11,000 coins
- Rose Garland - 19,000 coins
- Laurel Leaves - 0 coins*
- Winter Bouquet - 16,000 coins
- Winter Spread - locked by goal
- Ring Barker - locked by goal
- Snow Ceremony - locked by goal
- Winter Wedding - 6,000 coins
- Snow Love - 400 coins
- Nuptial Stove - locked by goal
- Nuptial Oven - locked by goal
- Alpine Counter - 12,000 coins
(*) Removed following release
I think this is a really clever theme for Storm8 to go with. It obviously feeds into the winter category, and that is the season you'd expect to be getting the treatment at this time of year. Yet in the same chilly breath it also touches upon Valentine's Day. With goal sets typically coming on the second Wednesday of the month now, that means the February challenge is likely to arrive on the 10th, just four days before Valentine's. By releasing a quest like this the game's developers are essentially hitting two birds with one stone.
Having said all that, I'm sure there will probably be a few players out there who are not satisfied with this update as their Valentine's fix. After all it doesn't apply the usual reds and pinks that we generally associate with Valentine's. But since I'm not a lover of Valentine's anyway this certainly isn't a criticism you'll hear from me. And I'm sure more lovey-dovey updates are probably on the way before 14th February.
Another possible reason to get worked up is the similarity to a previous quest in Bakery Story. It was back in January 2014 that there was a winter wedding theme, with the final prize being quite similar in format to the one in this update. However there's still plenty of originality with the content in this version, and that bakery update was very well-received anyway, so why not bring it to Restaurant Story?
Meanwhile the lack of a teaser no longer surprises me. We've now gone six weeks since the last Tuesday teaser, making it all the more reasonable to suggest that Storm8 have done away with offering those sneak peeks. If this is the case then it is a shame as checking out the preview on a Tuesday always brought with it a slight thrill, and it also meant a day of sometimes fascinating speculation about the content placed in the shop window.
To that new stuff then, and I'm duty-bound to start us off with the Laurel Leaves. It's not often a wall decoration grabs the main headline, but it does here, and that's because of the price and the parting.
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| Laurel Leaves prior to removal |
To begin with this item cost '0 coins', which is a first in Restaurant Story, Never before has a new decoration been purchasable in the market for free, meaning it really felt too good to be true. And it was. Around an hour after the update was pushed out there was a parting of the ways, with the Laurel Leaves gone and the following message from community manager FrozenTurtle over on the Storm8 Forum:
"Hi everyone, the Laurel Leaves have been removed from the market. Any players who bought them while they were available will be able to keep them, but they won't be able to purchase more. You can look forward to them being re-released for real in a future update."
It's a customary gaffe, although not one which will have players baying for blood. I'm more amused by the strange feeling of 'buying' the leaves and finding it attach itself to the wall in the same way as a stored item would, with no coins or gems being relinquished. Hopefully we'll see it return before long.
The other wall decoration added with this update is the Rose Garland, and it has fortunately stayed. Wreathes are no stranger to the game, with the Frozen Garland introduced only last month. On that occasion I was impressed with the original style, whereas this one is more old school. That's not necessarily a bad thing - the differing tones of blue give a really elegant finish. The unnecessary sparkles get a thumbs down, but on the whole it's a good thumbs up.
The flowery narrative continues with the Winter Bouquet which is a floor item. Here we have blue and white flowers crammed into a bunch. It may well be a paper bag they're stuffed into, but regardless Storm8 have once again excelled themselves with the tones of colour. Like the Rose Garland there's a real grandeur to this, making it a good inclusion in any posh winter scene.
Then there's the Winter Wedding wallpaper and Snow Love flooring, which demonstrate that those flowers are out of control! It's blue and white again, which really conveys the chilliness of winter to a T. Both are quite inexpensive as well (especially the floor tile) so you can transform your diner without completely wiping out your coin balance. And it goes without saying that when you adjoin individual wallpaper or flooring together they merge seamlessly. But whether by design or pure chance, this is also the case when you place wallpaper and floor tile next to one another.
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| Winter Wedding wallpaper and Snow Love floor tile combined |
I'm not sure we've witnessed examples of such a marrying up of wallpaper and flooring before (marrying up, get it?!) but it's certainly something I wouldn't be adverse to seeing done on a more regular basis.
Now, you'll need somewhere to sit and admire those flowery patterns, and there's no better place than the Alpine Chair and it's accompanying Alpine Table. Throw in the Alpine Counter and we've got a full set. There's a break from the floral theme with these, and that's something of a relief. But at the same time the table does look quite bland in comparison. This doesn't have to be bad news though as it does mean it's very flexible. You can drop it into all manner of layouts successfully, and given that they're up for coins that could be handy.
The Alpine Counter does differ from the matching table and chair in that it has more of a dash of colour courtesy of a number of books. This isn't so much a counter as a side cabinet! I could definitely imagine this one being more at home as a piece of furniture at the bedside, but I guess making it a counter allows us to have a plate of food on hand if we get peckish during the night!
And that covers the items readily available to buy in the market. There are two appliances and three floor decorations currently padlocked which I'll carry out a close inspection of in the goals content report in due course, but for now we've ticked off everything on the wedding checklist.
The wedding element of this update is actually quite subtle. Only the Snow Wedding and Ring Barker appear to be wedding-specific, with everything else usable for any old winter design and beyond. That should on the whole earn a high satisfaction rating from the community - it certainly pleases me.
And on that cheerful note, I'm off to get ready for this wedding...
What a great Game Update. I enjoyed reading it a lot. Thanks :-)
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