Game update: 02/03/16

Howdy partner! We're strutting our stuff in the Wild West this week, with a number of new items all right at home down at the ranch.

All the fresh content will lose its padlock at level 28. Without any further ado, here's a list of all the additions:

Wall decorations:

• Cowboy Hats - 6,000 coins

Floor decorations:

• Ranch Flowers - 15 gems
• Ranch Picnic - 70 gems
• Spring Cow - 30,000 coins

Wallpapers:

• Hats n Lassos - 9,000 coins

Floor tiles:

• Spring Field - 5,000 coins

Appliances:

• Ranch Range - 32,000 coins

Much like with the Valentine's Day update of two weeks ago, the selection of stuff is somewhat lacking, with just seven items included. There's no table, chair or counter among them, although we do at least get three floor decorations.

This isn't the first time we've had a Western based update. There have been four in the past, with the one in September 2013 bringing goals and the last one being in June 2014. So it has been a while, and I for one am pleased to see this theme resurface. It's perfect for a restaurant while still bringing some fantastical elements to the table, and with so much related content now in the market there's a fine opportunity for players to do justice to their Wild West decorating.

For a glimpse of all the décor included in this particular Western update, check out this image from the Storm8 Blog:

Items from update as shown on Storm8 Blog

The headliner is the Ranch Picnic, which comes with a monstrous 70 gem price tag. By my reckoning there are only three standard items in the game which cost more, with one of those being the Gem Dispenser. You are getting plenty for that substantial fee though, with four cowboys and cowgirls gathered around a wooden table and enjoying a tune on the banjo.

There are plenty of clever touches with this 4x4 decoration, whether it be the frayed rope draped over the barrel or the cork poking out of the top of said bottle. I really like this piece, with the only issue I can find being the pizza on the table (pizza in the Wild West?!) However the cost is a huge drawback, and I think the game's developers have probably got the pricing wrong on this occasion. There's enough Wild West stuff already around that players will just look elsewhere for ways to give their diner a Western flavour.

The only other gem purchase added is the Ranch Flowers. It comes with a much more reasonable price of 15 gems, and depicts a barrel, a small bucket and a glass bottle, all packed with wild flowers. If I liked the Ranch Picnic, I love this one. Not only are the flowers wonderfully designed (the leaves are so lush!) but the barrel and bucket have been rendered so well. The pattern Storm8 have applied to them give a rugged and weathered feel, which is perfect for a Wild West outlook. Plus you don't have to use this 2x2 decoration for a Western setting - it's versatile and would look the part in lots of environments.

The last of the floor decorations introduced this week is the Spring Cow. This is a coin buy which shows a happy cow standing in the greenery. There's a flowery crown atop her head, a bucket of swirling milk and a vine-wrapped fence round the back. All crammed into a 2x2 space, I feel that the gamemakers could have spread this piece over a larger area. Nevertheless it's not a bad addition, and I can see myself utilising it at some stage in one of my outdoor scenes.

 Previous Western updates

 11/06/14 Cowboy Crate update
 27/11/13 Third update

 11/09/13 Goals update
 27/02/13 First update

We now turn our attention to hats on the wall, with the Cowboy Hats wall decoration and Hats n Lassos wallpaper. The latter of these invokes the pursing of my lips - these wallpapers which consist of prints of objects don't do much for me, and this one is no exception. On the contrary, the Cowboy Hats is quality. With three finely designed hats hanging on hidden hooks, I dare anyone to put together a Wild West theme without throwing these bad boys on the wall!

The last of the normal inclusions is the Spring Field floor tile. This is rather unorthodox as it doesn't fit with the Western style throughout the rest of this update. That's not a problem for me, for a couple of reasons. First up, there are options already in the market which will fit the bill such as the Frontier Floor and Rustic Italian (which is seen in the teaser shot above).

The second reason why the Spring Field flooring still gets a thumbs up is that it works with St Patrick's Day. A national holiday in Ireland, St Patrick's Day is on the 17th, and I know plenty of players are looking for fresh content relating to this celebration. There's time yet for Storm8 to satisfy the punters with a full-blown update, but at least this tile, which includes the shamrock (closely associated with Ireland), is a start.

We close out the regular purchases with the new appliance. The Ranch Range does a fabulous job of shooting down my parts analysis post released on Monday, as it breaks a trio of trends I flagged. You need 4 Wiring, 6 Sugar Knobs and 6 Lasso Knobs to construct it. The last of these is completely new.

Lasso Knob

So we see one of the old 'basic' parts return after a lengthy period on the sidelines, a non-basic part only ever seen once utilised again, and a change from the usual five of each part needed. All of these go against the conclusions I drew in that breakdown post, which just goes to show how quickly things can change!

On to the three recipes located on the Ranch Range.

Ranch Range recipes

For some reason the size of the pictures within the recipe list for the first two of these dishes are enlarged, at least on iPhone. Not sure what's causing that, but I do like the appearance of these foods. They're all hearty and visually have the kind of portions that I'd go for!

But what of the statistical portions? Here are the recipe ratings:

Ranch Spuds
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
5	5	5	7	8	5.4

Ranch Steak
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
4	7	3	10	8	5.5

Ranch Roast
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
6	7	4	10	8	6.4

These are pretty fair scores. The Ranch Spuds are a rare case of a dish with the same ratings across all three of the main factors, and this is reflected in its rankings among 2 hour efforts: it is 14th for profit, tied 13th for XP and 15th for portions, out of 61 in the duration. This makes it a consistent performer.

The Ranch Steak lands a similar overall score, although does so via a more bumpy road. This time the profit and portion numbers are less impressive (although not disastrous) but the XP gain is better. Thoroughly enough on the XP front the steak only comes in at 27th among dishes of 4 hour length, but note that this is in the largest recipe pool of them all - there are 92 to compete with so in context it's not all that bad.

Lastly there's the Ranch Roast. It does well on profit and XP which results in an overall rating in the green. We don't see that often these days! The last time there was a new recipe with a higher overall score was the Rocket Fuel Punch (Drink Machine) which manages 7.6, and that was on New Year's Eve 2014!

So some real positives in there which is so unusual in the current era of Restaurant Story. Throw in the tasty appearance of these dishes and you've got a really pleasing collection of new foods.

Before I join the brawls in the saloon there's a couple of special deals to pour over. One of these has come in this update, with the Classic Kitchen Crate available at half price for a limited time.

Notification for Classic Kitchen sale

There's a case to be made for this being the most popular box there's ever been, so naturally this is an attractive sale, especially since it is as much as 50% off. However with a good few players capturing the Classic Bundle (myself included) on iOS or bagging the Chef's Station via a previous LTO, the appeal may not be as sizeable as you'd first imagine.

But that's not a criticism - it's great to see much generous price cuts on the boxes, and I know there are one or two crates I'd be straight into if they pop up. So kudos to Storm8 where its due!

The second LTO to analyse comes in the form of a Value Pack, which showcases the Reflection Pool.

Value Pack including Reflection Pool

This is the first prize in the Woodland Box and is yours for a real money fee. We saw this item up as an LTO for gems in October 2014, but again we shouldn't complain about another opportunity to get hold of what is a fantastic decoration. Having said that the need to part with real cash doesn't appeal to most players, and I'd much rather all LTOs were available for in-game currency.

In conclusion, this is an excellent update in my view. The decorations added are generally of good quality and further enhance the choice of Western content in the market. With some well rated recipes and a pair of special offers too, this has been a fine week. Forget high noon - more like high fives all round!