Game update: 14/09/16

Just over a year ago we visited New York for a weekly update, and now we're heading from one coast to another.

Notification for San Francisco themed update

The San Francisco update sees a range of new items themed on the Californian city. But not only that, there's also a wide selection of Autumn content from yesteryear has made a limited time comeback. More on that in a bit - for now let's focus on San Francisco stuff which unlocks at level 24. Here's a handy list:

Tables:

• Strolling City Table - 4 gems

Chairs:

• Golden Gate Chair - 18,000 coins

Floor decorations:

• Hip Techie - 3 gems
• Park Party - 48 gems
• City Stand - 22 gems
• Colorful Umbrellas - 45,000 coins
• Trolley - 58,000 coins

Wallpapers:

• Golden Bridge - 7,000 coins

Floor tiles:

• City Stroll - 2,100 coins

Counters:

• Painted City Counter - 3 gems

So that's 10 additions, and the coin-gem split comes right down the middle with five of each. The concept of a San Francisco theme certainly makes sense - it is a pretty famous city with lots of characteristics and quirks that would make a Restaurant Story update plausible.

Before we dive into it, here's the snap from the Storm8 Blog which presents all of the new decor:

Items from update as shown on Storm8 Blog

Perhaps the most iconic aspect of San Francisco is the Golden Gate Bridge, and so it's not surprising to see it represented in a couple of items. The Golden Bridge wallpaper depicts the bridge in a way only a wallpaper can. By placing multiple copies adjacently you can construct a Golden Gate Bridge of whatever length takes your fancy. The three dimensional effect when you do this is pretty impressive, and there's no doubt that this is a unique wallpaper design.

The Golden Bridge Chair is less successful for my money. The back is supposed to resemble a tower, but for me this chair lacks gravitas. The Golden Gate Bridge is massive and imposing and it was always going to be tough to capture that in a small 1x1 item such as a chair. I'm not generally a fan of tables and chairs which imitate completely different objects, and this entry joins that bracket.

Let's turn our attention to another San Francisco classic in the form of the Trolley. This is a rather underwhelming name to give for what I'd describe as a tram (UK-US variation there!) It's far from underwhelming in appearance though, with a classic look that is encapsulated by the wooden roof. Presumably the '8' etched on the side indicates that this is Storm8's own personal streetcar! The only drawback is that it takes up more space than is necessary - ultimately it is a 3x2 piece taking up a 3x3 space, which means there's empty floor space has to go to waste.

Notably everything thus far has been for coins, but that's about to change. The Park Party is nothing to party about. At 48 gems it is really steep, and it's not anything we haven't seen previously. At this point I'm honestly fed up of picnic based decorations - the Central Picnic, Parisian Picnic and Family Fun are all examples of picnic style items, which leaves me urging the gamemakers to stop repeating content with slight changes.

The City Stand is more original, with a stall selling greasy fast food. The lack of a character or two serving or buying is a little disappointing, but it does leave the opportunity for players to use their initiative to install their own figures. The Hot Dog Vendor is perhaps the best fit.

The third floor decoration for gems is the Hip Techie. It's not often we get a new character, and she's cool! Dressed all in blue (including her hair) and adorning a black pair of glasses, this techie is a breath of fresh air in a world full of Phoebes. I can definitely see her being popular, especially given that the game's developers have opted to make her available for just 3 gems. More new characters like her would be greatly appreciated.

Closing out the floor decor is the Colorful Umbrellas, which is this update's token sparkly item. Why? Why oh why?! This was a perfectly nice looking decoration with a variety of colours of brolly jutting out at different angles from a rose patterned stand, and then someone decided some shiny glints would improve it. We've already got some umbrella stands so there's little margin for error here, and for me those sparkles are a glaring error (I'm so good at these puns!)

We're getting there, but first there are three rather random decorations to ponder. The Strolling City Table brings with it an eye-catching design, even if it doesn't at a glance tie-in with the San Francisco vibe. And the Painted City Counter isn't far behind. However it could be that this counter is supposed to be a simplistic recreation of San Francisco buildings. It's too simplistic to work for me.

Finally, the City Stroll floor tile consists of all the colours of the rainbow arranged in strips. I assume this is paying homage to the LGBT community which is very prominent in San Francisco. I really like that the game's developers have provided this nod, and for anyone who has any of the existing rainbow decor there's the potential for a really cool themed area.

On to the weekly sale, and with Autumn now upon us, the Fall Harvest is the subject of a 50% discount.

Notification for Fall Harvest sale

This crate is available for 12 gems for a limited time, and it is a beauty of a box. There's not a total dud in there, and some of the larger prizes are pure quality.

But this leaves me with a conundrum. The Fall Harvest made my box wishlist for a sale in May, but so did the Carnival Box, and it was reduced two weeks ago. Consequently I went a bit mad with it (more on that later in the week!) and although I still have a decent haul of gems, I'm concerned about spending much more given that the Halloween-Thanksgiving-Black Friday-Christmas season is approaching. Some hard thinking needs to be done.

Normally I'd say my goodbyes at this point, but not today! Storm8 have decided to conjure up an Autumn sale that goes way beyond that Fall Harvest deal.

Notification for Autumn re-release sale

We've got another UK-US discrepancy here - you'll spot that when titling update posts on here I use the British convention for dates (the correct way!) and going by that this sale would have expired on 10th April 2016! Of course the truth is that you've got 21 days to bag your Autumn goods, with 4th October marking the conclusion of the offers. I'd assume that the Fall Harvest sale is a regular one rather than falling into this time-frame.

For convenience, here's a graphic of all the content on sale grouped together (click the image to expand):

Autumn sale items

Note that to access these items you need to be at the level each was originally released that. Anyone at level 62 or above will be able to access everything.

Autumn sales are pretty standard, and yet this one is strikingly good. There are 43 decorations included in all, and among them are some classics. Most significantly, four of the prizes from the much lauded Autumn Gift Box are included, with the first and second prizes among them. The Fall Garden is especially coveted, and I reckon the 56 gem price tag for this 4x4 stunner won't put off many.

Given that this is the fifth Autumn I've experienced in the game, I've really got my fill of stuff for the season having experienced several of these sales, but it's always nice for newer players to get that chance. I'll probably just top up on Fallen Trees and gaze dreamily at the Fall Garden which I just can't afford.

So quite the update. The San Francisco decorations were mostly positive, with the wallpaper unusually being my highlight, while the plethora of Autumn themed sales has provided a lift for everyone. This has really given me renewed optimism when it comes to the various events in the coming months. Can you imagine if we get Halloween, Black Friday and Christmas sales like this?! A precedent has been set, and I sincerely hope that Storm8 don't let us down...