Any particular part?

It's that time again when I attempt to answer the age-old question by having a look back at the variety of parts which have been utilised in recent months for building new appliances. This has become something of a biannual tradition, and you can read my previous breakdowns here.

Parts usage is something which does change over time, and that's why I like to periodically review the situation so as to gain some insight into which parts are perhaps the best choices to gift.

The last set of analysis was in October and covered 19 appliances. Since then we've had 18 more new cookers introduced, and they have all been considered within this post. It's worth noting that any appliances which have been re-released as part of a special sale - such as the Shamrock Oven brought back in the St Patrick's Day sale this week - have been excluded from the investigation.

Of those 18 new appliances, 12 have required construction. Of the remaining six, there have been five goal cookers which mercifully could be built without the need for any frantic part requests, and one appliance added for gems - the Founders' Oven - that rather wisely did not require parts either.

In terms of the pattern of release for these two types of construction-free appliances, we have very different approaches. The goal efforts debuted just at the end of that last study period, with the laboratory and autumn quests breaking new ground with their respective first cookers. This is a format which has remained ever since - whenever a two-appliance goal set is released the first cooking receptacle does not require building.

I tend to be pretty vocal when it comes to making the goals more challenging, but I can see the sense in this move. By allowing everyone to get immediate access to the first cooker, Storm8 are providing some added encouragement to players who may be wavering on whether to participate. This is particularly pertinent for lower level players who may not have the resources to complete a quest within the time limit (especially with the shorter timescales at present) if they have to overcome the construction stage for two appliances.

Let's get to the key numbers then, with the traditional list that I like to produce - here are all of the parts which have made more than one appearance since mid-October on new appliances:

Part	Number of appliances	Number required
Steel	2	11
Sturdy Wood	2	10
Dark Bolt	2	9

Well, that is a short list! In total there have been 33 unique parts called for across the 18 appliance sample, with only three popping up on more than one occasion. The Steel and Sturdy Wood are both parts which have been around the block, but the Dark Bolt is relatively new. It was only introduced alongside the Campy Cooker for the camping goals last July, but has been re-used three times since, including twice in our dataset.

In contrast, the Brass Diverter is completely absent from the last 18 appliances released. Why is this significant? Because it was the most frequent part at the last count.

The main conclusion we can draw from all of this is that there is now more variety in the parts which the gamemakers opt to include with new cookers. Of course the increased proportion of appliances not requiring construction has played a role too, and it all adds up to mean that deducing which parts are the best to be sending to your neighbours is difficult.

Previously we've seen the 'more than once' list containing only a small number of parts largely because of the addition of new parts for goal appliances. Although that remains the case, it is less extreme than previously. There was a time when a new quest guaranteed two new parts, whereas that is less certain now. Indeed over the course of the seven goal sets in the past few months there have been just nine new parts. That's an average of just over one per batch of goals.

This may be explained by considering the change in goal structure we've witnessed of late. The switch to shorter goal windows has twice resulted in there being only one appliance included - introducing two fresh parts on those occasions would have been cruel, and hence only one was added.

 Previous parts information posts

 18/10/16 The art of parts
 29/02/16 The latest parts perusal
 08/08/15 Picking apart the parts
 17/01/15 Another parts lowdown
 03/05/14 The changing parts landscape

Another factor in the lower number of parts making multiple appearances is the use of vintage parts. The Colored Plastic was a surprise inclusion for the Workshop Stove despite having not shown face since the Kids Kitchen Set was released nearly two years earlier, while Ice returned having not been required since it was brought in with the Frozen Lake Fountain in January 2015.

But the most stunning comeback has to be the Red Gear, which featured on the already mentioned Workshop Stove. The Red Gear was once all the rage, being utilised by half of all appliances released throughout the first half of 2014. And then it went missing in action. After the Riverboat Oven's addition in the summer of 2014 the Red Gear went unused for almost two-and-a-half years before making a triumphant return.

I have a weird infatuation with the older parts which are not in the group of 'basic' parts which were so prevalent in the early days of the game. I'm not sure why - perhaps there's a warm nostalgia rushes over me whenever I see the likes of the Gold Spring, Plum Nozzle and Yellow Steel called for. All three of these have appeared within the past few months, much to my delight. It's good to have the opportunity to use up some of the vast array of classic parts I have accumulated over the years.

So it seems that the days of any specific parts dominating are very much gone. The likes of the Mallet, Iron Press and Screw have been stalwarts in the past which could be gifted in the knowledge that you were aiding your neighbours ahead of the next appliance release, but now it's really a glorified lottery. Therefore after all that, should you be gifting any particular part? Nah, gift whatever you like folks!