Wild West Town is a hidden gem of a social game that is available through Facebook. It is set in the old west of American history complete with cowboys, Indians, and the Pony Express. It will keep you occupied for hours with its witty narrative and amusing quest lines.
Every game has its tips and tricks and Wild West Town is no different. Listed below are some that will help you get the most out of your in-game time.
Crops:
• If you want to level up quickly, plant as much cotton as you can afford. Increase the number of plots after each harvest and you’ll soon be raking in the gold, supplies, and experience points.
• If you don’t have enough oil to level up using cotton then an alternative is to plant squash instead.
• If you’re going to be away for a while cook a Big Lunch in the cookhouse. For two mutton chops, one pork chop, and one prize winning pepper your crops will become wither-proof. This meal also restores any withered crops to full health.
• Water your crops! It doesn't use any energy and it gives you experience points. Sometimes it will even give you some oil.
• Plant lemon trees in your orchard. They give supplies, oil, gold, and experience points!
Collectibles:
• Always collect water from your well. Having it in your inventory will speed up quests that call for it. You also won’t have to wait for the collection timer to reset in order to cook some recipes that require it.
• Remember to collect bank notes daily from the bank. If you do, you will soon have a nice pile of notes that will come in handy when you need to bypass tricky quest requirements.
• Oil is necessary to complete many tasks around town so don’t forget to build your Oil Derrick. You can collect oil from it every 3 hours. You can also get oil by planting certain crops and digging with the shovel.
Livestock:
• Buy the maximum number of buffalo (10) as you can. They are expensive but are worth it. They give out 80 supplies when fed. This will allow you to quickly fulfill quest requirements that ask you to earn a certain number of supplies.
• Buy as many cows as you can. They give out 110 gold when fed. This will allow you to quickly meet quest requirements that call for you to earn a certain amount of gold.
• If you need gold, buy livestock! Most animals like the pig, sheep, and dog will sell for twice their purchase price once they have grown to adult.
• If you need energy, buy horses! You can have a maximum of 10 in your town. Each time you feed one you will get two energy in return.
Gameplay:
• Don’t accept a neighbor’s help if you need to do the action to fulfill a quest requirement. If a neighbor does it for you it will not count for the quest!
• Don’t sell decorations! If you need room in your town then store them in your inventory. Quests will often ask for the same items repeatedly. If you have one in your inventory then pulling it out and placing it in your town will often satisfy the requirement.
• Don’t clear away all of the debris that shows up in your town. Set aside a small area for it to collect in. This will be helpful when quests ask you to clear a certain number of debris. You won’t have to wait for more to appear!
• If you have active quests do not collect from your town’s buildings until a quest calls for it. That way you won’t lose valuable game time waiting for a building to reset in order to satisfy a quest requirement.
These tips and tricks are by no means the only ones. If you have a tip or stumbled on a trick that will enhance gameplay, please share it! See you in the Wild West!
Showing posts with label Wild West Town. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wild West Town. Show all posts
Friday, February 8, 2013
Friday, June 22, 2012
Gaming: Another Pet Peeve
Let me get this straight, Clipwire...
You put a new building in the game and associate it with a quest. That's cool. New things are always fun and shiny. What's not fun and shiny is the fact that you require the players to "hire" friends to work in the new building. Why is that not fun and shiny? Because of how the requirement works. If I have 20 friends and they're already working in another one of my many buildings then they cannot accept a job in the NEW building. The game doesn't allow it. So, that means to complete the building I have to persuade enough friends to start playing the game that I will be able to complete the hiring portion of the building quest and be able to complete the building.
How utterly ridiculous. Your game isn't that popular. I'm lucky to have 20 friends that have accepted my invitation to play. Out of those 20 perhaps 5 play daily. Maybe. And I can't hire them to work in my new building because they've already accepted a job request from me for a different building.
Change the requirement, Clipwire. It's great that you're adding new content. It's great that you're trying to get new players engaged in your game but this isn't the way to do it. Hidden, forced recruiting is a huge turn-off. If I want to invite a friend, I will (and have). It's a fun game and has a lot to offer. Emphasize those areas instead of trying to trick your players into recruiting. You'll find your daily and monthly active user numbers soar.
You put a new building in the game and associate it with a quest. That's cool. New things are always fun and shiny. What's not fun and shiny is the fact that you require the players to "hire" friends to work in the new building. Why is that not fun and shiny? Because of how the requirement works. If I have 20 friends and they're already working in another one of my many buildings then they cannot accept a job in the NEW building. The game doesn't allow it. So, that means to complete the building I have to persuade enough friends to start playing the game that I will be able to complete the hiring portion of the building quest and be able to complete the building.
How utterly ridiculous. Your game isn't that popular. I'm lucky to have 20 friends that have accepted my invitation to play. Out of those 20 perhaps 5 play daily. Maybe. And I can't hire them to work in my new building because they've already accepted a job request from me for a different building.
Change the requirement, Clipwire. It's great that you're adding new content. It's great that you're trying to get new players engaged in your game but this isn't the way to do it. Hidden, forced recruiting is a huge turn-off. If I want to invite a friend, I will (and have). It's a fun game and has a lot to offer. Emphasize those areas instead of trying to trick your players into recruiting. You'll find your daily and monthly active user numbers soar.
Monday, March 19, 2012
Gaming: A Pet Peeve
Don't make your player buy a duplicate of an item if they already own it. If the player owns an object and it is in storage allow the player to pull it out and place it in the game to fulfill all relevant portions of a quest, not just one portion. Once the item is placed in the game update the quest so that the requirement to buy one from the shop is fulfilled. If it's not the player has no choice but to waste gold buying a duplicate to fulfill it. If the intent of requiring the player to buy a duplicate of an object is as a money sink then mark the original object as broken. It will introduce a new object state in the game but this could be used to an advantage to soak up all the extra gold floating around.
Friday, May 13, 2011
A Social Videogame (Facebook or Party Game): Wild West Town by Clipwire Games
Positives:
+ The tutorial quests are easy to follow and informative. They lead seamlessly into the main quests which are the game’s main distinction from other farm or frontier based games.
+ Building a new structure is as simple as choosing the desired building from the catalog and then clicking the ground where you’d like to place it. It also doesn’t take all of your supplies, energy, oil, or gold.
+ Planting crops is as easy as clicking on which one you’d like in the catalog and then clicking a spot on the ground where it should be planted. Once the crops are planted you can water them at various stages of growth for extra experience points.
+ Gameplay is mainly quest driven. Throughout a quest line the game will ask you to do various tasks like plant “x” crops or build a certain building. Accomplishing these tasks grants experience, money, supplies, and oil. It also moves the quest forward to the next stage where you’re asked to do more tasks, each a bit more difficult from the last.
Negatives:
- During a quest line the game will take control of the camera and move the player’s point of view where it thinks it should be even if the player is actively doing something.
- If you’ve finished all the quests there really is nothing left to do except click around your town to clear out debris, feed animals, tend crops, and visit neighbors. This takes 10 minutes or less and is not very engaging.
- The “hunger” indicator for the livestock is inelegant and blocks the player’s view of what’s behind it. If the player has no energy to feed the animal the only other alternative to see behind the hunger indicator is to move the animal.
- I do not like that the game requires the player to have a certain number of friends before allowing them to do certain things like finish a quest or expand their town. Granted it is a social game but this is a relatively unknown game and few play it.
- Some of the quests contain multiple parts which make them seem to go on forever. These multi-part quests also tend to overuse certain features such as fire-starting bandits or requiring an expensive recipe to be prepared in the Cook House.
Thoughts:
~ The game’s art is nicely done. I like the variety of facial expressions available to build your character. You no longer have to play a perpetually happy character if you don’t want to. They can be worried, frightened, or angry.
~ I like the fact that new NPCs travel into town on the train instead of just appearing out of thin air. This gives the player a sense of anticipation every time the train pulls up to the platform. Who is the train dropping off now? What adventure will they bring with them?
~ Energy seems to be a gameplay barrier. There is never enough of it to get things done. It can be a bit frustrating to find that you need to do a number of things but only have the energy to complete a few. Energy does increase as the player levels up but it is a slow process.
~ This game is full of stories. Every quest comes with one that is new or builds on a past storyline the player has already experienced. This is unique for this type of game. Usually it’s simply point and click with no real reason why. One thing I would like to change, though, is the fact that when you’re experiencing a story the game essentially shuts down until you’ve read the dialogue on the screen. If you were in the middle of an action when a story is triggered then the action is dropped and you’re forced to pay attention to the story. It’s too bad that your crops are now withered because the story was more important.
Would Like:
* More variety of clothing and hair for the characters. It’s obvious that the artists had fun with the facial expressions due to the large variety. Now, they should have fun with the clothing and hair options. If nothing else, add some more color options to what’s already available.
* The ability to purchase hard to find ingredients for the Cook House from the game catalog. They can be in the Premium section and cost Bank Notes but at least give us the option. As it stands we need to wait for that hard to find ingredient to drop if we need it. This can put a halt to gameplay as we can’t do anything until we get it.
* I’d love a revamp of the gift shop. It is confusing to use. As a new player, if you don’t have a gift shop in your town your friends can’t help you. Once you have a gift shop you have to decide whether you want to ask for gifts or send them. Each gift is assigned a weight. The weight limits not only which gift you select to send but also the number of friends you can send the gift to.
* I’d like the time limit for helping friends through the Facebook news-feed to be reworked. I understand the need for a time limit but the game only allows a player to help a friend with a news-feed task once every 24 hours. That is way too high of a limit especially considering that few people play this game and the quests require that you ask for a number of items through the feed. If you have 10 friends but need 20 items then it will take you 2 days to complete that part of a quest.
*Actions beyond the usual click-fest that this game ultimately is. When all the prettiness is stripped away this game is essentially all about clicking to get a reaction whether it is a prize, experience, or some form of currency.
Credit where credit is due:
Johnson, Jeremiah Leif. (2011, March 16). Wild west town review . Retrieved from http://www.gamezebo.com/games/wild-west-town/review
Clipwire Games. (2011, February). Wild west town - open beta forum. Retrieved from http://forum.clipwiregames.com/forumdisplay.php?111-Wild-West-Town-Open-Beta
+ The tutorial quests are easy to follow and informative. They lead seamlessly into the main quests which are the game’s main distinction from other farm or frontier based games.
+ Building a new structure is as simple as choosing the desired building from the catalog and then clicking the ground where you’d like to place it. It also doesn’t take all of your supplies, energy, oil, or gold.
+ Planting crops is as easy as clicking on which one you’d like in the catalog and then clicking a spot on the ground where it should be planted. Once the crops are planted you can water them at various stages of growth for extra experience points.
+ Gameplay is mainly quest driven. Throughout a quest line the game will ask you to do various tasks like plant “x” crops or build a certain building. Accomplishing these tasks grants experience, money, supplies, and oil. It also moves the quest forward to the next stage where you’re asked to do more tasks, each a bit more difficult from the last.
Negatives:
- During a quest line the game will take control of the camera and move the player’s point of view where it thinks it should be even if the player is actively doing something.
- If you’ve finished all the quests there really is nothing left to do except click around your town to clear out debris, feed animals, tend crops, and visit neighbors. This takes 10 minutes or less and is not very engaging.
- The “hunger” indicator for the livestock is inelegant and blocks the player’s view of what’s behind it. If the player has no energy to feed the animal the only other alternative to see behind the hunger indicator is to move the animal.
- I do not like that the game requires the player to have a certain number of friends before allowing them to do certain things like finish a quest or expand their town. Granted it is a social game but this is a relatively unknown game and few play it.
- Some of the quests contain multiple parts which make them seem to go on forever. These multi-part quests also tend to overuse certain features such as fire-starting bandits or requiring an expensive recipe to be prepared in the Cook House.
Thoughts:
~ The game’s art is nicely done. I like the variety of facial expressions available to build your character. You no longer have to play a perpetually happy character if you don’t want to. They can be worried, frightened, or angry.
~ I like the fact that new NPCs travel into town on the train instead of just appearing out of thin air. This gives the player a sense of anticipation every time the train pulls up to the platform. Who is the train dropping off now? What adventure will they bring with them?
~ Energy seems to be a gameplay barrier. There is never enough of it to get things done. It can be a bit frustrating to find that you need to do a number of things but only have the energy to complete a few. Energy does increase as the player levels up but it is a slow process.
~ This game is full of stories. Every quest comes with one that is new or builds on a past storyline the player has already experienced. This is unique for this type of game. Usually it’s simply point and click with no real reason why. One thing I would like to change, though, is the fact that when you’re experiencing a story the game essentially shuts down until you’ve read the dialogue on the screen. If you were in the middle of an action when a story is triggered then the action is dropped and you’re forced to pay attention to the story. It’s too bad that your crops are now withered because the story was more important.
Would Like:
* More variety of clothing and hair for the characters. It’s obvious that the artists had fun with the facial expressions due to the large variety. Now, they should have fun with the clothing and hair options. If nothing else, add some more color options to what’s already available.
* The ability to purchase hard to find ingredients for the Cook House from the game catalog. They can be in the Premium section and cost Bank Notes but at least give us the option. As it stands we need to wait for that hard to find ingredient to drop if we need it. This can put a halt to gameplay as we can’t do anything until we get it.
* I’d love a revamp of the gift shop. It is confusing to use. As a new player, if you don’t have a gift shop in your town your friends can’t help you. Once you have a gift shop you have to decide whether you want to ask for gifts or send them. Each gift is assigned a weight. The weight limits not only which gift you select to send but also the number of friends you can send the gift to.
* I’d like the time limit for helping friends through the Facebook news-feed to be reworked. I understand the need for a time limit but the game only allows a player to help a friend with a news-feed task once every 24 hours. That is way too high of a limit especially considering that few people play this game and the quests require that you ask for a number of items through the feed. If you have 10 friends but need 20 items then it will take you 2 days to complete that part of a quest.
*Actions beyond the usual click-fest that this game ultimately is. When all the prettiness is stripped away this game is essentially all about clicking to get a reaction whether it is a prize, experience, or some form of currency.
Credit where credit is due:
Johnson, Jeremiah Leif. (2011, March 16). Wild west town review . Retrieved from http://www.gamezebo.com/games/wild-west-town/review
Clipwire Games. (2011, February). Wild west town - open beta forum. Retrieved from http://forum.clipwiregames.com/forumdisplay.php?111-Wild-West-Town-Open-Beta
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