Thanks for the links, will check them out. Kingdoms sounds interesting too, in case I end up loving the first game. But I'm more interested in the Wild West theme as a break from all the Fantasy and Sci-Fi. :)

Crap. For a second there I was elated that a game called 1869 was released here.

I'd buy that! :D
Your not the only one ;)

One more question (well, two) about Westward and then I'll give the thread back.

1) Which release of Westward do you recommend? Seems to be at least four in the series. (Their Tradewinds series looks good too.)

2) Does anyone use Amazon Digital Services for games? If so, how does it work? Is it like GG, where can download an offline installer to keep, or do you need to use a client to install and play?

Thanks folks!

Oh, the 49ers... I just wanted to drop a stupid "kicking balls" joke and didn't realize you made a reference to something. I feel stupid now %-)

Hm I also got it very cheap on IGS. It's a nice game but I wait for a good discount to buy it again for my GOG game collection...

I'm not a fan of strategy, simulation, city management or whatever, but I have to say the graphics in this game look really charming and speak to my (admittedly romanticized) view of the Old West.

I would definitely try this if these were my kinds of games.

I would say that Westward IV is the best one.

Thanks, it does look like it has a good storyline to go with the gameplay. Is it overall mechanically similar to the others in series? If so then it looks like the winning choice.

The mechanics are quite similar, yes, but it is more refined and the game is longer. The first 2 (?) games are 2D sprite based, while 3 and 4 are full 3D. The shift makes the 3'd the aesthetically worst one, in my opinion, as it do not gel quite as nicely. But it works very well in the last one.

(it may be that my memory plays tricks on me, and the 2nd is the first one in 3D)

The last game in the series is Kingdoms, but I did not like that one as much.

I've finished six missions so I can share my opinion about the game. First thing you need to know is that it's definitely NOT a casual game. First mission is actually a tutorial, second shows a few advanced options but in the third one you can fail miserably pretty easily ;) The main challenge is managing your money properly. It's kinda interesting that in some mission you start with just a few hundreds of bucks and some buildings cost more then 1000$. AFAIR in Caesar 3/Pharoh/Zeus you don't have to worry about your finances right from the beginning so it's definitely an interesting feature!

And while we talk about beginning... before you start doing anything you can choose starting conditions. There are three options in most cases it's something like: 1) a lot of money and nothing else 2) A few buildings and/or resources but limited amount of money 3) very limited amount of money but each month you will receive a free supply of some resources (not much but still). There are other options too (like already established trade routes) and I guess there might be more. I would say it's a nice touch.

Many features of a typical city-builder game are rather simplified: you have only one storage depot and it has unlimited capacity. To start trading you have to establish a route (= spend some money) but then everything is done in a split second: you choose which goods you want to buy/sell, adjust the quantity and after clicking a button you immediately have your ordered goods in your depot (or money on your account). No waiting time, no limits of how much you can buy/sell. Designing your city is also very simple: some buildings (like saloon, sheriff) have a limited area of effect but that's actually the only thing you have to care about. It doesn't matter how you build your roads (no roaming walkers) and I haven't witness any complains from tenants about nearby industries. Everything may change in latter mission but I think it's safe to assume that typical city-building features are simplified.

At that point I would say that the game is not really about designing your city (don't get me wrong - there are a lot of different buildings but it doesn't matter that much where you place them, you just need to build them somewhere) but about managing your money and that's where things get interesting. As I said before your starting funds are very limited so have to plan everything carefully right from the beginning. Your major profit comes from rents so obviously the more inhabitants you have the more money you will get. People living in better houses pay higher rents so you should focus on upgrading existing houses (by fulfilling the needs of tenants) rather than building new ones. As you can imagine you have to pay wages for each worker you have in your city. A key to success is to ensure a steady progress. If you develop your houses too fast there will be a high unemployment rate and people will start committing crimes. If you spend all your money to develop a prosperous gold mining business it may turn out that you will run out of a crucial resource that you cannot produce yourself and since you don't have money at the moment (gold mining takes some time to pay off) people will leave your city, your industry will collapse and your remaining solution is to click "restart mission" button ;) On top of that from time to time you'll get a special missions like sending some resources and/or money to start a new settlement. Fulfilling those missions tends to be lucrative, you can for example get a free shipment of some goods each month until the end of the mission. But be careful and make sure that you can really handle those mission. If you give away your entire food storage your own people may starve and leave your town, searching for a better place to live. I would say it's very easy to make a mistake so yeah, managing your money is more challenging then in a typical city-building game (they are focused on something else after all) but very rewarding.

I've already produced a nice wall of text so let me conclude: is it worth the price? Hard to say actually. I definitely enjoy the game so far, some parts are simplified, others really challenging and entertaining. The game is definitely for you if you like the theme, graphics and micromanaging. Just keep in mind that you won't become a grand architect here. Anyway - the choice is yours ;)

Looking at the screenshots on Amazon, the second is kind-of isometric, with the third and fourth looking fully iso-3D all around. I think the fourth one will be the one I go for, once I figure out if Amazon Digital Services is right for me.

Thanks again for the info!

Well, great minds think alike.

$5 on the App Store and $15 on GOG and Steam, and the only difference is Sandbox mode? Glad I got it from IGS.