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Westward is a new game from Astraware that will let you experience life in the Wild West. You start out as Daniel Logstein, a settler in a small town that has just been robbed by bandits. An excellent interactive tutorial teaches you how to help the Sheriff get rid of the bandits and rebuild the town. Then, with some encouragement from the Mayor, you set off on new adventures in the land of opportunity.

When you first start out, you have only a covered wagon, and your options are limited. You can convert your wagon into a wagon camp which can support a small number of people. But if you want to create a larger settlement you will need to convert your wagon camp into a lumber camp so you can start building houses, gold mines, and other items that will be essential for growing your small settlement into a large town with a general store, hotel, and of course a saloon (not necessarily in that order).

As your Western adventure continues, you will build larger settlements and towns with houses, gold mines, farmlands and other necessities that will attract and employ new settlers, allowing them (and you) to live a comfortable life. The more successful you are with meeting the needs of your settlers, the more money you will make and the more opportunities you will have for new adventures.

When new settlers arrive you can assign them housing and employ them at the farm, goldmine, or wherever they are most needed. As they work, you can watch them go about their daily tasks. If they need something or have something to tell you, little caption bubbles will appear above their heads, and these can be tapped on for more detailed information.

The more successful your town is, the more attractive it becomes to settlers that will help it grow. However, it will also become more attractive to less desirable folk such as gunslingers and bandits. It is your job to keep the town safe so you must figure out how to deal with these and any other problems that arise. Just like real life, in the west there are many challenges; but the satisfaction that comes from building a successful town can be rewarding.

The adventures in Westward cover 4 different locations with over 20 levels of play and 25 types of buildings, providing many hours of game play. Also, there are multiple side missions and unique skills and tools that can be unlocked, so even if you’ve already completed the game once you may find something new if you play again.

Links

Westward for Palm OS

Westward for Windows Mobile

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Filed under: Software reviews