Game Gush Gamer

Howdy pardna’. Looks like only one man (or woman) can say they’re the top dog ’round these parts. I reckon this town ain’t big enough for the both of us. Yeah, you heard me, lint licker. Draw! Pew-pew. Ah, the wild west. What an adventure! Join your favorite Game Gusher and explore the fun that’s available in saloon tycoon management simulator, Deadwater Saloon! As a quick background, Creative Storm Entertainment are the developers for Deadwater Saloon. These peeps are AWESOME because they were kind enough to provide me the entire game for FREE! Woohoo! Now let’s hop on the saddle and run this wild west town.

Deadwater Saloon Game Gush

Selecting new game springs the customization screen to life. There were a lot of options at first glance, so it was overwhelming for a few seconds. Players can choose between male or female to get started. Then we create the character’s name, town name, and saloon name, or hit the randomize button if you are feeling quirky. Surprisingly, a variety of character portraits are available to flip through: Chinese immigrant, Native American, European Caucasian, African American, etc. Next on the agenda is personality. Each personality will provide a huge bonus to two different skills which help kick-start your Deadwater Saloon’s success. With over 20 skills to be proficient in, players are looking at a long ride while surviving the wild west.

Kingpin’s Cousin, Ulysses

Once the best character is crafted to run a saloon, it’s time to head out west! I chose a big musclehead who looks like Kingpin’s cousin. He has proficiency in abstraction [definition], finances, muscles, and cooking! After a brief tutorial, I stared at an empty building, the potential of my future. It was time to build my empire that would stretch into the next phase of western civilization.

From the void of the saloon, I added all sorts of décor, furniture, and entertainment to attract customers to town. Every item in the shop had a passive effect as well. Most furniture naturally increased storage capacity. Stoves raised the cooking rating. Décor boosted refinement or how attractive the saloon was to travelers. Like other management simulators, random events appeared to either swing in my favor or stagger my hard-earned progress. These events mostly had an effect on money, fame, and town opinion.

DAY/NIGHT CYCLE

Deadwater Saloon implements a natural day and night cycle. The color palette used for the sunset and sunrise is sooooo good. Almost every in-game evening is cascaded with a beautiful red-orange sunset. Nighttime is, for the lack of better words, DARK and HOLLOW. It’s truly reminiscent of night life in the old western days. Luckily, the Deadwater Saloon is a beacon for weary travelers traveling in the dark. My saloon is outfitted with candles, wall lamps, chandeliers, and candelabras (these always give me Beauty and the Beast vibes)!

Western Lifestyle

Since the spectacular owners living the American dream (that’s me) have decided to place their saloon in the middle of nowhere, the western lifestyle can be pretty harsh sometimes. Bandits may take over the road, causing route delays on the products I sale. I learned to have plenty of resources stocked in the saloon for any such occasion. Clearing the road of bandits can be dangerous and takes some time to repair.

When I think lowly bandits are the least of my worries, I am proven wrong. A gang of outlaws rode into town after I was flourishing for a few weeks. They acted as if they owned the saloon and ruined everyone’s night. Stole my liquor, stole my money. After the gang raided my saloon, I was left humiliated and I wanted payback. Now what do I do? Well, the first thing that came to mind was defense. I knew I needed weapons and a lot of them if I was to take on something as fierce as an outlaw gang.

Deadwater Saloon Grows with the Town

For the next 180 days, I continued to manage my Deadwater Saloon, created friendships (or enemies), and solved unorthodox problems. Trust me, nobody wants to witness Dirty Walker basking in the sun completely naked. Another incident involved legal murder. A pig farmer moved to town not too long before the town got word that a fugitive was on the loose. Somehow, the town suspected me, so I had to find the real fugitive to clear my name. Investigations revealed the culprit was NOT the pig farmer though. The fugitive was, in fact, [insert Scooby Doo Mystery Inc iconic PAUSE for effect]… the general store owner!

Creative Storm Entertainment adds finer details onto the natural tycoon management simulator to fit its narrative of the western era. Watching how the Deadwater Saloon grows side by side with the town over the span of the game is really fun. One building stands in the desert. Then two, then three, and before you know it, a bustling city that seems to never slow down.

Deadwater Saloon vs Chop

Unfortunately, Chop and his gang of outlaws eventually found their way back to town. I had firepower, bouncers, a saloon full of allies, and pride. This time I was ready to raise fire and brimstone. Or so I thought. Even my bolstered forces were not enough to take on the cruelty of Chop. I sustained a nasty injury, debilitating my health and stats. He ransacked the fearful saloon and left me humiliated just like before. Except this was worse than the first time. This is just one of many exciting events that occur on the western front.

Deadwater Saloon Difficulty

Deadwater Saloon has a minimal learning curve too so the gameplay is good for any style of play. Once a few mistakes have been made, the solutions are simple to understand. Just don’t do the same mistake twice and the difficulty scale should be close to none. Similar to other simulators, the game is more about the unique experience and what happens along your specific path to the endgame.