Astraware Westward Review

Use your Palm to tame the Wild West with Astraware Westward.

Astraware Westward is an adoption of the game of the same name from Sandlot Games.  Westward is a family oriented strategy game for mobile devices.  The object of Westward to is shepherd a small band of settlers with a few covered wagons into a bustling town full of colorful citizens while bringing the swindling “Mad Russian” to justice.

Go West Young Man

Learning to play Westward is easy.  The first time you start up the game, Tutorial Teacher helps you along as you find your way through the first few game levels.  There is also a built-in help system that describes the various game control elements if you are in need of a review when the Tutorial Teacher isn’t around.  Learning the rules and game control elements only takes a few minutes.  In the mobile edition of Westward, Astraware gives your preference to control the action with either the device’s directional pad (d-pad) or the stylus.  While playing Westward, I found that the d-pad was acceptable for most tasks, but when I wanted to select a group of things, like the Sheriff Jenkins and his deputies, the stylus was easier to use.

Around the main game board are several important items that you will need to keep track of while playing Westward.  While playing, you will be alerted to critical events that are happing.  Often, the action is happening outside the visible area of the game board.  Around the screen you will find white boxes that you can use to move the viewable window around the game board.  If you want to move a citizen to a spot that is outside the viewable area, select the character and drag to the edge of the screen you want them to go.  When your stylus touches the white box, the map starts moving in that direction.

Another important game element that you will need to master during game play is building.  You will need to build a variety of structures for your town folk to interact with, including: farms, lumber mills, mining camps, saloons, and trading posts.  As your town grows, more building types will become available.

Brains and Brawn

It will take more than just being a quick draw to win the West; you will need to keep your wits about you and a level head.  While playing Westward, you will need to manage several aspects of the game at once.  As your town grows, you will need to build new structures.  Careful space planning about where you will build these structures is required.  Once you have built a structure, such as a farm, you will need to house your town folk there and you must also find your town folk work to keep them busy.  When a building is employing all the townsfolk it needs, it is able to produce resources more efficiently.

In addition to managing your town’s buildings, you will also need to acquire, manage, and spend the town’s resources.  You will be in charge of the town’s gold, food, and wood.  You use these items as the currency to construct new buildings, trade for other resources, and buy specialty items through out the game.  You will also need to be prepared for the unexpected.  You never know when a drought, plague, tornado, or a gang of bandits will ravage your town.

Horsing Around

Westward features several game elements that keep it interesting.  For starters, there are over 20 playable levels and over 25 different structures to build.  The more buildings you erect attract different types of people to your town.  When you start each level, you will be given an objective to work toward.  As you interact with the people in your town, you will also discover new side stories and level objectives.  As you complete the levels of Westward, and the special objectives obtained from the other characters in the game, your townsfolk will be able to learn new skills and obtain new tools.  There are also hidden levels waiting to be unlocked as you play Westward.  All of these plot elements are carefully interwoven to give Westward a rich story that will keep you playing the game even after the bad guys are behind bars.

Buying Advice

Astraware Westward is an excellent game for anyone who enjoys real-time strategy games.  Astraware has done an amazing job of capturing the original Sandlot Games desktop game and brining it to the Palm OS and Windows Mobile platforms.  If you only buy one adventure game for your mobile device, you need to get a copy of Westward.  The game play is fast moving, the graphics are outstanding, and the hidden and unlockable items and levels will keep providing you with hours of entertainment.

 Astraware Westward is available for Palm OS handhelds and smartphones, Windows Mobile 5 and 6 devices, and Windows Mobile for Smartphones.  The free downloadable demo allows you to play the first three stages of the game or up to 15 game launches, whichever comes first.  Astraware Westward can be purchased for $19.95 directly from the Astraware website .