Anyone still play this?

[Jakaryy]

I played the 2nd game when it first came out years ago. Now I'm in high school and still enjoy the games! (However my Big Fish game account thing goofed or something so I don't have the first 3 anymore, just the 4th one on steam now. Buying the collection soon.)

Anyone still come back to this game and play it some? It's a nice hidden gem now on steam, I'm kind of surprised very few people play any of them anymore.

[kilicool64]

The main reason nobody really remembers these games is probably because they were designed as casual games. And the market for casual games on the PC (with exception of Facebook games) collapsed entirely at the beginning of this decade. The target demographic of games like this has since moved to other platforms, leaving conventional PC gaming almost exclusively to more "core" gamers. But most of these people are strongly biased against casual games in general and would never even consider checking one out.

The lineup of Sandlot Games specifically also faces the problem that their developer ended up essentially committing suicide by selling themselves to a company who then decided to lay them off and do absolutely nothing with their properties before ultimately being forced to go out of business themselves. Nobody seems to know who even owns these games now.

It really is a shame that this market died with so weak a foothold that nobody even remembers its existence. Plenty of good games were born in it, especially this one.


BTW, in case you don't know, there's a fifth game in the series as well called Westward Kingdoms. You can't buy it from Steam though. Westward II-IV also have some free DLC compatible with all versions that's been archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20110901222833/http://www.sandlotgames.com/w5/free_levels.html . Most of it is just extra maps for the Sandbox Mode, but Westward IV also got a bonus scenario called Crystal Creek.

[GamerTeah]

Hell ya I am :) love this game!

[[LSPD] Deacon St John]

Originally posted by kilicool64:

The main reason nobody really remembers these games is probably because they were designed as casual games. And the market for casual games on the PC (with exception of Facebook games) collapsed entirely at the beginning of this decade. The target demographic of games like this has since moved to other platforms, leaving conventional PC gaming almost exclusively to more "core" gamers. But most of these people are strongly biased against casual games in general and would never even consider checking one out.

The lineup of Sandlot Games specifically also faces the problem that their developer ended up essentially committing suicide by selling themselves to a company who then decided to lay them off and do absolutely nothing with their properties before ultimately being forced to go out of business themselves. Nobody seems to know who even owns these games now.

It really is a shame that this market died with so weak a foothold that nobody even remembers its existence. Plenty of good games were born in it, especially this one.


BTW, in case you don't know, there's a fifth game in the series as well called Westward Kingdoms. You can't buy it from Steam though. Westward II-IV also have some free DLC compatible with all versions that's been archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20110901222833/http://www.sandlotgames.com/w5/free_levels.html . Most of it is just extra maps for the Sandbox Mode, but Westward IV also got a bonus scenario called Crystal Creek.

That was the sad parts of casual games on PC, what if those casual games are all in Steam back then and not some shady places like BigFish games.

Still, this game is one of my best casual childhood I've ever had, mind you I like playing a lot of FPS games back then but this game has a special place in my heart. Literally.

[RemediosVaro]

Westward II-IV also have some free DLC compatible with all versions that's been archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20110901222833/http://www.sandlotgames.com/w5/free_levels.html . Most of it is just extra maps for the Sandbox Mode, but Westward IV also got a bonus scenario called Crystal Creek. [/quote]

Hi, yes, I'd like to play the Crystal Creek Sandbox. I downloaded it, but can't quite figure out how to install it here on steam. Any help?

[kilicool64]

I can't quite remember how I did it. I think I recall the installers being unable to locate the games automatically, though.

Does the Crystal Creek installer ask you to point it to the game? If so, do a right-click on the game in your library, then click "Properties", "Local Files" and finally "Browse local files. That'll show you its location on your PC.

Or does the installer flat-out refuse to work? If so, I'll have to look into this further.

[RemediosVaro]

Thanks! That was what I needed, to find exactly what folder to put it in, and then it worked (works). It's still a very nice casual game and the Crystal Creek map a major new mission. Thanks for the help.

[Randomz]

i gots the first one on big fish

[mrmoore2050]

I love this game. There use to be extra sandbox maps on big fish I think. I'm trying to find them.
edit: omg, it didnt show whole discussion until I posted first comment. Then the other comments where websites to the extra maps I was just talking about!
*squeal*!!! Thanks RemediosVaro! You're better than google in this instance.

[SkEyE]

I played through the first three and the original iPhone one (before in-app purchases were a thing and the games were cool) and always remembered them fondly. I recently bought the complete set on Steam and have been replaying. It really was a great series. I hope they revive it someday.

[kilicool64]

Originally posted by SkEyE:

I hope they revive it someday.

That's never going to happen. The developers, the company who bought them and the company who bought that company are all dead.

[mrmoore2050]

Westward Kingdoms is not on steam but is also a fun game. Dont build windmills or you will trigger a bug much like upgrading train yard to early in westward 4. Theres another bug too I cant remember I think, probly why the dont release it on steam. But a true blue westward successor is most likely not in the cards. 4 is a masterpiece though, and there are other great games now too.

[kilicool64]

The reason Kingdoms didn't make it to Steam is because it was released very shortly before Sandlot Games decided to abandon their roots and sell themselves to Digital Chocolate to make Facebook games. This would prove to be their undoing, seeing how those quickly turned out to largely be a fad.