Tag: Compass Point »

When it first came out, Compass Point: West was a rather refreshing take on the Clash of Clans formula. Now Next Games has made it Legendary.

[Wondering if it's worth dramatically pushing the swinging doors open on this saloon? Check out our review]

You’ve got a lot of work ahead of you if you want to turn your little patch of dirt into a bonafide frontier town, and Orville Driller and his cronies aren’t exactly rolling out the welcome mat. But don’t worry, even the toughest hombres need help every now and then (okay I’m done with the old west jokes, I swear).

Getting Started

• Be mindful of Gold and Goods limits - Starting out, you’ll only be able to hold a maximum of 2,000 of either resource. It sounds like a lot, but it’ll fill up quickly. Try not to let your earnings go to waste.
• If you’re about to exceed the limit, spend it - Successful attacks on Orville’s occupied territories will always yield Gold and Goods, so if you’re really close to the maximum you should try to spend some of either (or both) before continuing on. Build or upgrade stuff if you can, but if that’s not an option you can also clear out trees and rocks.
• Watch videos when able - There’s a covered wagon with a film strip icon over it that sometimes appears on the road. Tap it and you’ll be prompted to watch a video. You definitely want to watch, as once you’re finished you’ll be able to pick a random card from a group of four. These can include diamonds (used to speed things up), sidekicks, workers, or even piles of resources.
• Use Jakob Ammann to keep things moving - The basic version of his card will take up to 15 minutes off of one upgrade, which is great for when you’re starting out and things don’t take hours to finish.
• Use William Wealth when you need a cash boost - The basic form of William nets you 500 Gold, so use it if you’re a little short. Make sure you remember that resource limit, though!

Next Games' Compass Point: West is a town builder and town defender in the same wheelhouse as Clash of Clans. In the same wheelhouse, but mercifully still doing its own thing with the... I guess it's kind of a genre now?

Much like other similar games you'll be building up your own town - this time in the Wild West - and sending all sorts of characters out to attack other players' territory. Along with figuring out how best to defend your own, of course. There are also non-player bases to raid if you'd rather not stir up trouble with your neighbors.

One of the biggest differences with Compass Point: West is that the characters you get to use are represented by cards (much like an online CCG). These cards can be stockpiled, and multiples may be fused to create more powerful versions. Although, while I found the card elements interesting, I was even more interested in the lack of character death that's obnoxiously prevalent in other games of this type.

In similar titles, once you use a character to attack a base they're gone forever and you have to spend time and money training more. Some games will allow you to keep anybody that isn't killed during an attack, but Compass Point: West has an even more user-friendly approach: after a battle your characters simply rest up at the saloon. You might have to wait a little while before you can use them again, but they're never gone for good. And because battles only let you bring a handful of folks along, chances are you'll have more waiting in reserve and can go on the attack a few times before you'll have to wait it out.

Oh, and it actually looks really pretty. I forgot to mention that. Everything you see in those screenshots up above is in 3D, too.

Compass Point: West will be coming to the App Store as a free download soon. I can't say for certain when that will be, but you won't have to wait for very long.