[i]Golden Rails: Valuable Package[/i] is a time management game developed by Yustas Games Studio and published by Alawar Entertainment. It is the fifth and latest installment in the [i]Golden Rails[/i] series. The story starts off as follows. A postman named Philip is on his stagecoach as he's making his deliveries. All of a sudden, though, he's being chased by some bandits and during this chase, Philip ends up losing some of the packages he's supposed to delivered. Then we're taken to Jack and Jill, the heroes of this series who are happily going about their business when they encounter one of Philip's lost packages. Eventually, they meet Philip, and together, the three of them agree to work together to retrieve all of the lost items while they have to deal with Little Zapp and his gang, the bandits responsible for this disaster. I'll end my story synopsis here to avoid spoilers and all that.
As for the gameplay, it's pretty much the same as in the previous installments with a few additions. As usual, you can choose from among three difficulty levels: relaxed, normal, or hard. There are a total of 45 main story levels and 5 minigame levels, with 15 bonus levels that are unlocked after you complete the main story levels. The main and bonus story levels are the usual tasks, such as constructing and upgrading buildings, and there may be some new tasks as well, such as constructing post boxes so residents can get their mail deliveries. Powerups, like worker bonuses, are unlocked as you progress through levels. You can earn up to 3 stars per level, and stars are used to repair buildings in your city (only for cosmetic purposes). The minigame levels are mostly different from those in previous installments, though. Only one minigame level is the usual bandit shooting in which you can earn up to 3 stars. However, the other minigame levels consist of various customers entering the post office to request a couple of deliveries. You have to give them the correct deliveries in order to advance to the next customer. Serve all the customers before the timer runs out and you'll earn up to 3 stars. There are the usual Steam achievements/in-game trophies although no Steam trading cards at the time of this review.
Now that I've gone over the story and gameplay, I'll move onto my critique. For those who have read my reviews on various time management games, it's probably no surprise that I've enjoyed all of the games in the [i]Golden Rails[/i] series, and this one is no exception. I like how the story starts off with us being introduced to Philip, a regular postman. Philip is an everyday person, going about his business, when he runs into some bad luck because of bandits. I think we can relate to Philip to some extent. (Well, not the bandits part. lol) Sometimes, we run into some misfortune through means beyond our control. Fortunately, Philip gets help from our heroes Jack and Jill, and the story progresses from there. The story itself is pretty predictable in regards to the bandits being the villains and our heroes coming in to save the day. However, I think this is fine, and for those who are interested in this game, the gameplay is the more interesting aspect.
Since I bring it up, I'll talk about the gameplay now. Although it is mostly the same as in previous games (like the story, I think this is fine), there are a few new mechanics. I really like the post boxes and delivery mail service features. I think they add interesting elements to the game and give the player more tasks to complete. It can be challenging to multitask, but if you're pretty good at playing TMs, then this is quite doable. The powerups certainly help as well although I didn't notice any new ones. Also, I like the new minigame where you have to deliver correct mail items to customers. It's a refreshing change from the usual shooting game since it requires more good vision rather than fast hand reflexes. XD The city building feature is nice as well, and for certain buildings, you can actually earn bonuses for levels, such as one where your workers will be able to produce more food. Of course, it's great that Steam achievements are present, and they count towards a user's global total.
In regards to the art, the style is the same as in the previous installments. It has that cartoony style with bright colors, which works great for this series. Regarding the music, the tracks are the same as in the previous games. By now, I wish that there were one or two new tracks to add a bit more variety to this latest installment, but the tracks that are present fit very well with this game's US Wild West theme.
Overall, would I recommend [i]Golden Rails: Valuable Package[/i]? If you enjoy time management games and especially like the [i]Golden Rails[/i] series, then you'll probably enjoy this latest game. It can mostly feel the same as in previous games, but I think this type of gameplay works for the series. For the asking price, I'd say it's worth getting, as it took me around 9.5 hours to complete the game and get all of the achievements. However, you can always wait for a sale, and it's in a couple of Steam bundles. ^^
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