Westward Game Review

Rating: 4.0/5.0

If you like to play strategy games online, then you really need to check Westward out. Similar to the Sim games and Virtual Villagers, this game is a village simulation… but with one big difference: it’s set in the Old West. Yeeeee-haw!

Westward is a surprisingly addictive and deep game, with lots of gameplay elements that might present a slightly steep learning curve for the casual gamer. But fear not… there’s an in-depth tutorial that goes through every concept with you.

In the game, you take on the role of one of ten characters, and face the daunting task of venturing into the unknown Old West and attempting to set up settlements that can withstand the test of time. And if you happen to come across gold or some other treasure, so much the better!

Westward doesn’t just let you play strategy games online. This is a full-fledged game where you need to control your settlers, manage resources such as food and water, build essential buildings, and attempt to make your settlement a bustling and thriving outpost in the west.

You start each scenario by taking your settlers to an unclaimed plot of land. You then need to manage your resources and slowly build your settlement up. Homes are essential, then the saloon (what’s a western town without a saloon?!), then maybe a trading post? Each subsequent scenario adds more complexity to the game, with more advanced buildings needing to be built. With any luck, you will end up having a railway line coming into your town and connecting you to the east coast.

But buildings and resources aren’t everything. Your settlers have feelings too! You need to manage your people’s needs. Hunger, thirst, sleep, jobs, satisfaction all must be properly managed or your settlement will end up becoming a ghost town.

And to make things even more interesting, there are occasional events that start small quests that give the game more story and more variation from the standard build-the-best-settlement concept.

In all, Westward is a pioneer (no pun intended) in the simulation genre, bringing the game out into the romantic Old West, where the dangers of mother nature and the natives add a whole new facet to the game. So if you like to play strategy games online, do check this one out! And when you’re done, take a look at the other games in the Westward series.

Check out the other games in this series!