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The Golden Years: Way Out West Giveaway
$9.99
EXPIRED

Game Giveaway of the day — The Golden Years: Way Out West

Tame the Wild West in The Golden Years, a charming city building sim from the creators of Hotel Mogul! The Golden Years will provide hours of casual gaming thrills for the whole family!
$9.99 EXPIRED
User rating: 274 31 comments

The Golden Years: Way Out West was available as a giveaway on June 29, 2014!

Today Giveaway of the Day
$5.00
free today
Crazy Desert Car is an exciting game in the arcade genre.

Use your business savvy to tame the Wild West in The Golden Years: Way Out West, a charming Strategy game! As you use your business savvy to squeeze every ounce of profit from your investments, you'll help an iron-willed woman and her young son overcome the sleazy maneuvers of a greedy ol' rip and save her guiltless husband from a life behind bars. Progress through challenging levels and save the day in The Golden Years: Way Out West!

  • 48 levels;
  • Four settings;
  • Five story scenes;
  • 11 Wild West characters;
  • 27 buildings.

System Requirements:

Windows XP/ Vista/ 7/ 8; CPU: 800 MHz; RAM: 512 MB; DirectX: 8.0; Hard Drive: 253 MB

Publisher:

Xing Interactive

Homepage:

http://www.bigfishgames.com/download-games/15829/the-golden-years-way-out-west/index.html

File Size:

234 MB

Price:

$9.99

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Comments on The Golden Years: Way Out West

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#31

Some levels I had to try it over and over again (yes, I am a very patient one), but now every level in the game I finished as an "expert".
Soon I'll play the game again: this is a really nice game. Thanks GGAOTD and Alawar. ;)

.................................Moderator Comment...........................

Thanks for your comment Mag_ma

Reply   |   Comment by Mag_ma  –  9 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#30

The game is similar to the Build-A-Lot games except you don't have to finish achievements in time. If you do you can get stars which work towards upgrading a train. As far as I can tell, there's only two levels of upgrades. (I haven't finished the game but I seem to have all the upgrades.) It's easy enough once you know what's needed in a level to prepare early enough for it when replaying the level to get the stars.


........................Moderator Comment..................

Sorry for the late moderation. Thanks for the feedback Phil. :)

Reply   |   Comment by Patrick McNamara  –  9 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#29

Very enjoyable game. I do not usually like time management games, bur t this one was easy enough, in that it gave you two different awards to pass to the next level ("expert", or "gamer", so it was not too stressful to complete in time. Cute story line. Played well on win 7 64 bit. Replayability, to complete all levels as an "expert". Thanks, GGOTD!


........................Moderator Comment..................

Sorry for the late moderation. Thanks for the feedback :)

Reply   |   Comment by Glenrd  –  9 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#28

how do we get it if all downloads fail? tried 10 times each taking over 45 minutes to download. 6 semi complete and 4 supposedly complete but when tried to open the four the unzip would not open. used 7zip on all.
would have liked to play this but have run out of time and patience on my end.




........................Moderator Comment..................

Sorry for the late moderation. Try using a download manager. That way, if the download is interrupted you wont lose progress. Sorry you missed the game. Check to see if it's available via Jenkat or MyPlayCity. :)

Reply   |   Comment by murphys luck  –  9 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#27

Some of what I wrote is incorrect. You have to finish each mini task within a certain time limit to get a star vs a checkmark. You have to get a certain amount of stars per level to get expert rating.

........................Moderator Comment..................

Thanks for your feedback Brenda, sorry for the late moderation. I didn't sleep last night apart from when I fella sleep at the keyboard and knocked a full pint of ginger beer over my computer. Amazingly it didn't get inside the case, apart from on the ceiling fans. I spent nearly 2 hours cleaning the mess up. By the time I'd finished it was time to get the kids up for school. I've been zombified ever since. totally forgot to check the comments till now :)

Reply   |   Comment by brendag4  –  9 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#26

One more thing. The only thing I don't like is it doesn't save your progress. So when you quit the game you have to restart the level u left off of. That n of course the puzzle of where to make the most of the space for the water tower to have however many houses n ranches n such that u need for the amount of people u need. Thanks again. Sorry for so many posts.


........................Moderator Comment..................

Thanks :)

Reply   |   Comment by Tkurtz  –  9 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#25

To get past level 3, there is only ONE place you can build the water tower where it will allow you to build covered wagons. Covered wagons must be near water towers. When you select to build a water tower, it will show what plots of land that water tower will cover. This is not a bug in the game. It should be mentioned in the tutorial.

The tutorial is missing other crucial things that they should be explaining, such as how the stage is timed. Unlike other time management games I have played, you have to finish the tasks in the order they ask you to. For example, if you are making houses but they have on the screen that they want you to fix the bridge... you won't get "expert" for fixing the bridge because you will be finishing it after they wanted it done. The other games I have played allow you to finish all tasks in whatever order you want, and there is only 1 expert rating per stage. In this game, there can be several stages within a level. I hope this makes sense.


........................Moderator Comment..................

Thank you for the feedback Brenda, much appreciated. :)

Reply   |   Comment by brendag4  –  9 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#24

Well this is certainly different and takes a little getting used to. I've only completed a few levels but have not always reached gold star level. I really like TM games and am looking forward to unraveling the little problems in this one. Thanks for a great game and for one that I've never seen before.



..........................Moderator comment.....................

:D

Reply   |   Comment by DJ  –  9 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#23

#8 Ashara - this is what I was referring to in my comment (#6).

You have to have water available for all the wagons in order to build more. (The water tower is a "Municipal building")

It's a "chicken or the egg" sort of puzzle... you have to have one building available already before you can build more of other types of buildings.

Try placing a water tower so it'll be available to the surrounding plots.



..........................Moderator comment.....................

Thanks again for your feedback Bob

Reply   |   Comment by BobR  –  9 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#22

Placing buildings finally worked! Man! IF u don't know how it does get into a guessing game on where to place what and that takes time. The only other thing now is you seem to start over on each new level where supplies and dollars earned are concerned. Now I just have to figure out level 5. Thanks for a fun game.



..........................Moderator comment.....................

:)

Reply   |   Comment by Tkurtz  –  9 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#21

This game would be more fun if it weren't so confusing. Right now at level 3. They have a goal of wagon building. But when u click to build. It says you can only build municpal buildings. Also for the municipal building the only available one is the sawmill. Any help here is appreciated. Thanks otherwise for a fun game.


..........................Moderator comment.....................

Hi Tkurtz, read the post by KeishaJL above

Reply   |   Comment by Tkurtz  –  9 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#20

I have tried different file archivers and everything and i still get this message and it has happened on several of your software games.

The archive is either in unknown format or damaged




..............................Moderator comment..............................


A few community members have been getting this problem, however there has been several thousand downloads, with most being able to install the game. I can't think of anything else. Maybe there's a conflict with something you are running in the background? You could try turning things off one by one. Also, check your event log after trying to unpack the zipped files.

Reply   |   Comment by Educated in IT and programming  –  9 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#19

3rd level it gets stuck




.......................Moderator comment........................

Read the post by KeishaJL above.

Reply   |   Comment by omshi  –  9 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#18

DL/Installed Win 7 64 without any problems. I've same problems as mentioned at level 3 as #8.. Have no idea how to fix this.


..........................Moderator comment.....................

Hi Dianne, read the post by KeishaJL above

Reply   |   Comment by Dianne  –  9 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#17

>> Ashara << I think your issue might be that you have to have a water tower close by. Be sure to place the water towers so that you can put 4 covered wagons around them. :)

Several hours and level 19 later I'm still enjoying it :)


..........................Moderator comment.....................

Thank you for your feedback KeishajL

Reply   |   Comment by KeishaJL  –  9 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#16

Every time I try to download with IE11, I am getting a Script Error. Because of that I will not download this.


..........................Moderator comment.....................

All giveaways are thoroughly checked by the giveaway team using the latest malware suites. No one else has reported this problem, so it's possibly something at your end

Reply   |   Comment by Jim  –  9 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#15

Looks like a great game for a Sunday afternoon/evening, Thank you Alawar and GOTD!

Reply   |   Comment by Meisie  –  9 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#14

Looks like fun, and I know I'll really enjoy the Old West look. I've never played a sim game - I don't think - but I'll give it a try. The only thing that worries me is "time management." If you don't get your building done in time, does the cavalry come in and confiscate all your food to feed the troops? (Man, I hate when that happens.)

..........................Moderator comment.....................

Never played a sim game, you've not lived. :) Thanks for your feedback

Reply   |   Comment by MaryLee  –  9 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#13

Great game, throughly enjoyable, thanks.

Reply   |   Comment by Allan  –  9 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#12

Downloaded with no problems on my old XP3. I really liked this game once I figured out it was very much like another favorite of mine, Royal Envoy. Same principles apply. Thanks to the team!!

Reply   |   Comment by Linda  –  9 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#11

Lovely game with good graphics worth the download.

Reply   |   Comment by Sandra  –  9 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#10

I'm not quite sure how someone typing in English could not understand the English tutorial. Not only is everything perfectly clear in written word but also a voiceover of every single instruction. I've blazed through the tutorial in minutes. The graphics in this game are beautiful. The storyline is better than most of the time managements because it's believable and you get to build up towns like they would have in the west. I love that I don't have to send people out to collect the rent money while juggling building and collecting materials. I'm really enjoying it so far and absolutely recommend it to anyone that likes time mgt games. Moreso that I thought I would and certainly more than I've enjoyed a game on here for a while. The only problem I see is I'll probably finish it in a day. Has replay value though. :)


..........................Moderator comment.....................

Thank you for your feedback

Reply   |   Comment by KeishaJL  –  9 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#9

So, there is an actual END to this game? It is not like online sim games where you play and play and play and play?? lol.

Reply   |   Comment by Susan  –  9 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#8

I downloaded and installed the game. The first two levels worked just like they were supposed to. The third level, however, says that I need to build 4 covered wagons, but after building one covered wagon and upgrading it, the game will only allow municipal buildings or industraial buildings on the remaining building sites. Has anyone else come across this and do you know of a fix?


..........................Moderator comment.....................

Thank you for your feedback

Reply   |   Comment by Ashara  –  9 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#7

Ok Win 8.1 Update 1 x64. Loads, plays fast at the first town builder stages. Has a little family story. Don't seem to be able to queue tasks but so far not big issue since worker speeds to lumber, gold, build, patch road hole, etc. I guess if hire more workers they'll all run tasks - whether separate or grouped is tbd. So far not the over task burden found in some of this style that becomes WORK not play. Worth a shot for fans 9/10, for players 7/10.


..........................Moderator comment.....................

Thanks for your feedback beergas :)

Reply   |   Comment by beergas  –  9 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#6

I played through this game on my Kindle Fire tablet and it turned out to be one of my favorite games.

The tutorial was a little weak but if anyone has ever played this kind of "town building" time management game before it's pretty easy to pick up as you play.

The only thing that really caused people (in the Amazon comments) any problems is the necessity of placing certain buildings in proximity to certain other buildings. It's not clearly explained how that works, but if you watch closely when you try to place a building, the area the new building will affect is indicated on the surrounding plots and buildings. For example, some buildings only affect other buildings on the same horizontal row while other buildings affect neighbors vertically You really have to pay attention when placing a new type of building. You can cancel building if you discover the plot you want to use is not appropriate for that type of building.

There were some complaints on the Amazon comments that there was a "bug" in one of the early levels, but again it was a matter of not understanding that the buildings need to be near the right type of other buildings for it to work. In particular, most of the buildings need access to water, so you have to watch carefully when placing them.

A few of the levels are tricky, you have to get the right buildings in the right places so they'll support each other in order to complete the level. I ended up replaying a few of the more tricky levels a couple of times before getting it right. With those levels, there was only one arrangement of buildings that would allow completion. With other levels you could build pretty much anywhere (as long as you kept the restrictions about supporting buildings in mind), so it can take some careful thought and planning.

And as in most of this type of game you have to remember you can always demolish a building to make room for a new building that's needed to support something else.

I'm looking forward to replaying the game on my PC now..!


..........................Moderator comment.....................

Thank you for your feedback Bob

Reply   |   Comment by BobR  –  9 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#5

I get this is unknown format or damaged file.

Reply   |   Comment by IT student  –  9 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#4

I have tried everything to get this to work and I have no issues with downloading any software from places like download.com. I have disabled antivirs and still getting this error.

The archive is either in unknown format or damaged



..........................Moderator comment.....................

Did you try using a different file archiver?

Reply   |   Comment by IT student  –  9 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#3

Who da (WO)man? I da (WO)man!

It took one and a half years and 771 levels, but I went over $1,000,000 earned in FISHDOM on Friday! WHOOP! WHOOP!

I AM A BEAST!

Today's game looks fun! I don't usually get into SIMs all that much, but I am going to make an exception this time. Gonna download this booger and have some fun.

GOLD!

I'm glad the White Rabbit has a LIFE outside of gaming!

Reply   |   Comment by Swamp Thing  –  9 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#2

And was deinstall after 1 minute - don´t understand the english tutorial...234 MB DL for nothing.




.............................Moderator Comment...............................

There are video tutorials on you tube that would probably have helped.

You can find loads of videos of game play via the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=The+Golden+Years%3A+Way+Out+West

Reply   |   Comment by nothanks  –  9 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#1

I won't be posting my usual review today. partly because I've been really busy with other stuff and I'm exhausted so cannot concentrate. The following is a review posted on Gamezebo with images taken from my game play and a couple from the internet

The Golden Years: Way Out West



The North American gold rush was a time of both excitement and danger. In Alawar’s The Golden Years: Way Out West,Gertrude unexpectedly experience the adventure of their lives when her husband Samuel is imprisoned because of debts and she has to travel through the country on her quest to find gold. Vacation Mogul, The Golden Years can best be described as a hybrid of adventure, building sim, and resource management – and it’s both fun and unique.

The Golden Years: Way Out West features 48 levels and only one mode, providing roughly four hours of gameplay. It is possible to reach an expert rating for each level, but players can also finish them on their own pace. Expert scores only provide decorative upgrades for the train Gertrude uses to travel across the country, but those do not have any influence on the actual gameplay.

Capture2


The Golden Years: Way Out West can be best described as a mixture of the Mogul series, resource management titles, and a dash of Westward. Obstacles and resources have to be removed from paths, small quests have to be handled for various characters on screen, and different types of buildings need to be constructed to earn income, raise population or produce resources such as gold and wood.

Interestingly enough, houses such as inns, ranches and hotels can only be constructed next to municipal buildings, such as a church, a water tower and a sheriff’s office. All those municipal buildings cover different patterns of lots, so it feels like a little puzzle to plan a village. While houses earn money you can also construct commercial buildings which earn gold depending on how many citizens live next to them. Here the same rule applies as to municipal buildings. The sphere of influence of a general store differs from that of a saloon. And those commercial buildings also require a municipal building to be constructed.

the golden years 002


Apart from those buildings The Golden Years: Way Out West also features sawmill and gold mine, at which wood and gold can be produced, as well as trading posts, where a train arrives on a regular basis and enables you to buy or sell different amounts of gold and wood. All in all the building aspect of the game is very varied and complex, but since some levels are more adventure game than building simulation, this never gets repetitive or frustrating.

A really unique aspect of The Golden Years: Way Out West is the introduction of goals and the general design of levels. Each level is divided into two to six stages, each stage contains very different goals, and each stage of any level can be finished in expert time. Whether you receive an overall expert rating for a level depends on whether you finished the required number of stages in expert time.

Capture23
Capture4


This level structure provides a very entertaining and episodic feeling to The Golden Years: Way Out West. Sometimes you have to search for an amulet and deliver it to an Indian. This will open the passage to a gold mine, where your workers have to dig to complete tasks in the next stage. Each level feels very different and the tasks highly vary, an aspect that is rarely found in other games. It’s also wonderful how well the narration of the storyline and the gameplay are combined – each stage is introduced by a conversation between Gertrude and other recurring characters, which makes goals and the overall gaming experience more personal than in your average casual game.

However, players should not expect a challenge as deep and complex as they are used to from other titles from other titles of the genres The Golden Years: Way Out West combines, such as Build-a-lot or My Kingdom for the Princess. The game apparently does not aspire to replicate that aspect from those games. Apart from some complicated stages in a couple of levels the focus is rather on compelling storytelling, gorgeous graphics, and an interactive and quick experience.


0 75c47 583ae7b7 XL

the golden years way out west screenshot1


Apart from the short playing time the only real issue we had with The Golden Years: Way Out West is the somewhat disappointing ending. In a game like this players might expect the last level to be longer, more exciting, and different from the others, but here it falls a bit short. It certainly is still good and entertaining, but it is over way to soon. I’d also have enjoyed if the story had some parts where I actually would have to make a decision on my own – for example do I pay the bandits or do I try to fight them by searching for guns? But these complaints are nitpicky in comparison to what the game has going for it.

In the end all I can say is that while The Golden Years: Way Out West blends aspects from various other titles so well that it feels extremely unique and fresh. The division of each level into various stages firstly assures that even beginners can easily achieve expert ratings while playing on their own pace, and secondly increases the feeling of being part of an evolving story. If you are searching for a highly challenging building simulation you might be disappointed, but all others might appreciate the exciting story, high variety between levels, and the wonderful mixture of different genres.


Reference accessed HERE by David Becker

Reply   |   Comment by Whiterabbit-uk  –  9 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
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