Warner Bros. new mobile game for iOS and Android, Westworld, is out now, and you may be aware that it is based on the HBO series and Michael Crichton-produced film of the same name. The game puts you in charge of the adult amusement park Delos, an Old West-themed location that allows you to relive many of the experiences of those bygone days, with robotic, AI-controlled Hosts dealing and attending to the human Guests. Your job in this game is to operate the park smoothly, as you unlock new buildings and locations, create and evolve your Hosts, and cater to the needs of your Guests.
As you may have surmised, this is a business management game of sorts, and the business you’re managing is Delos. Despite having relatively casual mechanics, there are a lot of features in this game that you may find a bit challenging, assuming you’ve just started playing. Intermediate players, as well, may find themselves struggling at some points. But you don’t need to worry about struggling too much, as our Westworld beginner’s guide contains just about every tip and trick you need to know, especially if this is your first time to play the game.
1. Learning The Basics
First of all, you have to remember the type of operation you are running in Westworld — a Wild West-based theme park where robot hosts interact with human guests. You will have a chance to construct multiple buildings, including those where Hosts and Guests interact with each other, and the buildings below, which are essentially for the maintenance of your park and its Hosts alike. And when it comes to the above-ground buildings, these are the ones that you need to pay attention to on a regular basis, as you seek to make your Guests happy by assigning them the right Hosts to correspond to what they’re looking for. For example, take the Mariposa Saloon, which is one of the first buildings made available to you during the tutorial. You’ll need a Host who is trained in playing cards, and by default, that would be Carmen, whom you will create by using the Gambler Host Code you’re given at the start of the game.
All Hosts are created in the Manufacturing room located underneath the bank, and in order to manufacture a Host, you’ll need a Host Code. That’s actually going to lead us to our next tip, so read on if you want to know the different ways to add Hosts to your theme park.
2. How To Get More Hosts
During the tutorial part of Westworld, you will be able to manufacture one common (one-star) Host in Carmen, and a rarer (three-star) Host in Teddy. As we mentioned above, Carmen has the Gambler skill, which is identified by the ace of spades under her Roles, while Teddy, due to his being at a higher rarity tier, has three Roles he can play, depending on a Guest’s needs. You won’t get any more new Hosts for a bit, and you may be wondering, just like we did when we first got started, how you can add to your roster of Hosts so that you can have more of them fulfilling different roles.
Although you normally get coins and experience points by completing interactions with Guests, there may be times where you will receive Host Codes, which are typically the basic ones that allow you to manufacture a Host of one to three-star rarity, with random roles. (Just to set your expectations, the basic Host Codes seem to yield one-star Hosts almost all of the time.) You may, however, get lucky snd get a specific Host Code corresponding to a certain role.
Likewise, the daily tasks include basic Host Codes among the possible rewards, but if you’re looking for something specific, chances are you’ll win one by completing objectives, which are like the daily tasks, but take longer to complete and remain active until completed.
3. Complete Interactions To Level Up Your Hosts
More often than not, you want to keep your Hosts busy in Westworld, and accommodate as many guests as possible so you can increase your happiness rating (the blue smiley face and the percentage on the top part of your screen). Keeping them busy through interactions allows you to level them up, and as they level up, they become more skilled at what they do. And while we will explain in a bit why it’s not a good idea to assign a Host that does not play a role matching what a Guest is looking for, the idea here is to match roles for bonus coins and XP, with an even bigger coin and XP bonus if you also match affinities (white hat, black hat, and neutral). So if you’ve got a black hat Guest in the Mariposa who wants to play cards, you can assign Teddy, as he’s of black hat affinity, with Gambler among the three roles he plays. That’s going to give you the biggest possible coin/XP bonus, while also giving you a better chance to win more goodies, such as Host Codes.
4. Your Hosts Are Not Human, But They Can Break Down
Just because the Hosts at your park can do human things through their artificial intelligence, that doesn’t mean they’re indestructible. In fact, they could get “sick,” so to say, and when they get sick, they could essentially die. But that’s not the end of them, as you should be able to create the Body Shop and Diagnostics rooms early on. The Body Shop is where dead Hosts are sent for repairs, and while it shouldn’t take too long at first to get them back to 100 percent and working like new, you wouldn’t want to have a Host or two unavailable when they’re playing a role that matches what a certain Guest is looking for.
You can, however, nip things at the bud and prevent your Hosts from dying, and this is done by sending them to Diagnostics for some quick repairs. Always make sure to check your roster by clicking on the cowboy hat icon on the right side of your screen. If you see a Host whose arrow above their face is yellow, orange, or red, you might want to send them to Diagnostics. That me
ans their odds of glitching are greater than 0 percent, and glitching, pretty much, is the same as your Host dying.
5. Do Not Overwork Your Hosts
Things can get quite busy at your theme park, as you may encounter situations where you have to deal with multiple guests, thereby requiring you to have your Hosts being kept busy for a longer period of time than usual. But overwork is not good for your Hosts, as that could increase their glitch percentage! For the more common Hosts, it only takes a couple of minutes to give them a quick tune-up at Diagnostics, so make sure you’re keeping their workload reasonable, and sending them to Diagnostics if those arrows aren’t green — a 10 to 15 percent chance of a glitch isn’t much, but that oftentimes doesn’t mean glitches won’t happen!
6. Role Mismatches Could Kill Your Hosts
You may think it’s better to assign any random Host in your roster to a guest, even if the Host’s role and the Guest’s preferences do not match up. Sometimes, you’ll complete the interaction with a 50 percent satisfaction rating, which means less rewards than what you’d get if it’s at 75 percent and above, and less experience earned for that Host. Other times, however, the satisfaction rating could drop below 50 percent, which, in turn, will lower your park’s happiness rating, and frustrate your Host so much that he or she will actually die, right there on the spot. As such, we suggest ignoring Guest requests if you can’t meet them with a match in roles — better to wait until you’ve got a Host that fulfills what’s needed at any given point of the game!
7. Auto-Tasks, Daily Tasks, And Objectives
Westworld has three separate types of goals you can complete by naturally playing the game, and you can access them all first by clicking on the checklist button on the right side menu, right below the cowboy hat. These are your Auto-Tasks, your Daily Tasks, and your Objectives. We mentioned the latter two briefly a few tips back, but let’s take a look at each of them in greater detail so you know what’s in it for you.
Auto-tasks are basically the things one does while in an office, and they don’t really have much bearing on the actual gameplay. All you have to do is to hit the button corresponding to the task (clean work space, complete time card, etc.), then wait a few minutes. There’s nothing to it, and once an auto-task is completed, you can either earn coins and/or XP, but nothing else. They also refresh every six hours, so if you want to farm for coins or XP in the game, you’ll want to complete auto-tasks as often as possible within the day.
Daily tasks, on the other hand, are self-explanatory — these are tasks where you only have 24 hours to complete them, before they refresh at the end of the day, regardless whether you’re finished with them or not. You may be asked to manufacture or level up a certain number of Hosts, complete a given number of auto-tasks, etc., but once again, all you have is one day. Your rewards usually include coins and XP, albeit in greater amounts, though if you complete all of the day’s tasks, you can earn gems (premium currency), a substantial amount of XP, and a Host Code!
Objectives are similar to daily tasks, but are more long-term, as they can be achieved through natural gameplay, but achieved faster if you review them on a regular basis. These do not reset, as previously mentioned, as they are longer-term goals that may include, for instance, engaging 50 guests, manufacturing 15 hosts, etc. You can still earn coins by completing them, but the good thing about objectives is that you can earn Host Codes, some of them basic codes, but others including specific codes that could get you just the right type of Host your park needs so that business can run even smoother!
8. Do Not Spend Your Gems On Speeding Things Up
As the old adage goes, patience is a virtue. It may be tempting for you to spend some gems to expedite the completion of an interaction, the diagnosis or repair of a Host, or any other activity where you have the option to pay premium currency for immediate completion. It’s best to take your time in this game, and to save up your gems for a more important purchase. Specifically, we’re looking at the Premium Host Code purchase that’s available in the Manufacturing room — this will cost you 250 gems, and guarantees you a Host of three to five-star rarity. That’s something that could truly benefit your park’s operations, so save up those gems, and only use them for speed-ups if you’re flush with premium currency!
9. Upgrade Your Buildings / Rooms, But Not That Quickly
Some of the game’s daily tasks or objectives will require you to upgrade buildings and rooms, but you don’t need to solely go by those goals when upgrading stuff in Westworld. Be proactive when upgrading buildings or rooms, especially your Control Room, as doing so will allow you to unlock more new buildings, as well as other parts of the game which we hope to cover in forthcoming guides. But take note of what we mentioned above — it’s best to take your time when playing the game, and you wouldn’t want to upgrade a building if it means unlocking services that attract Guests who want something your Hosts currently cannot provide. Upgrades are important, but don’t bite off more than you can chew.
We hope you’ve enjoyed our exclusive guide for Westworld. Be sure to check back as we are planning to share more tips and tricks for the game in the near future!