Keep an eye on the horizon. The Lucky Tide, a big old paddle-wheel riverboat, now sails into the harbour every other day and stays for a full day, moored across the end of the pier. Walk up the gangway and the doors swing open on a red-carpet casino.
When it is in
- Your phone gets a text when it starts sailing in, and there is a new Lucky Tide app with its status: docked (and how long until it leaves) or at sea (and how long until the next visit), plus both jackpots.
- You can watch it arrive: it comes in from the open sea, horn blowing, and slows into its berth. When the day is over it pulls away and sails off the other way.
- Two minutes before it leaves, the horn sounds and anyone aboard gets a heads-up, then a last call at 30 seconds. Still aboard when it goes? The crew walks you down the gangway and back onto the pier.
- It is on the [M] map while it is docked.
The games
Every bet comes straight out of your wallet and every win goes straight back in. The server deals every card and spins every reel, and your friends see it all happen live at the table.
- Slots ($1 to $10): three real spinning reels, cherries to sevens. Three Lucky Tide waves win the progressive jackpot, which grows with every spin anyone makes and is shown on a lit board above the machines. The whole island hears about it when somebody hits it.
- Blackjack ($5 to $100): up to four players against the dealer. Blackjack pays 3 to 2, the dealer stands on all 17s, and you can double down on your first two cards.
- Roulette ($5 to $100 a spot): a European single-zero wheel shared by everyone at the table. The first chip starts a 20 second betting window, then the ball drops. Straight up pays 35 to 1, dozens and columns 2 to 1, red/black, odd/even and high/low even money.
- Texas Hold'em (blinds $1/$2, buy in $50 to $200): no-limit poker with your friends. When there are not enough of you, a crew of relaxed regulars fills the empty seats: Captain Morty, Lucky Lou, Sandy, Old Pete, Coral, Big Dee, Marge and Vinnie. Each has their own style, and they give things away if you watch closely. Cash out whenever you like and your chips go back to your wallet.
The VIP lounge
Behind a velvet rope at the far end of the saloon. Islanders who have earned $2,500 get waved through by the bouncer to high-roller slots ($25 to $500, with their own, much bigger jackpot), VIP blackjack ($100 to $1,000) and high-stakes Hold'em (blinds $10/$20).
The bar
The Lucky Tide Bar serves tropical punch, a (virgin) espresso martini that keeps you sharp, pretzels, a shrimp basket and chocolate coins. The snacks cure the munchies, and so do the only chips you can eat.
Playing stoned
It is allowed, and it is a bit funny: the cards and chips on your screen drift and wobble the higher you are, the reels take their time, and the dealer has opinions. Nothing is ever hidden and the odds never change.
Play for fun
Winnings never count toward your earnings, so the casino cannot unlock strains or the VIP lounge for you. There are table limits on everything, and you can always walk away. You can lose what you bet.
Journal
New stats for money wagered, your biggest win, jackpots, blackjacks, roulette straight-up wins, poker pots and VIP bets, and 8 new trophies (58 in total): Sea Legs, High Roller, Big Win, JACKPOT!, Natural, Lucky Number, Card Shark and Velvet Rope.
Proper streets
The village finally looks like somewhere people walk.
- Sidewalks on every street, with rounded kerbs at the corners.
- Zebra crossings at every junction, plus crossings at the shops on Main Street, by the village green, outside the beach house and on the lighthouse path. Each has dropped kerbs and yellow tactile paving.
- Stop lines and stop signs on the side roads, an all-way stop where Main Street meets Sunset Lane, and green street-name signs so you know where you are. Yield markings and pedestrian signs warn drivers before the mid-block crossings.
- Street lamps, benches with flower pots, bins, palm trees in iron grates, fire hydrants and bollards along the pavements.
- Bus shelters sit on their own little pads now, so they never block the sidewalk. Dave's Garage has a proper driveway, and Coastal Freight has a loading apron out front.
- The homes on Beach Road and Palm Lane moved back a step, so their picket fences sit behind the new sidewalk. Front paths now run all the way out to it.
A new look, and a much cleaner screen
- Every menu, the phone, the shops, the inventory, the journal, the map and the minigame screens have a warm island sunset look: cream cards, sunset-orange buttons, sea-teal highlights and rounded corners. The phone's home screen has a sunset wallpaper.
- The screen stays out of your way while you play. The list of controls and the always-on money line are gone. What's left is a small crosshair, the [E] prompt when you can use something, and your stoned meter.
- Everything else only turns up when it matters: messages slide in as little cards at the top, your money pops up in the corner when it changes, a chip points you to Marley during a meet, and a pull meter appears while a joint is in your hand.
- The controls now live in the pause menu (Esc), along with your wallet balance.
Rolling is kinder
It still feels hands-on, but sprinkling and rolling were far too twitchy.
- Sprinkling: a shaky hand no longer ruins the pour. Near the crease is perfect, anywhere on the paper mostly rolls in, and only weed that misses the paper counts as spilled. A plain, even line now scores well on every style.
- Rolling: every back-and-forth stroke counts now; a wobbly mouse used to cut strokes short. Letting go mid-stroke no longer loses it.
- The tuck: the paper catches for a moment just before it goes over, and your speed is judged over that little stretch, not a single twitch. A bit too fast just springs back with no harm done. Only a real flick makes it slip.
Fixes
- Some buildings had thin gaps at their corners where you could see into the wall. Every corner is solid now, including the flat-roofed Post Office and Sunrise Diner.
- The kerb round the yard-work lawn was floating in mid-air across Sunset Lane. It is back round the lawn where it belongs.
- The "Your numbers" list in the Journal had grown too long and ran off the page. It scrolls now.