Hey Howdy Hey Tappers!
Pack your bags and prepare for an invasive screening at the airport because it’s travel time in Springfield! And while our towns are embracing their ever expanding airports, our donut bank is shrinking because there are LOADS of world items in our stores just tempting us with those sprinkles!
Of course with that limited-time label it can be tempting to buy everything that looks awesome because it’ll be gone soon. But don’t sweat it! That’s where we come in to tell you what’s worth those donuts and what you might want to hold off on.
Wondering if you should the Himeji Castle to your Springfield? Well before you hit that confirm button let’s break down the pros and cons of adding this Ancient Japanese Castle to your Springfield…
Decoration/Building: Himeji Castle
Donut Price: 180 Dounts
Earns: 190 
, 15xp/4hrs
Size: A whopping 14×13
Conform-O-Meter: Obedience +10
Leaves Stores February 24th.
Pros
-Helps earn event currency, 190 is a decent payout for 4hrs. Should change currencies with each act.
-Animated when in use, “rockets” shoot off from the sides
-Comic Book Guy has a pemanent 4hr job to Practice Walking Softly Like a Ninja (earns $175,45xp)
Cons
-Massive Footprint
-Insanely priced, even if it came with a character it’s way over priced
-No questline/dialogue with it
Final Thought
Premium or Freemium:
No way, no how. I don’t care what kind of player you are, do not spend your donuts on this. It’s INSANELY priced and way too big of a footprint for Springfield. Unless you have an obsession with castles, completely and totally reject this one.
Of course in the end it’s your decision, we can only tell you what we would or wouldn’t do. And I can tell you as a premium player, I’m completely passing on this one. Way to expensive, even for this premium player. Just remember this is limited time, and will be leaving our stores when Act 2 ends. So be sure to make your final decision before it’s gone from our games for good. (or for now..) Also remember that this is one of those items that will help with the event, so the earlier you get it the better. So I’d try to make your final decision before the week is over, so that you’ll get the greatest return on it.
What are your thoughts on Himeji Castle? Will you be picking it up or have you already? Where have you placed it in your Springfield? Do you think EA kinda went a little crazy on the price for this one? Sound off in the comments below, you know we love hearing from you!
I like it so i grabbed it…..I’ve been in a very zen redesign of my town for awhile. Where some want one of everything in their town, I will buy if I like it, and if I can’t find a place it works, it spends life in storage..
This is my approach as well! Designing my town is what I enjoy most about TSTO.
I -had- to buy this!
SWMBO* and I visited Himeji Castle 10 years ago, when we were in Japan on a 25th Wedding Anniversary holiday…
I’d probably have bought it at twice the price 😀
*She Who Must Be Obeyed
I loved visiting this castle years ago…beautiful view from the top. Plus you can have your picture taken with a guy dressed as a ninja. :p
At 180 donuts it’s too much (@Alissa, I believe you meant to use the word “too” in your post, not “to”…don’t hurt me I’m a teacher!)…I’ll wait for a discount later. 🙂
LOL I know how you feel…I, too, am a certified member of the grammar police.
Bought it right away, love the look, yes too huge, too expensive, but no regrets I like that you can tap on it & make it shake & erupt once you’ve finished the questline 😊
I thought my phone was breaking when it first shook lol
😂😂😂
I need an eastworld to go along with my westworld, so of course I had to get it.
There doesn’t seem to be any logic to the way EA prices things. 225 Doughnuts for Diabetty and associated building. Yet most of the other character/building combo’s are less than 150 doughnuts. Then they price the Himeji castle at 180 doughnuts? It seems crazy to me. They must think that we’ll buy anything at any price.
If you have the bonus percentage, game cash and space, those donuts are not an issue 😉
I have the doughnuts. It’s a matter of principle and desire (or lack thereof).
Some of us do – have you seen the whale in anyone’s towns 🙂
LOL about Whale. The first “insanely expensive” purchase I made. Now that you reminded me Alpine thinking about going back and buying Castle thanks a lot (jk). I do love me a nice castle I do!
I love the look of it, but at that price! I’ll pass, thanks
i bought it cause i missed soo much over the last yesr lol and i do love Japan archecture! I do wish the mountain was latger than the housing lol
I live in Japan and have visited Himeji Castle several times. It’s impressive and I couldn’t imagine passing on this one for my Springfield. It’s big, yes. It’s overpriced, yes. But it will make this item one that not everyone will purchase. It’s well-designed and I already have plans to surround it with cherry trees and a moat. Maybe, in the future, we will be able to expand the walls…Until then, I will try to make as close of a representation as possible.
If this had been smaller, and, say, 100 donuts, I probably would have gotten it, even if it didn’t earn event currency. But definitely too big and too pricey for me…. I’ll just have to admire it in my friendvilles.
I totally agree with you, Alissa… a complete pass for me. I’m also really glad that I grabbed the Chateau Maison during Act 1, as it yields the same event currency payout, but was *way* less expensive. Not really sure what the logic is, behind the pricing of this castle.
Hi-diddly-ho neighborino! Nice to run into a neighbor here (if you do use your TSTO name here.)
Guilty as charged, fellow house farmer. 😉
I house-farmed way before EA started this current pricing scheme. So you may say my houses are organic and heirloom. BTW, I finally got all the land I need for my Springfield, so I’m moving the farm, update by update, out of the planned area and into the free-roaming area. Mmm… organic, heirloom, free-roaming houses!
Yeah… the majority of my house farm predates the price scheme, too. I no longer feel any need to spend in-game cash to add to it further, though, particularly since most events have an option to spend event currency on farm-able items.
I find that I do need to redecorate a bit, though… it seems like my Springfield is becoming less and less “planned” with every event! LOL!
The design and details on this thing are amazing! Bet the designers had a lot of fun with this one. Too big for my town though so I’ll enjoy it in my neighboreenos towns.
Unrelated to this post, but do you know when the pink foreigner lady will be available or how much she will be? Trying to decide if I should save donuts for her or open another Valentines box before they’re gone. TIA!
I’ve bought it. I saw a spoiler before Act 2 and Himeji Castle was in it. It rang a bell for me: it was used during the filming of the TV miniseries Shogun, with Richard Chamberlain. I’ve lived in Japan for a while, so I’ll be buying all the Japanese stuff anyway.
I thought it looked familiar. Shogun is one of my most liked books and television serie.
I’m not buying this solely because when this event is over I won’t have any use for it. Unlike the last building that was the small wine farm it’ll still fit into a theme and not take up too much space(also seeing Bart stomp on grapes is amazing). The payout is tempting not but after the event this castle will just be decorating my storage. Saving my doughnuts for next events 190 building.
Quite often a building that gives event currency will switch to earning $$/xp after the event is complete.
(That being said it’s way too expensive for me.)
I bought it because I used to live in Japan and loved visiting castles like Himeji. Well worth it for the nostalgia and to help me build a nice Japanese garden/castle setting!
I got it despite the insane price, because I am a huge fan of Japan and I am creating a dedicated, traditional japanese area in my Springfield. The castle is very detailed and beautiful, I am trying to arrange it with Mt. Fuji. No regrets here.
Would have loved to create an Akihabara style inner city area, but I don’t think more buildings than the one Tokyo building which has been released today, will be coming.
I love the design, finally gave me a design inspiration. Is this the largest item in the game? Now a skyscraper, very doughnut heavy event. I didn’t notice how much I dropped on it until I read this
It’s beautiful! Love it. Great addition to my Springfield. 🙂
I got it. I love Japanese culture too much to pass it up. It might be huge, but it’s still beautiful though.
As a lover of Japanese culture and art, I was looking forward to some quality Japanese premium buildings this act (and I normally only limit my donuts to character/building combos on discount) but ain’t no hella way I’m paying 180 donuts for this. I’ve seen it in a neighbors town, and it’s beautiful, don’t get me wrong, great art. But 180 donuts? Seriously EA? Outrageous isnt’ even a good word to justify the price tag.
Ouff, I’ve seen it in “friends” towns and it looks great. I generally love the East Asian and Japanese aesthetic and would like to have this in my town as well; but 100% agree with Alissa: for the price it’s totally not worth it. Even with a considerable bonus and character, I’d probably not go for it at that price.
It isn’t just the footprint I’m having an issue with. It’s the mass and the height, too!!! Why does it have to be taller and bigger than Mount Fuji? Or the Springfield Sign hill? It can’t fit in any scene, not even with the items that it shares the same theme. Sometimes EA is really scale-challenged, like with the SH buildings. I mean, yeah, Tapped Out is wacky in its own right, but with stuff that’s way off the scale like this, it’s hard to take building the city seriously at all.
At least with that big of a footprint, they could’ve designed the whole Himeji complex instead of just the main castle. Too bad I was really really looking for having it.
I was waffling on this one, but leaning against. Thanks for the post which cemented my position. Just too darn expensive for a stand alone decoration or building. Besides, I’m earning plenty of event currency as it is. Keep up the good work.
One of my neighbours has purchased it. My goodness it is huge! Looks good but too big and too expensive I would say.
Thanks for the info! I’ll give it a pass 😛
Will you guys be doing a “Should I Buy” on Mister Sparkle” soon?
That was one of my favorite episodes, but 100 donuts for a stand-alone?!?!?
I need someone to talk me into it, I love that shiny floating head.
It’ll be up today. 🙂
He earns event currency, and is voiced. His voice bubbles are colorful and in characters. I was waiting for this one. Bought him right away and I’m glad I did.
Fantastic! Buying it now!! Thanks 😄
Would like to know if there list to show which items to sell or store as my Springfield has too many buildings
No list. It’s a personal preference. Just don’t store buildings with characters associated with them, you’ll know it has a character associated with it because you’ll get a warning message if you try to store it that will say something like “warning storing ____ will also store ____” (like warning storing Moe’s will also store Moe and Marge)
I think the high prices that we are seeing is because of the insanely easy way to “earn” donuts if you are a KEM farmer. Too bad for the rest of us, but our fault I guess that we choose to play the game the way it was originally set up.
Hi Jubiedog,
The donut economy has certainly changed, but EA has also introduced rebates and discounts and special mystery boxes as a way to get these over-priced items a few months later for a fraction of the donuts. So, yes, there is a kind of tax on those players who must/can buy something when it first comes out.
What does it mean to play the game the way it was originally set up? EA has directed the evolution of the game, not the farmers. What really broke the bonut game open were four things: craftable Spooky Walls, craftable Tennis Courts, the XP collider, and lowering the max XP threshold from 10M to 1M. By playing the game as is was set up, any diligent and astute tapper who has been playing for a few years should be rolling in the sprinkles.
Also, just curious, If you don’t KEM farm, what do you do with all of your cash?
Hi Jeff,
I grew up poor and discovered the greatest empowerment of life is having money in the bank. LOL I save it for land and the ability to buy fences upon fences or other decorative short-term items. My town is about telling stories that relate to my personal experiences. When I scroll across certain areas I have geographic memories of places visited, states I’ve lived. Large parcels of tennis courts or spooky walls hidden here or there aren’t interesting to me.
I’m genuinely happy the people who can’t or don’t want to spent real money on this game have a way to buy the many cool and creative items. My statement was just a reflection of why I think the prices have become so crazy.
Very well said!
Oddly, having not purchased a doughnuts building in quite some time now, I immediately pounced on this one. It makes my third castle in Springfield, but more than that, it is exquisitely drawn, beautifully detailed. I don’t know why it spoke so clearly to me, but I had to have it; I was about 30 donuts short actually, and for the first time in almost 2 years now, paid some money to buy a few donuts!
Yeah, it looks really nice, but I was waiting for this post to see if it actually *did something* (quest, jobs, bonus %) before I got it. If it had *anything* going for it, I’d be sorely tempted, as it is maybe the prettiest fake thing in our fake worlds.
Thanks for the write up! I may still pounce, but 180 is tough. That’s a lot of rat trap trucks.
Me too! For me it was the design but I am a total sucker for fireworks!
Pulled all my stored stuff out to generate a bit more cash and XP for a couple weeks…had to make up for all the donuts I am blowing thru, including a ridiculous amount for the castle….but I do love it next to Mt Fuji…
I get a “Page not found” error 🙁
Should work…
Yes, it does now!
The error message should have read “Page has lost his way to Holland” 🙂