GDC 2018: Westworld Mobile Demo: Head'em Up Move'em Out

When I think of the TV series Westworld it doesn’t really evoke thoughts of adorable cartoon characters romping around and brawling or giving each other sweet, innocent kisses. Still, in a cynical twist of fate, that’s exactly the art style that has been chosen to drive the Westworld mobile game. Westworld mobile is definitely taking a page out of the Fallout book with its cheerful Pipboy-influenced characters and it fits rather well with the game’s premise.

In Westworld mobile, players will take on the role of a new recruit to the Delos family learning the ropes of running the park through an employee training simulator. The game itself plays like Fallout Shelter mixed with a Theme Park sim. Players will be in charge of building hosts to satisfy customers’ desires while also running the day-to-day functions of the park’s inner workings. To that end, there’s two distinctly different play areas: The above ground area where customers are entertained, and the underground area where staff are hard at work building and maintaining bots.

Most of the above-ground areas of the park are based on locations from the show. In fact, the game starts in Sweetwater and more areas unlock after reaching certain goals. There will be options to switch out building locations on the above ground map, but options seem limited to just swapping spots between house “A” and house “B.”

Below ground, however, players will have much more control over the setup of Delos facilities and will be able to arrange the Fallout Shelter-style rooms however they see fit. This is also where Hosts will be forged, upgraded, or used as parts to improve other hosts.

In order to keep visitors to Westworld happy, players will have to create Hosts that fulfill their unique needs. This means making robots programmed to do things like seduce or fight with the right customers. Some needs are more complex than others, so players will have to build or upgrade their current roster of robots in order to advance from one area of the park to the other. In the beginning, Hosts will start out with one or two basic programs, but as they level up from one star to two stars and beyond they’ll be able to gain a much larger, more complex litany of skills.

While my GDC 2018 demo of Westworld mobile was hands-off, the game does look rather robust as far as features go. Along with including fan favorite characters from the first season of the HBO hit series, the game will have new content rolling out alongside the events of the upcoming second season. Players who think they could a better job of running Westworld than Sir Anthony Hopkins will get their chance this April when the Westworld mobile game launches for iOS and Android devices.

Blake Morse

Events Coordinator

Blake has been writing and making videos about pop-culture and games for over 10 years now. Although he'd probably prefer you thought of him as a musician and listened to his band, www.cartoonviolencemusic.com. If you see him on the street, buy him a taco or something. Follow him on twitter @ProfRobot