Sally's Spa

User Reviews

Post a reply << Go Back

Topic: Tip: Dealing with Bottlenecks (Don't try to chain)

  • Tip: Dealing with Bottlenecks (Don't try to chain)

    Report as Inappropriate

    Posted on 08/06/08, 11:26am

    There are no bonus points for chaining in Sally's Spa, and if, like many experienced Dash players, you find yourself automatically trying to do multiples of the same action, you'll end up creating more bottlenecks for yourself.

    Instead, think of each customer as sliding down a separate water chute at an amusement park. Only the chute has gates that lead to branches depending on the customer's requests. And only one customer at a time can be in each section--otherwise the gate shuts. Your goal as the park employee is to try to keep the flow smooth for your customers, so that they're not always waiting at a gate for a customer in front of them to finish.

    So...you need to be constantly scanning the spa, looking for "gates" to open by moving a customer on to the next service.

    Critical upgrades are going to be the spa helpers, particularly the massage assistant first and the sauna assistant second. (Don't buy the sauna assistant when he first appears--save your money, since the massage assistant will show up in another couple of levels.) They can take care of a customer while you're busy elsewhere.

    You also want to upgrade Sally's speed twice so she can run back and forth.

    So let's say you have the 2 assistants. There are 3 people sitting in the facial chairs, 2 in the sauna, 2 in the waiting area, 1 on the massage table. Should you do all 3 facials in a row? No! Because you don't have 3 massage tables to put them on anyway. What you want is to get that empty massage table busy, and then clear the "gates" ahead of customers.

    So...do one facial. At that point the person on the massage table may need hot stones. Put the person who just finished the facial onto the empty massage table so your massage assistant can start with them. Pull one person out of the sauna into the now-empty facial chair. Put one person from the waiting area into the sauna so the sauna assistant can help them. If you need to, pass out tea and magazines. You may also want to light a candle. NOW...do the hot stones. By the time you're done, the person on the other massage table will either be ready for bath or hot stones, and the one you just finished will be ready for bath. And the sauna person will have finished.

    So now there are 1 person on the massage table who is asking for bath, 1 person waiting for hot stones, 3 people in the facial chairs, 2 in the saunas, 1 or 2 in the waiting area.

    Again--open some "gates"! If you don't have a tea assistant, you may want to run to the tea station, restart it, and check out anyone who is waiting. (Always start tea before checking out.) Put the person from the massage table into the bath. Run to facials, give one facial. Put that person on the massage table. Move someone into the empty facial chair, preferably from the sauna. Move someone from waiting into the sauna. Use tea and magazines. If you have someone who is too low on hearts in the facial chair, you can give them their facial to add a heart. Now run back to the bath area, then massage, then facial and repeat.

    The point is that this gameplay is very different from a chaining game like the Dash games. If you try to serve all the customers in one area (like all the facials), all you do is create bottlenecks at the next station. Instead, you want to keep all the "chutes" filled with actions that take place even when you're not there, like the massage assistant giving massages, the sauna running, the people in the baths. And you are going to run back and forth, not clearing an entire area at once, but rather clearing "gates" so a customer can move on.

    You'll get an interesting little "bonus" with this method as well--since you're leaving customers in the wait area, they'll have time to buy product.

    So for me, the most important upgrades to avoid bottlenecks are assistants and somewhat faster Sally. And candles, tea, and 2 magazines (not 3) to keep customers happy while they are waiting.

    I do buy the upgrade to speed up the massage table. I NEVER buy the upgrade to speed up the sauna--that would just make the bottlenecks worse! I upgrade the chairs in the waiting area first, since happier customers buy more product, which not only gives me more money--it gives them something to do while they're waiting by walking over to the product shelf. I upgrade the chairs in the facial area last--adding one heart patience to one customer isn't anywhere near as valuable as a tea maker that can make an extra cup of tea, since I'll get 3 or 4 servings out of it per round and I can use it almost anywhere in the spa.

    Which reminds me--learn where you can give tea! You can even give a cup to someone standing in line at the cash register to increase hearts, for example. And remember that the sooner you give out all the tea, the sooner you can make the next batch. So if you have a 3 cup teamaker and you have one cup sitting on the counter, go ahead and give it out, then restart the teamaker as soon as you're on that side.

    Just remember that not only is this not a chaining game--acting like it is will get you lower scores. Instead, work on keeping customers moving through, no matter what order you have to do actions in.

    Good luck! Send a Kudo Post a reply Quote & Reply

  • One more reason not to try

    Report as Inappropriate

    Posted on Aug 06, 08, 01:32pm

    One more reason not to try chaining in this game:There are two types of actions in Sally's Spa. Some actions require that Sally be physically present at the station. These include:Turning on the sauna (although the sauna assistant can do this for you)Giving a facialGiving a massage (or the massage assistant can do this)Selecting hot stonesTurning on the bath (the bath assistant can do this)Selecting a Bath BombManicureChecking out customersStarting the tea (tea assistant can do this for you)Sally does NOT need to be at the station to:Move a customer to the next open stationGive out magazinesGive out teaLight a candleAfter each task that requires Sally's physical presence, like giving a facial, she will have to stand at the station for a few seconds before she can go on to the next task. So if she's stadning at facial chair 1 and you click on facial chair 2, it will be a few seconds before she can move there.However--while she's in this phase, you can still do all the things that don't require Sally to move. So if you do a facial, while you're waiting for Sally to free up you can immediately move a different customer to an open station, give out tea, give out a magazine, or light a candle.In fact, you can even click on a station across the spa and while Sally is walking there, very quickly drag another customer to an open station. This, again, is completely different game mechanics than a Dash game, so it may take a little getting used to. But in Sally's Spa, you literally can do two things at oce--send Sally walking across the spa to one customer while you give a magazine to a different one. And you can use that little "dead space" at the end of a service to do something with another customer.If instead you stay in chaining mode (even though there are no chaining bonuses in this game), and you give the first customer a facial and then click to give the 2nd customer a facial and do nothing else, you'll just have to stand there and wait until Sally is ready to move again. In a sense, this is a little more like a Sim game--just because Sally is busy, it doesn't mean you are, too!

    Send a Kudo Post a reply Quote & Reply