12 Labours of Hercules XX Preview: Hercules Goes West in Hold My Gold

Hercules has fought the Hydra, lost his wife to Hades, raced for Olympus and walked on the moon. So when the twentieth chapter opens with him and Megara having a quiet picnic by a river, you know it is not going to stay quiet for long. Sure enough, everything around them suddenly turns to gold, like King Midas just strolled past, and the only clue is the glitter drifting downstream.

Follow it, and 12 Labours of Hercules XX: Hold My Gold drops you somewhere this series has never been: a gold rush.

Ancient Greece Meets the Wild West

The setting is the best joke in the game. Picture a mythological Wild West: mountains riddled with mines, deserts crowded with prospectors swinging pickaxes, rivers and mining camps full of people who have caught gold fever badly. At the heart of the frenzy is Achelous, the river god, who has been driven mad by a curse that threatens the land and everyone greedy enough to be chasing riches across it. Hercules has to break the curse, save the god, and maybe teach a few prospectors that some things are worth more than gold.

It is classic Hercules: big heart, light touch, and a cast of friends who have been through nineteen of these with him.

The Same Great Rush, With New Toys

If you have played any of the series, you know the feeling. A level opens on a map full of trouble, the clock starts, and you have to decide what comes first. Clear the road or gather wood? Build the farm or rescue the settler? Every level is a little puzzle of priorities, and the satisfaction is in finding the order that makes everything click.

Hold My Gold gives you plenty to play with. You build and upgrade obelisks to the gods, each with its own gift: Hermes makes your workers run faster, while Plutus, fittingly for a gold rush, gathers resources for you. There are the familiar bonuses like Work Faster, Stop Clock and Unlimited Workers, and new boost boxes that halve prices, speed up respawns or add extra resources, with up to three running at once if you plan it right. Along the way you can hunt for puzzle pieces tucked into the levels, and there are bonus and super bonus stages to break things up.

Play It Your Way

One thing I appreciate about this series is how it handles difficulty. Every level has a gold time and three stars to chase, and an Expert setting for players who want a real fight. But if you would rather just enjoy the story, there is a game-speed option where Hercules himself lends a hand to take the pressure off. You get to choose whether tonight is a relaxing evening or a battle for perfect scores.

Worth Knowing

If you are a completionist, set aside some time. Three-starring the later Expert levels is genuinely tough, and fans who have been here since the first game say they enjoy that some levels push harder than others. If you just want to see the story through, take your time and ignore the stars on the first run. You can always come back for gold.

Should You Play It?

If you love time management games, yes. Twenty chapters in, longtime fans say Hold My Gold is just as much fun as the earlier games, and a gold rush is a fresh, funny backdrop for what the series does best.

New to Hercules? Each game stands on its own, but there is something nice about starting at the beginning with the original 12 Labours of Hercules, or seeing how it all began for the couple in How I Met Megara. If you want the most recent adventure before this one, try 12 Labours of Hercules XVIII: Ghost Sheep. And for more games like it, browse our time management games for PC.

Try the free trial and start chasing that glitter downstream.