When reviewing Post Master it was fairly obvious that there was a lack of guidance both in the game and online for new players. So I’d like to pass on a few tips for you here to help out others that find themselves looking for guidance.
1) Plan your expansions carefully
When it’s time for you to buy that next post office, don’t just think about what you are about to buy, but pretty much the next three Post Office plots you will buy. Check the coverage so that it will all line up nicely in the end and you won’t be left with any annoying gaps later in the game. Stick to the first city and the suburb until the AI tries to muscle in, only then do you need to take the fight back to him. Available Post Office buildings change over time, so check regularly to see if that optimal spot has become available. This is especially important when reaching the edge of the city that’s expanding, as sometimes you need to predict what’s going to spring up next. Remember that coverage is key in the battle with the competition.
2) Distribution yo!
Set up a distribution network so that all your mail gets sorted in your biggest post office throughout the day. Have the local post offices bring their mail in twice during the day shift, and then set your intercity mail transfers to go at night. That way your sorters are always busy. They might even be too busy, so if you have the finances to set it up, run this post office as distribution only and don’t have any counter staff bringing in more mail to the office itself. Or see point five.
3) The Competition has no stamina
That AI might start to muscle in early, and it might seem that he’s trumping you in the weekly board, especially for coverage, but don’t worry about. Stick to your game, don’t let the AI moves dictate yours. Eventually your coverage numbers will rise and once it does you will get a clearer picture of how you are competing. It will come down to prices in the end, so bank it up early, then expand, then drop the prices to edge him out.
4) Look at the numbers.
Post Master is a numbers game, so you have to keep your eye on all the data that’s available to you. Check your growth, your turnover, your competition, but ultimately what’s most important is watching the graphical map mode. Here you can see when Post boxes are maxing out, or are hardly filling before being collected again. Then you can make an educated change to your system by upgrading post boxes or editing delivery and collection timetables.
5) Upgrade Staff
Are your queues going out the door? Is your mail getting left unsorted? Don’t fret, don’t go investing into another post office next door, upgrade your staff! I missed this option for the first few hours that I was playing the game, but it only becomes useful when you do find a post office is working at overload. You can spend a couple of those hard-earned stars on upgrading staff members. An upgraded staff member operates at a 50% work-rate than before, so can really help clear those backlogs. Don’t go all out on it though! Upgrade just one member and see if that’s enough to bring things back under control. Give it a day or so and if you still as big a backlog then consider a second upgrade. The upgrade stays active for a full week, so even one staff upgrade can see the numbers come down over that time.
And that’s it, follow these guidelines and you’ll soon be running the roost over your competition in Post Master.