Going Medieval Guide

Going Medieval Beginner Guide

A good opening is not a rigid ten-day checklist. Map, scenario, settlers, skills, weather, and available resources change the correct order. This guide gives you a decision sequence for the first settlement and points to the detailed pages where current-version evidence is still required.

Version boundary: The game has moved beyond the old 1.0 framing. Exact crop timing, raid size, room dimensions, research costs, and resource targets should be read from the current save rather than treated as universal rules.

Opening Decision Sequence

1

Read the map

Terrain and access

Choose a site that gives you workable building ground, nearby materials, and a route your settlers can defend. Do not assume a river automatically irrigates a field.

2

Secure shelter and storage

Immediate survival

Build only what the starting colony needs to sleep, store essential items, and keep work paths short. Exact room sizes and bed counts depend on the starting group and current scenario.

3

Start a food plan

Food before expansion

Create a field and cooking plan that matches the crops, seed supply, and research options visible in the current save. Use the crops guide for evidence-aware choices.

4

Create a research plan

Solve the next bottleneck

Open the current research panel and choose the node that addresses your immediate food, production, or defense problem. Avoid copying a fixed Agriculture → Construction order.

5

Prepare a defensible route

Raid readiness

Keep one controlled entrance, a safe route for defenders, and a fallback position. Test traps and gates before relying on a fixed layout.

6

Stabilize before scaling

Labor and logistics

Add workshops, underground storage, hunting, trade, or additional fields only when the current food and shelter chain can support the labor cost.

First Settlement Checklist

  • Every settler has a safe place to sleep, even if the first shelter is temporary.
  • A stockpile is close enough to reduce hauling without blocking the defensive route.
  • Food production, cooking, and storage are planned as one chain.
  • The next research node is chosen from the current bottleneck, not a universal script.
  • The first entrance can be reached by defenders and repaired after damage.
  • A fallback area exists before the colony expands into a larger footprint.

Common Opening Mistakes

Overbuilding too early

Large rooms and long walls consume labor that the colony still needs for food, hauling, and repairs.

Trusting fixed numbers

A field size, growth time, or first-raid count is not a safe universal rule without scenario and version conditions.

Researching by habit

Open the current panel and solve the resource or defense problem that is actually limiting the settlement.

One-point defense

A single gate or trap corridor can fail; keep a fallback line and a safe route for settlers.

When to Expand

Expand when the current settlement can maintain food, shelter, repairs, and essential production without moving every worker away from survival tasks. A new workshop, field, or room is an investment; check its input materials, labor, storage, and defensive cost before placing it.

Sources and Related Guides

Last reviewed: August 4, 2026. Fixed day-by-day targets remain intentionally excluded.