Are you a fan of RimWorld? How about swords, staves, bows and arrows, and a stone castle keeps standing tall against armed invaders? Going Medieval is still in Early Access yet it offers an astounding amount of content with promises for more, especially for those willing to wait out its development cycle. Those who love the colony sim genre. But for now, you’ll likely need a few Going Medieval tips and tricks for your first few days in-game!
Prioritize Straight Away
The early game in Going Medieval is critical if you want your colony to survive into a fiefdom. For that, you need to prioritize a few key components to a functioning society: housing, food, and defense.
Housing
Your settlers, despite enduring off-screen hardships before leaving their previous kingdom, are not as hardy as one would expect. They don’t do well sleeping outside, most can’t handle the cold, and heat can be the death of the toughest colonist.
To endure extremes and protect against wildlife, one must build housing as soon as possible. In fact, on top of food production, housing is one of the most important aspects of starting off a fresh colony the right way in Going Medieval.
Food
Depending on your starting conditions, you may spawn into your map with a little bit of food reserves to give you a headstart. Then, you can tell your settlers to forage for berries and wild vegetables. Those will last a day or so. But honestly, you want to rush food production research, like the ability to plant fields of vegetables, quickly to remain alive and well after the first week.
Defense
In my most recent colony, I wound up with an event in which a refugee asked for safe haven against a small army of researchers who wanted to imprison and torture him. I needed another hand in the fields I recently planted, so I accepted. Foolish me, I forgot I had no weapons or armor, and research to craft such items was yet to complete.
Don’t be like me. Get yourself a spear or club early on to protect your small settlement from outside threats.
Focus Your Research
In Going Medieval, research works fundamentally differently from, say, RimWorld. Once you craft a research bench and prioritize researching amongst your settlers, they craft Chronicles to start out. Eventually, you’ll unlock textbooks and Thesis.
For now, focusing on the early game, amassing Chronicles to spend on new research categories proves crucial. Early-game tech can cost, for example, 15 or 20 Chronicles.
You’ll want to rush essential items, like those relating to food, armor, and weapons. You’ll need to plant crops, which are locked behind the first research bundle, then acquire weapons and armor to defend yourself. It’s not long into a new game that events begin to pop, forcing you to face outside threats.
You Can Skip Prospective Villagers
In most colony sim games, the ability to delegate a task to yet another free hand can come as a godsend. After all, who doesn’t want one more blacksmith or hunter out in the woods toiling away?
The thing is, not all villagers are equal. And hey, it’s fine to say ‘No, thank you,’ to a villager when they crop up. In fact, you likely want to turn a few down, as they may bring about trouble you cannot handle. Or, their skills may conflict with your current workforce.
Either way, know that it’s okay to turn down prospective villagers. The game does not penalize you whatsoever.
Pump Up the Ale
If you know anything about the medieval ages, you know that folks enjoyed drinking a flagon of ale after each workday at the local pub. Going Medieval is no different. In fact, alongside their food requirements, colonists also have a drink requirement. You seriously need ale production up and running.
Unfortunately, it’s locked behind research. The sooner you can tend to your colonists’ needs, the better off everyone will look, feel, and act as your homestead begins to flourish into a small kingdom!
General Going Medieval Tips and Tricks
- It’s okay to start small with a single building with one room containing your research bench, table, and a few rudimentary hay beds for your colonists to sleep.
- Build up a small shed-like structure, so long as it has a roof, as a covered stockpile so that materials and food do not degrade due to remaining outdoors.
- Don’t knock leisure in the middle ages. It’s okay to spend a little early-game wood on a backgammon set or a shrine to allow your colonists a chance to unwind after the hardships of the day.
Hopefully, with these tips and the other guides we have on the way, you’ll survive Going Medieval for the long run!
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