Banished Survival Guide: Tips & Tricks For Beginners

Hey guys! So, you've decided to dive into the challenging world of Banished? Awesome! This city-building game can be incredibly rewarding, but let's be real, it can also be brutally unforgiving. Don't worry, though! This guide is here to equip you with all the essential knowledge and strategies you need to not just survive, but thrive in Banished. We'll cover everything from the basics of getting started to advanced tips for managing your population, resources, and economy. Let's get your village off to a strong start!

Getting Started in Banished: The First Year

The initial year in Banished is arguably the most crucial. It sets the foundation for your entire settlement, and mistakes made early on can have devastating consequences. Let's break down the key aspects of surviving your first year and establishing a stable base.

Initial Setup and Resource Gathering

Okay, so you've just landed in your new world with a handful of villagers and a wagon full of supplies. What now? The first thing you need to do is pause the game! This gives you time to assess your surroundings and plan your next moves without your villagers immediately freezing or starving. Now, let's talk priorities. Food, shelter, and fuel are your absolute necessities. You need to ensure your villagers have these to survive the harsh winter that's just around the corner.

Start by building a Gatherer's Hut, a Hunter's Cabin, and a Forester's Lodge. These buildings will provide your villagers with a sustainable food supply and firewood. Place them strategically, considering the available resources. A Gatherer's Hut works best in a forest with diverse resources like berries, mushrooms, and roots. A Hunter's Cabin needs a decent animal population, and a Forester's Lodge should be placed in an area you want to manage for long-term wood production. Remember, forests are crucial! They provide not only wood but also help with the Gatherer's Hut's efficiency. Don't clear-cut everything right away! A sustainable forest is a happy forest, and a happy forest means happy villagers.

Next, construct a Woodcutter to turn logs into firewood. Firewood is essential for keeping your villagers warm during the winter. A cold villager is an unproductive villager, and worse, a dead villager. Don't underestimate the importance of warmth! Build a small stockpile near your resource gathering buildings to store the collected goods. This reduces travel time for your villagers and makes them more efficient. Also, start constructing houses! Your initial villagers will soon start families, and they need somewhere to live. Build at least a few houses in the first year to avoid overcrowding and unhappiness.

Food Production: Avoiding Starvation

Starvation is the biggest killer in Banished, especially in the early game. So, food production needs to be your top priority. While the Gatherer's Hut and Hunter's Cabin provide initial food sources, they aren't enough to sustain a growing population in the long run. You'll need to diversify your food production methods. Consider building a Fishing Dock if you have a river or lake nearby. Fishing is a reliable source of food, especially during the early game. A small crop field is another excellent option, but remember that crops take time to grow, so you won't see results immediately. Wheat, corn, and pumpkins are good choices for initial crops.

Also, consider an Orchard. Orchards provide a good source of food and can be quite productive once they mature, but they also take several years to reach full production. Planning ahead is key in Banished! A crucial tip: set the work limit in your food production buildings to a reasonable number. Overworking your villagers can lead to injuries and death. It's better to have slightly less food than to lose a valuable worker. Keep a close eye on your food stocks! The town hall provides a crucial overview of your resources. If you see your food levels dropping too low, it's time to take action.

Building Homes and Managing Population

Speaking of villagers, let's talk about housing and population management. As mentioned earlier, you need to build houses to accommodate your growing population. Overcrowding leads to unhappiness, and unhappy villagers are unproductive villagers. Aim to build enough houses so that each family has their own home. This not only keeps them happy but also prevents the spread of disease. Keep an eye on your population's age distribution. If you have too many old people and not enough young people, your population will eventually decline. Encourage births by providing good living conditions and plenty of food. A healthy and growing population is essential for the long-term survival of your settlement.

Stockpiling Resources for Winter

Winter is coming! Seriously, it is. And it's brutal in Banished. You need to be prepared. Make sure you have a large stockpile of firewood, food, and warm clothing before the first snowfall. Villagers who are cold or hungry are less productive and more likely to die. A Tailor can produce warm clothing from leather, so make sure you have a hunting cabin operating to provide a steady supply of leather. Designate a large stockpile area close to your houses and resource gathering buildings. This minimizes travel time and ensures your villagers can quickly access the resources they need. Don't wait until the last minute to prepare for winter. Start stockpiling resources early in the year to avoid a desperate scramble when the snow starts falling.

Resource Management: The Lifeline of Your Town

Effective resource management is the bedrock of any successful Banished settlement. You can't just focus on one resource; you need to maintain a delicate balance between food, fuel, tools, and building materials. Let's delve into the intricacies of resource management in Banished.

Balancing Food, Fuel, and Tools

As we've already emphasized, food is paramount. But it's not the only resource you need to worry about. Firewood is equally crucial for keeping your villagers warm during the harsh winters. And tools are essential for efficient resource gathering and building. A shortage of any of these resources can have dire consequences. A lack of food leads to starvation, a lack of firewood leads to freezing, and a lack of tools slows down production and can even lead to injuries. The key is to maintain a surplus of each of these resources.

Aim for at least a year's worth of food in storage at all times. This gives you a buffer in case of crop failures or harsh winters. Similarly, stockpile a large amount of firewood before winter arrives. And ensure you have a steady supply of tools being produced. A Blacksmith can produce iron tools, which are more durable and efficient than stone tools. However, iron requires mining, so you'll need to establish a Mining operation and a steady supply of coal to fuel the furnace. It's all interconnected! Think of your resource production as a web, not a series of isolated activities. Each resource impacts the others.

Sustainable Resource Gathering: The Forester's Lodge

We've touched on this before, but it's worth reiterating: sustainable resource gathering is crucial for long-term survival. Clear-cutting forests might seem like a quick way to get wood, but it's a recipe for disaster. You'll deplete your wood supply, destroy the habitat for animals (impacting your hunter's production), and potentially even cause soil erosion. A Forester's Lodge is the answer. When properly managed, a Forester's Lodge can provide a sustainable supply of wood indefinitely. Set the radius of the Forester's Lodge to a reasonable size and instruct the forester to plant trees. This ensures a continuous supply of wood without depleting the forest.

Foresters also help with disease control! A healthy forest acts as a natural barrier against the spread of disease. Rotate your foresters' work areas. Don't let them work in the same area continuously. This allows the forest to regenerate and prevents soil depletion. Think of your forest as a long-term investment, not a short-term resource. The same principle applies to other resources. Avoid overfishing, overhunting, and over-mining. Sustainable practices are the key to long-term prosperity in Banished.

Managing Stone and Iron: Long-Term Needs

As your town grows, you'll need more than just wood and food. Stone and iron become increasingly important for building upgrades, tool production, and defense. A Quarry is used to extract stone, and a Mine is used to extract iron ore and coal. These structures can be dangerous! Cave-ins can occur, killing your workers. So, ensure you have a steady supply of laborers and don't overwork them. Mines and quarries eventually deplete. Plan ahead for this! Scout out new locations for mines and quarries before your current ones run dry. Consider building multiple mines and quarries in different locations to diversify your resource extraction.

Trading is another excellent way to acquire stone and iron. We'll discuss trading in more detail later, but keep in mind that it's a viable alternative to mining and quarrying, especially if you have a surplus of other resources. Think strategically about your resource needs. Don't extract more resources than you need. Stockpiling is good, but overstocking ties up labor and can lead to waste. A balanced approach is essential.

Population Management: The Heart of Your Village

Your villagers are the lifeblood of your settlement. Without them, you have nothing. Managing your population effectively is crucial for long-term growth and stability. This involves ensuring their health, happiness, education, and providing them with suitable jobs.

Health and Well-being: Keeping Your Villagers Alive

A healthy population is a productive population. Disease outbreaks can decimate your village, so preventing illness is paramount. Provide clean water by building Wells near your houses. Contaminated water is a major source of disease. Ensure your villagers have access to a varied diet. Malnutrition weakens their immune systems and makes them more susceptible to illness. A Hospital is essential for treating the sick and injured. Place it in a central location so that it's easily accessible to all villagers. Herbs are used to create medicine, so establish a Herbalist to gather herbs from the forest.

Cemeteries are also important! Villagers who die need to be buried. Unburied bodies can spread disease and lower the happiness of your villagers. Prevention is better than cure! A healthy lifestyle, clean water, and access to medical care are the keys to a healthy population. Keep an eye on your villagers' health statistics in the town hall. If you see a spike in illness, take immediate action to address the cause.

Education: Investing in the Future

Educated villagers are more efficient and productive. They can work in more advanced professions and contribute more to your economy. A Schoolhouse is essential for educating your children. However, students don't work while they study, so there's a trade-off. Educating too many children at once can strain your workforce. A good rule of thumb is to educate a small number of children consistently. Prioritize education for children whose parents have died or are unable to work. These children will need skills to support themselves in the future. Education is a long-term investment. You won't see the benefits immediately, but it will pay off in the long run.

Happiness and Morale: A Contented Community

A happy villager is a productive villager. Unhappy villagers are more likely to refuse work, become ill, or even leave your town. Providing for their basic needs (food, shelter, warmth) is crucial, but it's not enough. They also need social interaction and a sense of community. A Tavern is a great place for villagers to socialize and relax. It provides a boost to their happiness. Churches also contribute to happiness by providing a place for worship and reflection. A Cemetery, while somber, can also provide comfort to grieving families.

Limit the work hours of your villagers. Overworked villagers become stressed and unhappy. A reasonable work schedule is essential for maintaining morale. Fulfilling basic needs of food, shelter, and clothing are important to villager happiness. Also, be mindful of the distance villagers travel to work. Long commutes can be tiring and frustrating. Place houses near workplaces to minimize travel time. Keep an eye on the overall happiness of your population in the town hall. If happiness levels are dropping, investigate the cause and take corrective action.

Building a Stable Economy: Beyond Survival

Once you've mastered the basics of survival, it's time to focus on building a stable and thriving economy. This involves diversifying your production, establishing trade routes, and managing your workforce effectively.

Diversifying Your Production: Beyond Basic Needs

Relying solely on basic resource gathering and food production is unsustainable in the long run. You need to diversify your economy by producing goods that can be traded or used to improve your town. Tools, clothing, and firewood are always in demand. Consider building a Tailor to produce warm clothing from leather or wool. A Blacksmith can produce tools, and a Sawmill can produce planks for building construction. Processed goods fetch higher prices than raw materials in trade.

Trading: A Vital Economic Engine

Trading is a vital economic engine in Banished. It allows you to acquire resources you lack and sell surpluses for profit. A Trading Post is essential for establishing trade routes. When a trading ship arrives, you can barter goods for other resources. Before trading you need to check what the traders have and your trade resources. Some traders offer tools, stone, iron, and other valuable items. Establish trade routes with traders who offer goods you need. Trading is a powerful tool for balancing your economy and acquiring valuable resources.

Managing Your Workforce: Assigning the Right Jobs

Assigning villagers to the right jobs is crucial for maximizing productivity. Not everyone is suited for every task. Consider their skills and abilities when assigning jobs. Some jobs require specific skills, such as education or strength. A laborer is a generalist who can perform a variety of tasks, but they are less efficient than specialized workers. It's important to have a balance of laborers and specialists in your workforce. Keep a close eye on your workforce statistics in the town hall. If you have too many workers in one profession and not enough in another, reassign villagers accordingly. A flexible and adaptable workforce is essential for a thriving economy.

Advanced Tips and Strategies for Banished

Okay, you've made it this far! You've survived the initial hurdles and are well on your way to building a prosperous town. Now, let's delve into some advanced tips and strategies that will help you take your Banished game to the next level.

Disaster Preparedness: Weathering the Storm

Disasters are inevitable in Banished. Whether it's a disease outbreak, a crop failure, or a harsh winter, you need to be prepared to weather the storm. Stockpiling resources is the most crucial element of disaster preparedness. Ensure you have at least a year's worth of food, firewood, and medicine in storage. A diversified economy is also important. If one industry fails, you have others to fall back on. A well-educated population is more resilient in the face of disaster. Educated villagers can adapt to changing circumstances and find new ways to solve problems.

Town Layout and Efficiency: Optimizing Your Space

The layout of your town can significantly impact its efficiency. Place buildings strategically to minimize travel time for your villagers. Group related buildings together. For example, place houses near workplaces and storage areas. Use roads and bridges to improve connectivity and reduce travel time. Roads increase the speed at which villagers travel, making them more efficient. Bridges allow you to cross rivers and other obstacles, opening up new areas for development. A well-planned town layout can significantly boost your productivity and reduce wasted time.

Population Growth Strategies: Avoiding Boom and Bust

Managing population growth is a delicate balancing act. Too much growth too quickly can strain your resources and lead to overcrowding and starvation. Too little growth can result in a declining workforce and a stagnant economy. Aim for a steady and sustainable rate of population growth. Providing good living conditions, plenty of food, and access to healthcare will encourage births. However, be mindful of the strain on your resources. Educate your children to ensure they have the skills they need to contribute to your economy. A balanced age distribution is essential for long-term stability. Avoid population booms and busts by carefully managing your resources and living conditions.

Final Thoughts: Mastering the Art of Banished Survival

Banished is a challenging but incredibly rewarding game. Mastering the art of survival requires careful planning, resource management, and a deep understanding of your villagers' needs. By following the tips and strategies outlined in this guide, you'll be well-equipped to build a thriving and prosperous town. Remember, patience and perseverance are key. Don't get discouraged by setbacks. Learn from your mistakes and keep striving to improve. And most importantly, have fun! Happy banishing!